Right to decide what is best...

After following the sad case of the 13 year old cancer patient who has stated he does not want chemo, and the parents being taken to court, it leaves a bunch of sour thoughts in my mind.

Some of my initial thoughts....

When to decide enough is enough? When do you accept your lot in life and decide the intervening is not the path you want? In this case chemo. Chemo is a barrel full of toxic chemicals that kill everything, good cells, bad cells, and all in between. I have known adults who choose not to do chemo even though our modern "statistics" show that it would increase their survival rate. But I am not allowed to make that choice for my child. Instead I have to sit there and watch as painful toxins are forced into an already horribly crappy existence tainted by cancer. To watch as the chemicals kill them bit by bit since "statistically" there is a good chance for remission..

Remission... Remission is not "cancer free". No Remission means that the cancer has not been detected or does not seem to be multiplying... This child will live what kind of life? Does he have a choice over the condition of his life? Does the family?

The everlasting effects of chemo. Chances are Chemo will forever change this child. It will kill his gametes, and he will never reproduce his own children. That is a good statistical probability. But who cares if he is forced to live, knowing that he will never reproduce.

And it draws me to the line of thinking about what happens every day. People have prenantal testing done, and then have the decision to terminate a life that may have all these deformities, etc. So when will that go away? When will the govornment decide that this is just illegal as well? I for one do not see that happening. How many special needs infants are abandoned within weeks of life due to the parents unable / unwilling to cope and provide for this now very expensive limited outcome existence.. Who would pick up the tab? The govornment...

What woud I do in these situations? I don't know. I for one do not want any prenatal testing, and it would be a cold hard evaluation as to how much I would put my child through...

But hey, soon I might not worry about these types of things, the govornment will mandate what I must do.