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Just another thought....if a patient is forced to undergo a medical treatment, who pays for it? What if she doesn't have insurance, who picks up the tab? What about all the people who need medical treatment and can't get it because they can't afford it? Then along comes the state and "forces" someone to undergo a medical procedure
If this girl has read all about the treatments and looked up the stats about recurrence and survival rates and made an informed decision, I think she has every right to turn down the treatment being forced upon her.
I agree. It's her body and she's not a little child without the cognitive ability to understand the consequences or risk. They're treating her like she's 10.
Just another thought....if a patient is forced to undergo a medical treatment, who pays for it? What if she doesn't have insurance, who picks up the tab? What about all the people who need medical treatment and can't get it because they can't afford it? Then along comes the state and "forces" someone to undergo a medical procedure
There's something called obamacare....Do people not get this? Everyone is covered now.(unless you live in a state where medicaid extention was blocked) If you're broke and have no income or little income you're covered under medicaid. That's the way universal health care works. There's no such thing as "not being able to afford a medical procedure". We are now like every other country in the free modern world.
Healthcare is a basic right. We give convicted felons healthcare, I think we can take care of our poor. You don't force people to buy "police insurance" and then not respond to an emergency because they didn't pay their premium. Healthcare is basic public safety.
Oh and the sky hasn't fallen since obamacare came into effect. THe French all laughed at us arguing over providing universal healthcare. To them it's as absurd as asking if there should be a police or fire department. They couldn't' imagine life without it.
There's something called obamacare....Do people not get this? Everyone is covered now.(unless you live in a state where medicaid extention was blocked) If you're broke and have no income or little income you're covered under medicaid. That's the way universal health care works. There's no such thing as "not being able to afford a medical procedure". We are now like every other country in the free modern world.
Healthcare is a basic right. We give convicted felons healthcare, I think we can take care of our poor. You don't force people to buy "police insurance" and then not respond to an emergency because they didn't pay their premium. Healthcare is basic public safety.
Oh and the sky hasn't fallen since obamacare came into effect. THe French all laughed at us arguing over providing universal healthcare. To them it's as absurd as asking if there should be a police or fire department. They couldn't' imagine life without it.
You apparently do not understand how universal health care works. We do not have universal healthcare in this country. There are still millions who cannot afford the cost of insurance under the Affordable Healthcare Act and who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid. They continue to be without medical coverage. Universal health care means health care for everyone. As long as one single person is left out of being covered we do not have universal health care in this country.
You apparently do not understand how universal health care works. We do not have universal healthcare in this country. There are still millions who cannot afford the cost of insurance under the Affordable Healthcare Act and who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid. They continue to be without medical coverage. Universal health care means health care for everyone. As long as one single person is left out of being covered we do not have universal health care in this country.
Most of those seem to be about the states that chose not to expand Medicare. No country in the world as you define it as universal health care. Not saying we do, because we don't, but if you live in one of the states that did expand Medicare it's pretty close to.
She and her family apparently did a lot of research and she made an informed decision. The state should out of stay it.
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Originally Posted by charolastra00
As a survivor of this type of cancer, I can say with 100% certainty that she and her family have done absolutely no research on this type of cancer if they are making this decision. It is NOT an informed decision.
The mother is mentally challenged. She is not capable of making the decision for her daughter. In fact, she let the child make the decision for herself.
Charolastra is correct.
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Originally Posted by Minervah
There is no cure for Cancer. Cancer is not "curable" but it can go into remission. For some it can be for a very long time and for others a shorter time. There is no way to predict how long or how short a time. We can share anecdotal stories until the cows come home but the fact of the matter remains, no one, not even the doctors, can predict for certain whose life will be extended and whose won't.
My friend's husband didn't survive his Hodgkin's after a year of rigorous chemo treatments. My previous landlord is still alive and well after eight years of having chemo for his Hodgkin's. Cancer is a ticking time bomb and can reoccur at any moment as another friend's has after only five years when her first round of chemo was deemed to be a success.
There is no saying that without medical treatment this girl will die. It is possible her life will be prolonged, at some expense regarding permanent side effects from the chemo but then again as in the case of my friend's husband in my first example, perhaps she wouldn't.
Regarding the side effects, everyone responds differently to those as well. Some have them only during the chemo, some have lingering side effects that never disappear. Apparently this girl does not want to deal with any of this. Her body, her choice and I believe she is old enough to choose.
No one can say for certain either way what the outcome would be if she does or does not take the chemo. She knows the risks of both choices.
This girl has the mental maturity of a ten year old. the court has recognized that. Age is really not the issue as much as the fact that she also is mentally challenged. She obviously does not have the ability to weigh the benefits and risks of treatment.
Spare me the cancer cannot be cured. Someone who is 25 or 30 years post treatment with no recurrence is cured.
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Originally Posted by ohhwanderlust
Poor analogy. Mentally healthy 17 year olds don't generally want to starve themselves to death, and certainly not to avoid a lifetime of frail health that would otherwise result.
And there is no indication that the girl is not mentally sane.
So you've got nothing.
No one says she is insane, only that she is incapable of making a rational decision about her health care.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ohhwanderlust
Everyone here keeps on harping on how chemo is effective for her type of cancer.
But maybe that's not the point. Maybe quality of life is more important to her than exhaling CO2 for more years.
Her quality of life is about to go downhill fast without treatment.
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Originally Posted by 2bpurrfect
Some use natural methods to AMELIORATE or lessen,the side effects of chemo/radiation which can wreak havoc.
