Amish Girl Fled Chemo in U.S. for Alternative Treatment in Central America

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Amish Girl Fled Chemo in U.S. for Alternative Treatment in Central America
Friday, Nov 29, 2013 | Updated 2:05 PM EST

A U.S. Amish girl with leukemia spent time at a natural cancer treatment center in Central America after she left home with her parents to avoid being forced to resume chemotherapy treatments, the girl's grandfather said.

Sarah Hershberger, who recently turned 11, her parents and the couple's baby daughter now are in hiding in the United States, Isaac Keim said.

The family left the small Amish community where they live in rural northeast Ohio just days before a state appeals court appointed a guardian in October to take over medical decisions for the Sarah, said Keim, who told the Akron Beacon Journal that he accompanied them to the unnamed clinic.

The Hershbergers have been fighting doctors at Akron's Children's Hospital in court for months after the parents decided to halt the treatments because they were making Sarah sick.


Read more: http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/health/Chemotherapy-Stopped-For-Amish-Girl-233851321.html

[longship]

1. Chemo can suck, but death sucks a lot more.

And that quack alternative therapy very likely does not work and is making the quack doctor giving it a lot of money for doing basically nothing to help.

Yup! Chemo can make you sick, but when the alternative is death, what do you do?

Go to a quack? God, I hope not.

[DesertFlower]

2. and when the chemo doesn't work?

my friend (a former DUer) suffered for 3 years fighting cancer with chemo and a bone marrow transplant and other approved methods. she developed one infection after the other -- was constantly in and out of the hospital.

after the 2nd round of chemo she almost died. was in intensive care for over a month. the doctors were talking to her husband about "ending her suffering", but she survived only to go through more suffering.

she had acute myeloid leukemia. when she was diagnosed she was told "chemo or hospice". my choice would have been "hospice".

flame away.

[longship]

4. Hospice is a valid option.

Both my parents died under Hospice care, one preceded by chemo, one not. It is very caring and compassionate.

Quackery alternative therapies are none of those things. And unlike chemo, has no hope of putting cancer into remission.

I have no intention to flame at your post.

[DesertFlower]

5. my husband died in hospice 5/12.

he got wonderful care. he had an inoperable brain tumor. had chemo been available for him and he chose to have it i would have honored his choice even though it wouldn't be mine.

[arikara]

8. In my opinion allopathic cancer treatment is the ultimate form of quackery

I've seen many recover with alternate therapies and many more sicken and die painfully because of chemo and radiation. However I would never dream of imposing my views on someone who is sick, their treatment is their choice. And if they go the allopathic route I wouldn't belittle their choice by calling it "quackery".

[DesertFlower]

10. i have a friend who worked in the funeral industry for 20 years.

she said she saw many death certificates that said "complications from chemotherapy".

[awoke_in_2003]

7. no flames from me...

I would never want to put my family through this. The debt alone would be unbearable.

[DesertFlower]

11. my friend had good insurance but there were

still co-pays. by the 2nd month in the hospital the bill was already over 1 million. imagine what it was like after 3 years of treatment. fortunately her husband had a policy that had a yearly max out of pocket or they would have lost everything.

i've never added up my husband's bills. we had a $6,000 max out of pocket. he only lived 3 months after the diagnosis.

[Chemisse]

17. People need to be given realistic prognoses

By someone who has no financial interests. Maybe there should be such a thing as an independent cancer adviser.

[DesertFlower]

19. my friend was told that her chances of survival

were not good, but she decided to do the chemo. like i said she suffered for 3 years. some people fear death. she even went back to her catholic religion. confessed her sins of 45 years and received communion. so according to the catholic church she would go to heaven, but she was still terrified.

my step daughter has a fear of death. when i talked to her about an advanced directive she didn't want to hear about it. i said "do you want to be hooked up to machines to keep you alive"? she said "i'll hang on with my pinky finger". she works for CNN as a video tape editor/producer and just finished editing a special that will be aired 12/1. it's about people who died and came back. the woman talked about meeting jesus, etc. i'm hoping this changed her views about dying.

i have no fear. neither did my husband who passed 5/12. i only worry about my cat. my will reads that if i die he is to be euthanized immediately in the house. no cages, etc. i have a vet who comes to the house. he is spoiled rotten and unadoptable. he's almost 13 and has kidney disease and is on a special diet that's expensive, but he's doing well.

