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Acmlm's Board - I3 Archive - General Chat - Teenager fights cancer and court... | New poll | | |
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Danielle 6730 Administratorrrr HELLO THERE Since: 11-17-05 From: California Rate me ^_^ Last post: 6432 days Last view: 6431 days |
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Read this.
It makes me sick that the state can actually step in like that... charge his family with such outrageous things when really, they haven't done anything wrong. They're not even allowed to leave Virginia... I'm almost at a loss for words... They go to court next week to fight it... if they lose, he will no longer live at home with his family. |
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Deleted User Banned Since: 05-08-06 Last post: None Last view: 6431 days |
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I clicked the link once and started to read it, accidentally hit back, then went back in and now it wants to know a little bit about me. I didn't even get to the part about why they are going to court. Could you please posts about why they are going? That would be quite helpful. | |||
acillatem98 Crow Since: 11-18-05 From: Barberton, Ohio Last post: 6436 days Last view: 6432 days |
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To read that and see the family already going through knowing their son has cancer, and all the money that they've spent that put them in debt, and then having a court case over the whole thing is terrible.
I don't see how anyone, state or not, can stand to do this to a family. |
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Danielle 6730 Administratorrrr HELLO THERE Since: 11-17-05 From: California Rate me ^_^ Last post: 6432 days Last view: 6431 days |
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Originally posted by Syn ... I'll post it just in case that happens to a lot of people... it's worth reading. It really is. Virginia teen fights to treat his cancer his way CHINCOTEAGUE, Va. � Three months of chemotherapy last year made Starchild Abraham Cherrix nauseated and so weak that at times the tall, skinny teenager had to be carried by his father because he couldn't walk. So when Abraham, as he's usually called, learned in February that the cancer was active once again, he balked when doctors recommended another round of the drugs, as well as radiation. "I think it would kill me the second time," said Abraham, who instead turned to a sugar-free organic diet, herbs and visits to a clinic in Mexico to treat his Hodgkin's disease, a cancer of the lymph nodes. On Monday, Abraham and his family will be in juvenile court in Accomack County for a closed hearing to determine whether the 16-year-old can make his own medical decisions � and whether he can keep living with his parents and four siblings on Chincoteague, an island off Virginia's Eastern Shore. A social worker had asked a judge to require Abraham to continue conventional treatment, and in May the judge issued a temporary order finding Jay and Rose Cherrix neglectful for supporting their son's choice to pursue alternatives. Judge Jesse E. Demps also ordered the parents to share custody of Abraham with the Accomack County Department of Social Services; they face losing custody completely. "It's scary that they can come in and they can do this to you," said Jay Cherrix, who runs a kayak business next door to the family's home. "It's hard enough to deal with a child having this disease, and then to have to deal with this (court case) as if we were criminals ...," Cherrix said, his voice trailing. Barry Taylor, Abraham's attorney, said the case could set a precedent allowing social workers to intervene in any situation in which they disagree with a family's decisions about medical treatment. "The state's rights should not be superior to parents' rights," Taylor said. "It's almost communistic, like the state knows best." Mary E. Parker, director of the social services department, said she could not discuss Abraham's case because of privacy laws. In a similar case, the parents of 13-year-old Hodgkin's disease patient Katie Wernecke won the right in November to make all her medical decisions after a court fight with child welfare officials in Corpus Christi, Texas. While doctors had recommended chemotherapy and radiation, her father favored intravenous vitamin C. Hodgkin's disease is considered very treatable through conventional means and has a five-year survival rate of at least 80 percent, according to the Lymphoma Information Network. Abraham was diagnosed last summer after he found a knot on his neck that turned out to be a swollen lymph node full of cancer cells. Tests revealed he also had a tumor near his windpipe. To undergo chemotherapy, he made repeated visits to the nearest children's hospital, two hours away in Norfolk. In December, Abraham learned there were no more active cancer cells. After active cancer cells were spotted again two months later, doctors wanted to give him massive amounts of chemo, plus radiation, Abraham and his parents said. "They wanted to bring me to the brink of death, then bring me back, try to restore me with stem cells," said Abraham, who is home-schooled and has a brother who is autistic and a sister who needs back surgery. Abraham and his