Way to go Hippie Parents

[FMJeff]

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8P9G0OO0&show_article=1

Ugh, fucking hippies, I hate them so much. Don't you think, you dumb fucks, that if you could cure cancer with fucking supplements and a healthy diet then the world would be free of cancer? You complete idiots.

Supplements? I want to strangle you. Now your kid is dead. There you go. You've paid the ultimate price for your fucking stupidity.

Let this be a lesson to all of you who believe in the super healing powers of ginko beloba, garlic, and other bullshit herbal and homeopathic remedies.

It's all fucking bunk. Bullshit. Snake Oil. It doesn't work. It's not science. If you can stop believing in fairies and dragons then you can certainly entertain the idea of living in a world where things easily purchased in your local supermarket have no effect on diseases like leukemia, AIDS and MS.

Ugh. This made me so fucking mad. Stupid fucking Jim Henson.

[burrben]

yes, a another story from ohio

[Furtherman]

Yep.

They are just as bad as the parents who want some god to heal thier kids with prayer.

Never works. Kid dies.



But what does Jim Henson have to do with it? You made Kermit cry!

[cupcakelove]

I think remember hearing about this story a while ago. Its not that they were hippies, they were told by doctors that they could stop chemo if the cancer went away. It did and they stopped chemo. The doctors sued them to try to resume the treatment, the parents resisted because they didn't trust the doctors that were now telling them the opposite of what they originally said. The parents did start treatments up again when the cancer came back a few months later.

[FMJeff]

I think remember hearing about this story a while ago. Its not that they were hippies, they were told by doctors that they could stop chemo if the cancer went away. It did and they stopped chemo. The doctors sued them to try to resume the treatment, the parents resisted because they didn't trust the doctors that were now telling them the opposite of what they originally said. The parents did start treatments up again when the cancer came back a few months later.

I think that's someone else. this clearly states holistic medicine as an alternative to chemo.

[phixion]

i remember reading this story. but when the kid was still alive, he was the one who wanted to stop chemo, his parents went along with him. he hated the way the chemo made him sick, tired, and throw up all the time. he said soemthing to the affect that 'death was better than chemo'

his choice, he made his bed so he was put to rest in it.

[DarkHippie]

I think that's someone else. this clearly states holistic medicine as an alternative to chemo.

No, it clearly states holistic medicine after the cancer had gone into remission, as opposed to putting a child through three years of hell.

[legroommusic]

People can take herbal teas and herbs and use ionic devices and silly meditation, but when it comes down to it nothing beats good old western medicine.

[Mike Teacher]

Yeah I must be missing something coz reading this I dont see any egrigious error; parents took him off after cancer was in remission and returned to it when the cancer returned.

Now, I completely agree with the thing about BS supplements; remember Laetrile?

But, I also have seen enough chemo wards and PICUs that I can completely understand those who say 'fuck this; I'd rather die' with some of the Chemo treatements. There's a whole range of em, the one my dad was on was about the worst made, and seeing what it does; well, it's fucking medieval sadly, even more sad that in 2007 this is the best thing we got.

THAT is what is truly sad and pathetic in all of this.


We're gonna loook back and say; those fucking idiots, all they had to do was to push past those last few unknowns, put the two sticks together to get the banana outside the cage and solve the fucking riddle of why some cells go batshit in the repro cycle and others dont, but they were too busy throwing money elsewhere. How sad, they lost millions to something they had the power to cure, and didn't.

My mother worked the god damn Iron Lung wards; she assisted the first polio vaccine given in NJ, as the photogs were there to place it in the papers. We can solve this. We can. And choose not to.

[ShowerBench]

Usually people who kill their kids by not treating them with modern medicine are right-wing religious fanatics who "leave it up to The Lord."

[Fat_Sunny]

Usually people who kill their kids by not treating them with modern medicine are right-wing religious fanatics who "leave it up to The Lord."

Fanatics, Yes, But How-So Right Wing? As F_S Understands It, Right-Wingers Go Out Of Their Way To Protect Life, Even To Ridiculous Extremes (Like Terri Schiavo And Calling A Fertilized Egg A "Baby").

You May Have Gotten To Used To Throwing Out A Flip Term Like "Right Wing Fanatic". It Doesn't Seem To Apply Here, Though.

[keithy_19]

We can solve this. We can. And choose not to.

Amen. It may just be me since I am not looking at any actual data, that cancer is udner funded. I think AIDS, which is the one disease that gets so much funded should be cut back. A preventable disease should not take top priority.

[CofyCrakCocaine]

I'm not doing any chemo if I get cancer. Chemo is what winds up killing half of the people it treats. And yes, I know, the cancer was already killing them and would have if chemo didn't beat the cancer to it. And yes...I know...it's the best alternative we've got right now. Well our best sucks fucking balls and is ultimately a wasted action in the long-run. It's modern-day blood-letting. Let's irradiate your entire body to kill a specific area of over-replicating cells? C'mon.