[warrant46]

25. WOW its good to see the Catholic Church has the monopoly for entrance passes to Heaven

I guess Hell must be inhabited by 90% of humanity that doesn't subscribe to the Catholic Dogma

[yeoman6987]

26. Not appropriate

That is not appropriate on this thread.

[DesertFlower]

31. my point was that she was afraid to die and

as a catholic she shouldn't have had that fear.

i was born and raised catholic and gave up my religion when i was 20. i'm 72 now and know what i was taught all those years was a crock.

the post was not about religion but fear of death. if you want to get into a discussion about religion you chose the wrong person.

[warrant46]

34. my point was not about anything you said

My point was about the fact ---that apparently only catholics go to heaven.

The rest of us (I've been told by catholics since I was 5-----65 plus years ago) are going to hell.

Wherever that is ?

I guess I will be joined by a lot of sinners there.

I have no bone to pick with you or the other critic above, thank you

I grew up in a 80% catholic town and the their children used to be very cruel to us

I've never forgotten their rude, evil, bullying ways NEVER

[DesertFlower]

36. i understand. i was raised catholic -- went to catholic school and

we were taught to try to convert on non-catholic friends because if they weren't catholic they couldn't see the face of god. we weren't told they were going to hell. my mom was catholic but my dad was agnostic -- maybe atheist. she went to church and he didn't. we never discussed it. i know my dad's parents went to a protestant church. never discussed religion with them either.

sorry you were treated so badly.

[warrant46]

42. Thank you !!

Psychological cruel treatment to a child stays for a long time.

That is why I wonder what the children, whose brothers sisters, parents etc being killed by US Drones are going to be doing 20 or so years from now ?

In the early 60s the Song === Where have all the Flowers Gone

Became branded into my brain--

Its amazing how this site has changed since 2008 when it comes to War and maintaining the 1%

[DesertFlower]

46. i know. i was bullied in high school.

just recently one of the bullies joined facebook. someone suggested her as a friend because we graduated together. even though i'm sure she's changed i can't forget what she did to me and it was more than 55 years ago. it still hurts.

i also wonder about those children and the others who have seen their parents killed or mutilated in iraq. many of the children were also mutilated.

IMO bush, cheney, rumsfeld should be rotting in prison for what they did.

i'm against the drones.

[warrant46]

47. +1 N/T

[pnwmom]

14. We don't know this girl's circumstances, but some people

including my father, have a genetic condition that means they can't process chemo the way other people can.

I was told that the chemo was what killed him. He might have been better off with just surgery, we'll never know.

[CanSocDem]

22. The real 'quackery'...

...is the belief that anything is better than "death".

Some people have higher standards for the quality of their own life. It often means that they have to set their own parameters in how and how long they will live.

Most choose not to live in fear of either religion or science. And they're not usually swayed by the finger-wagging true believers who care more about institutional compliance than quality of life.

These parents are clearly more sensitive to their child than you, the church or the medical industry.


.

[bemildred]

23. +1. nt

[Brigid]

35. Here's a an article to.consider:

Last edited Sat Nov 30, 2013, 10:43 PM - Edit history (1)

What Doctors Do When They Get Cancer

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2100684/Why-doctors-like-die-endure-pain-treatment-advanced-cancer.html

[DesertFlower]

37. great article. thanks for posting it.

[LisaL]

45. I don't buy it.

Seems a lot of people would do anything they can to increase their chances of survival.
Even if somebody is given a 5 % chance, it's better than 0.

[littlewolf]

3. yup it sucks, but it is the parents decision

and just because they do not choose the way
a Dr. thinks they should, it is still their choice.

[DesertFlower]

6. i agree. nt

[SoapBox]

9. It maybe parent's decision, legally, but...

The kid is 11 years, not an infant...should she or does she have a say?

And when it comes to "alternative" treatments...I will say that I personally would want MANY opinions! Just because (and depending upon the type of disease) there is an "alternate" (which in my mind means something other than FDA "approved" and would be some herb thing) it may not be any better than the chemo or radiation.

[magical thyme]

20. per the hospital, she has no more say than her parents.