parents researched alternative medicine and heard about the Hoxsey treatment of liquid herbal supplements and a diet heavy on fresh fruits and vegetables. The treatment used to be available in the United States but proponents moved their clinic from Texas to Mexico in the early 1960s after repeated clashes with federal authorities. Rose Cherrix said she supports her son's decision to follow this approach because he is mature and thoughtful. "He had been through the chemo and he knew what it did to him," she said. "He knew more than any of us what his body was going through." Jay Cherrix initially was skeptical but said he changed his mind when he took Abraham to the Bio-Medical Center in Tijuana in March to begin treatment and found the staff professional and warm. Cherrix now administers herbs to his son four times a day, carefully decanting into a small measuring glass a dark elixir with ingredients such as licorice and red clover. Father and son also pray together before Abraham drinks the concoction. Abraham and his parents think a doctor reported them to Social Services for not continuing with chemotherapy, landing them in court. The judge forbid the family to leave Virginia, though he allowed Abraham to return to the Mexican clinic last month only after the teen had X-rays to assess his disease. The X-rays showed the chest tumor had grown mildly, Abraham said, adding that he wasn't surprised because natural treatment takes some time to work its way into the body. He said, though, that he has a lot of energy and feels great. Jay Cherrix said he is not worried about Abraham using the method and will keep fighting for his son's right to continue it, even though he estimated medical and legal costs have helped put the family $100,000 in debt. "I am worried because he has cancer," Cherrix said. "It's the responsibility of all parents, when their children are sick, to get them the best care that they possibly can." "When Abraham got cancer, it devastated all of us," he continued. "I carried him in from the (chemotherapy) treatments and he looked as if he was a survivor from a concentration camp. We thought many nights we were going to lose him." |
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Deleted User Banned Since: 05-08-06 Last post: None Last view: 6431 days |
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They're taking the kid to court because he's making his own medical decisions? That's just stupid. If his parents approve of it, why should he be tried? The legal system nowadays is just so odd. I think that he should be able to make his own medical decisions since he's been through this before and he knows how he's going to react. Why take that away from him? I see no reason to. | |||
Sweet Kassy Molassy Out of ice cream and PB. Would KILL for a milkshake right now. Since: 06-17-06 From: LoozeeAnna Last post: 6431 days Last view: 6431 days |
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Bah. I've been discussing it on AIM with Danielle and it's sapped my posting fuel.
I have two very important words though. Civil rights. Unless the state declares the boy legally insane, they can't force medication upon him. I forsee this case ending in favor of the family AND setting a good precedent. I was less angry with the social services after I learned his cancer was Hodegkins' Lymphoma, which is very treatable, but only because I could kinda see it thier way. The state is also afraid of highly publicized cases in which patients seek alternative medicine treatments because they consider such things to be voodoo quackery and don't want people getting ideas. Ultimately, though, it's none of my or anyone else's business how a person who is obviously mature enough to make his own decisions chooses to seek treatment. It doesn't potentially hurt anyone but him. We have the right to make such choices in America, and it pisses me off when anyone abuses the judiciary system with foolish cases for the purpose of bullying people. (edited by Kasdarack on 07-12-06 10:41 PM) |
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acillatem98 Crow Since: 11-18-05 From: Barberton, Ohio Last post: 6436 days Last view: 6432 days |
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I fully agree with what you said there Kasdarack.
I honestly don't even see a point in bringing the family to court because of that. |
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Alastor Fearless Moderator Hero Since: 11-17-05 From: An apartment by DigiPen, Redmond, Washington Last post: 6431 days Last view: 6431 days |
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What can I say? It's Virginia. | |||
Kattwah Acro RIP Acmlm's Board: Feb. 18 2007 Since: 11-17-05 Last post: 6431 days Last view: 6431 days |
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Originally posted by Alastor the StylishWhat can I say? You suck. I LIVE in Virginia, and its a fine place THANKS. That aside, this... yeah... one of the not-so-good screwup cases that every state has now and then... And yes, I am disgusted by the action of my Government. |
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Cynthia Uh-huh. Since: 11-17-05 From: LaSalle, Quebec, Canada Last post: 6431 days Last view: 6431 days |
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It's not like the kid has a terminal disease or anything.