Those are general info links, as i said, to get people started looking into the other effective alternatives which they might not know exist. I don't have to provide you with ANY studies whatsoever, YOU are certainly capable of finding them yourself. don't you DARE make demands on my time.
If you want to know how it's done, get busy, it will take you a while to learn all about it. (I am NOT going to spend my time on this thread, you'll have to do it yourself). Look at Mercola's research links and the other site's too, don't ask me for them, i am not your friggin research slave! DO YOUR OWN DANG HOMEWORK! took me 40 years but you can find stuff a lot quicker these days. START NOW because it takes time and effort to inform yourself. THAT is the most important thing to do.
As for being diagnosed with cancer, i haven't been, and I thank God who heals better than anything. My strategy has been to AVOID cancer by deliberate PREVENTION. and so far, so good.
Mercola is the last person you should want advising you about any serious health issue.
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Originally Posted by Scooby Snacks
The parent is not killing the child. The CANCER is killing the child. There's a big difference.
Yes there is. So I will continue. It IS HER body and IS HER choice. I believe she hasn't reached the age of majority, however, the age of majority isn't as cut and dried as you would like to think. It seems rather hypocritical that when a teenager commits a vicious crime on another person, the public insists the teenager be tried as an adult and given the maximum sentence possible, yet when another teenager wants to refuse a painful cancer treatment on herself and she is just one year from being a legal adult, suddenly she's a child who has no clue about her condition.
Another age example: I got married when I was younger than 21, and my husband was over 21. In TX, because my husband was legally able to drink, as long as he accompanied me to the bar, I was able to drink as well. Now this was years ago, so the law may have changed, but I actually went to the bar with him a couple of times and that was the law back then. Different states have different laws RE: what people are able to do at different ages. It's not always age 18 or 21 for this or that, especially marriage age.
She doesn't want the treatment. Sure, there is a good chance it will save her life, but cancer treatment is very painful. It causes terrible side effects. And although there is a good chance it can cure her, there is no guarantee. The numbers are merely estimates given by doctors; nothing more. It is her life. Now she wants the right to die with dignity, and she should have been given that chance.
This child has not the foggiest notion of "dying with dignity." She apparently is not sick. She thinks she is immortal.
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Originally Posted by ncole1
Source please?
Did you know the person you are addressing is an attorney?
Quote:
Originally Posted by MaryleeII
Just another thought....if a patient is forced to undergo a medical treatment, who pays for it? What if she doesn't have insurance, who picks up the tab? What about all the people who need medical treatment and can't get it because they can't afford it? Then along comes the state and "forces" someone to undergo a medical procedure
She will be eligible for Medicaid most likely.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mikelizard860
I agree. It's her body and she's not a little child without the cognitive ability to understand the consequences or risk. They're treating her like she's 10.
Her emotional age is about 10. I think the court recognizes that. I also have reservations about her cognitive ability. A psychological evaluation is not mentioned, but I would be very surprised if she has not had one done.
Folks, if the judge had seen Cassandra to be intelligent and mature, I suspect the ruling would have been different.
The mother is mentally challenged. She is not capable of making the decision for her daughter. In fact, she let the child make the decision for herself.
Charolastra is correct.
This girl has the mental maturity of a ten year old. the court has recognized that. Age is really not the issue as much as the fact that she also is mentally challenged. She obviously does not have the ability to weigh the benefits and risks of treatment.
Spare me the cancer cannot be cured. Someone who is 25 or 30 years post treatment with no recurrence is cured.
No one says she is insane, only that she is incapable of making a rational decision about her health care.
Her quality of life is about to go downhill fast without treatment.
Mercola is the last person you should want advising you about any serious health issue.
This child has not the foggiest notion of "dying with dignity." She apparently is not sick. She thinks she is immortal.
Did you know the person you are addressing is an attorney?
She will be eligible for Medicaid most likely.
Her emotional age is about 10. I think the court recognizes that. I also have reservations about her cognitive ability. A psychological evaluation is not mentioned, but I would be very surprised if she has not had one done.
Folks, if the judge had seen Cassandra to be intelligent and mature, I suspect the ruling would have been different.
Please post the link that indicates the girl is mentally challenged with the mental capacity of a ten year old. I am not saying it doesn't exist, but I have not seen it and would like to.
Please post the link that indicates the girl is mentally challenged with the mental capacity of a ten year old. I am not saying it doesn't exist, but I have not seen it and would like to.
I said she had the emotional capacity and mental maturity of a ten year old. Her behavior (running away) attests to that. I consider that being mentally challenged. I suspect the court ordered a psychological evaluation, and I would be very surprised if the results placed her at the far right end of the intellectual bell curve. I do not expect those results to be released to the general public, nor should they be.
"Cassandra is not invoking a religious belief in saying no. Nor is she claiming she believes in some form of alternative medicine. According to the teen's mother, Cassandra is refusing chemo because she hates the miserable treatment — hair loss, feeling sick, nausea, and being really tired."
Those are not rational reasons to forgo potentially life-saving treatment, which she appears to be tolerating well from a medical point of view.
If it was me, I would suffer chemo. I would do it so I could survive for my kids, my family. They need me. It would be selfish to chose to die and leave them behind if there were a chance for me to fight it. I would fight cancer.
If it was me, I would suffer chemo. I would do it so I could survive for my kids, my family. They need me. It would be selfish to chose to die and leave them behind if there were a chance for me to fight it. I would fight cancer.
I know several people who said they would never get chemo/radiation, who when the time came to make a decision, got it. The "will to live" can be pretty strong.
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