She was the one who initially wanted to discontinue. After some soul-searching and discussion, are doing what she wants.

[skepticscott]

12. Up to a point, yes

They are responsible for making decisions that are in the best long-term interest of the child. If there was a legitimate chance that the chemo treatments could have sent the cancer into remission, then they should have been required to continue them, even if they were making their daughter "sick". Yeah, it sucks to see that done to an 11 year old, but that's what chemo does. Some kids go through it and live great lives after. On the other hand, if there was no real hope of a recovery and the doctors were just covering their asses and prolonging the girl's life for a few months with no quality of life, then the parents wishes should have prevailed.

[cab67]

13. this is why rights aren't (and shouldn't be) absolute

To me, there is no such thing as "alternative medicine." There are therapies that work (medicine), things called "therapies" that don't (quackery), and a range of treatments whose effectiveness has not yet been properly assessed. Adults can make informed decisions about whether to choose medicine or quackery, or to roll the dice with something that could be either one. But our rights to make such decisions for others are (and should be) sharply limited.

I honestly don't know where the line should be drawn. There's a difference between a mother refusing to vaccinate her child on the crackpot theory that vaccines cause autism and a mother begging to apply an experimental treatment for a child with little to no hope from currently approved therapies, and educated persons can see this difference. We must prevent ill-informed parents from harming their children out of ignorance, but the line demarcating this from parents exercising good judgment is blurry.

Just a scientist's tuppence.

[Th1onein]

15. They ought to go to Germany.

I think 3-bromopyruvate is available there now.

[paleotn]

16. Horse crap!

...if it means the child will die from being subjected to quackery, then hell no, the parents do not have the right to chose. But at least this stupidity doesn't risk as many lives as anti-vax idiocy.

[yeoman6987]

27. Parents apparently were right

I hear that the girl is doing very well and is in remission. Now that is what the media is saying so who knows. I still believe it is a family decision and the doctor's should only give recommendations. We cannot give up our rights to the doctors because they are looking at it from a financial scope as well. The hospital and doctor lost a lot of money by going out of the country.

[LisaL]

44. Claims that she is doing well comes from her relatives.

I personally would like for a hospital in the US to examine her before I believe these claims.

[geek tragedy]

32. Incorrect. Refusing to treat a life-threatening illness is not their right

Many parents have rightfully been prosecuted for homicide in such instances. It's child abuse/neglect.

[Gore1FL]

18. Suicide. n/t

[SkyDaddy7]

21. yep.

Religion can be a very deadly as it infects the brain.

[oberliner]

24. Why is is relevant that she is Amish?

Why is that part of the headline and the article?

[alp227]

29. Because the Amish reject a lot of modern technology

Ironic how the family used anytime most likely, to escape modern medicine!

[oberliner]

30. They don't reject modern medicine

In fact, it says exactly that in the article.

[Posteritatis]

33. They're actually rather more nuanced than that about technology. (nt)

[ccsar]

28. In some places

girls can get abortions without parental consent at 12 or 13, and that is positively ending a life. If they can make that decision an 11 year old should be able to decide for herself in a case like this especially since she already knows what the chemo does to her. Most anybody with cancer knows the odds and possibilities probably better that the majority of doctors no matter what their age. They are living with it. As someone with a genetic condition myself I am very well aware of what the future could hold. She knows what is going on with her body far better than any of us and I think she has the right to decide what course she should take. Kids with serious illnesses are in many ways far wiser than the majority of folks.

[liberal_at_heart]

38. 12 or 13 year olds cannot fully comprehend consequences. That part of their brain isn't even fully

formed yet. Should 12 year olds be able to deny themselves surgery after an accident simply because they don't want the pain of surgery? Chemo sucks. But people live through chemo treatment and many get better. Some do not. But the child should be given a chance to live and chemo will give her a chance.

[Skittles]

39. cite the links for your first sentence please

[LeftyMom]

40. Are you suggesting that twelve or thirteen year old girls should carry pregnancies to term?

:O

[ccsar]

43. Just saying

that if they can make their own decision in one medical procedure why not another.

[pnwmom]

41. Welcome toDU, ccsar!

I agree with you that an 11 year old to understand what is happening and to be able to make the decision, with the help of her parents.