Can't see this not ending in the family's favor; the public outcry would be huge if it didn't. |
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Peardian N-Z KvSG #193 is up! Since: 11-17-05 From: Pearl Island Last post: 6432 days Last view: 6431 days |
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That's horrible. If he doesn't want treatment, they can't force him to endure it. I truly hope they drop the case or settle it in his favor. | |||
Sweet Kassy Molassy Out of ice cream and PB. Would KILL for a milkshake right now. Since: 06-17-06 From: LoozeeAnna Last post: 6431 days Last view: 6431 days |
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What's really sad is the fact that this family is now having to pay all kinds of legal fees on top of the cost of all of thier other misfortune. That just really fucking sucks. | |||
Koneko Plasma Whisp Since: 11-17-05 From: Tartarus. We get faster internet than you. Last post: 6431 days Last view: 6431 days |
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...Wow.
I'm rooting for this kid. Incidentally, I also live in Virginia. Alastor is doing a good job being a jerk, that jerk. |
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Thexare Metal battleaxe Off to better places Since: 11-18-05 Last post: 6431 days Last view: 6431 days |
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I live in Virginia too. Other than that, I have only one thing to say.
What kind of name is Starchild? No, seriously, what in the nine hells were those parents thinking? Everyone else said what I would've about the case, so... really, I can't think of anything else. =/ |
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Xkeeper Took the board down in a blaze of glory, only to reveal how truly moronical ||bass is. Since: 11-17-05 From: Henderson, Nevada Last post: 6431 days Last view: 6431 days |
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Originally posted by Syn Disable cookies.
What the fuck? (edited by tunabot on 07-13-06 12:47 AM) |
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HyperHacker Star Mario Finally being paid to code in VB! If only I still enjoyed that. <_< Wii #7182 6487 4198 1828 Since: 11-18-05 From: Canada, w00t! My computer's specs, if anyone gives a damn. STOP TRUNCATING THIS >8^( Last post: 6431 days Last view: 6431 days |
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So they pay $100,000 for government-issued cures that don't work. Now they want to try another method, but it's suddenly become illegal. Really the question is whether they know his method will work and don't want people to know it, or just that they want to keep sucking more and more money out of the (very) poor bastard. Absolutely disgusting? Yes. Surprising? Not at all. Who cares about an innocent family's loss of their son and all their money when you can make a quick buck? | |||
Simon Belmont Except I'm totally fucking hyped about Dracula X: Chronicles. Since: 11-18-05 From: Pittsburgh Last post: 6431 days Last view: 6431 days |
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I would suggest they leave the country. If you don't like the government why are you even there?
That aside, it doesn't suprise me really, but then again nothing suprises me anymore, it's a crooked world run by big business, so of course the government [who gets funding by guess who, business] is going to do something to keep getting more money. Not like they care about people or anything.
yeah thats pretty much how the world thinks ;p |
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emcee Red Super Koopa Since: 11-20-05 Last post: 6431 days Last view: 6431 days |
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Herbs don't cure cancer. | |||
HyperHacker Star Mario Finally being paid to code in VB! If only I still enjoyed that. <_< Wii #7182 6487 4198 1828 Since: 11-18-05 From: Canada, w00t! My computer's specs, if anyone gives a damn. STOP TRUNCATING THIS >8^( Last post: 6431 days Last view: 6431 days |
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No, but his plan might have some success.
Originally posted by setz How do you leave the country when you're $100,000 in debt and fighting a lawsuit? |
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Sabishii Red Paragoomba Since: 02-26-06 From: Georgia Last post: 6598 days Last view: 6598 days |
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Not to mention the judges have already ruled that they can't leave Virginia. Rather difficult to leave the country when you can't leave the state.
While I can definitely see the social service's side on the issue, I think it's a safe bet that everyone sides with the family. Last time I checked, alternative medicines were no big deal. As for herbs not curing cancer, technically radiation and chemotherapy don't either. It's like bleach, it can kill the cancer cells, but it'll also kill everything else around it. It sucks being a minor sometimes, doubly so if you're like this kid and you're perfectly able to make your own decisions about your own life and no one will let you. |
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Acmlm's Board - I3 Archive - General Chat - Teenager fights cancer and court... | | |