The trick is to figure out how to reactivate/replace the genetic stoplight that tells cells to stop replicating. That's the obvious key...but it's such a mystery. I doubt AIDS research is the problem and keeping cancer research down. I'd say our unwillingness to try newer things is what keeps us down. The hostility to alternatives to chemotherapy in general is what keeps advances down. We're never going to find the answer with chemo- that should be clear. Chemo is, and should remain, a last-resort "NUKE 'EM" strategy on the (America would bill it this way) "war on cancer"... I like ya jeff, but I don't agree with this hostility to someone trying something different, even though I agree that over-the-counter shit ain't gonna do shit for you in fighting cancer. Whatever could fight cancer we don't sell it over the counter and bill it as 'fights cancer good!'. We're still in the 17th century as far as our understanding of cancer goes.

I fully understand people's reluctance to engage in chemotherapy. It's saved lots of lives but it's killed alot too. And who's to say it was definately the chemo alone that did it? Lots of times cancer goes into remission and we have no clue why. All i know is, I hope they find an answer someday...and I wish I could hope for it to come soon, seeing as how I've got three people in my family who have cancer and are undergoing the chemo each day.

Fuck cancer.

[CofyCrakCocaine]

Fanatics, Yes, But How-So Right Wing? As F_S Understands It, Right-Wingers Go Out Of Their Way To Protect Life, Even To Ridiculous Extremes (Like Terri Schiavo And Calling A Fertilized Egg A "Baby").

You May Have Gotten To Used To Throwing Out A Flip Term Like "Right Wing Fanatic". It Doesn't Seem To Apply Here, Though.

He said right-wing religious fanatics. So he basically was saying they're right-wingers...which they probably are...who are religious fanatics...which they are. But I agree- all right-wingers shouldn't be associated with religious fanatics who happen to support their politics. Just as lefties shouldn't be all associated with the folks who rushed the stage at Columbia University.

[HBox]

I'm not doing any chemo if I get cancer. Chemo is what winds up killing half of the people it treats. And yes, I know, the cancer was already killing them and would have if chemo didn't beat the cancer to it. And yes...I know...it's the best alternative we've got right now. Well our best sucks fucking balls and is ultimately a wasted action in the long-run. It's modern-day blood-letting.

The rates at which people die from cancer are dropping and have been for a while. It's happening for a reason. And it's not the stellar way people take care of their own health.

[patsopinion]

the hippies vs the religous fans on the other side of the isle that dont believe in taking their kids to doctors because it is against god's will to change ones destiny

cancer sucks
crazy is worse
cancer might have a cure

[weezcase]

Yeah I must be missing something coz reading this I dont see any egrigious error; parents took him off after cancer was in remission and returned to it when the cancer returned.

But, I also have seen enough chemo wards and PICUs that I can completely understand those who say 'fuck this; I'd rather die' with some of the Chemo treatements. There's a whole range of em, the one my dad was on was about the worst made, and seeing what it does; well, it's fucking medieval sadly, even more sad that in 2007 this is the best thing we got.

on the first point Mike, the doctors obviously though the kid needed the therapy or they would not have sued them or reported them to child services

second, i can see making that choice for yourself, but for a child it is totally different, they can't make that choice for themselves and as a parent shouldn't you do everything possible to keep the child alive rather than taking a huge gamble (and it wasn't even the last ditch experimental surgery/new medical treatment type that they went with)

[milliehatchett]

8 years ago, my stepmother was diagnosed with breast cancer that had also begun to spread to her lymph nodes. After researching chemo and other options, she had a lumpectomy (they also removed the affected lymph nodes) and she refused the chemo - stating that it kills all of the good cells along with the bad. She went completely macrobiotic in her diet. The docs all told her this was a bad idea - she would die, etc.

8 years later, she is cancer free and healthy and it is her belief that she wouldn't have made it if she went through the chemo. The doctors call it a "miracle" but she said, how can the body heal itself if all of the good cells are dead?".

I know that not ALL stories end this way - some are much sadder BUT, doctors are not always right and parents (whether hippies or right wingers) just make the best decisions they can with the information they have. I know that there are truly wacked out parents out there who harm their kids intentionally but, when making medical decisions, it's not always so clear cut.

[JackStraw]

Last summer my boyfriend was diagnosed with stage three melanoma (which means it spead to his lymph nodes). He refused chemo and is treating it holistically. Not only has his cancer not spead but he is a much much healthier and aware person. Please be more informed before you start a thread like this. It makes sense that if cancer is caused by a deficiency in the immume system that by simply supporting it (with a healthy diet and suppliments) as opposed to destroying it (with chemo) a person has a much greater chance at avoiding metastasis. I could go on writing but I am so angry. If a person choses to not suffer the terrible side effects of conventional cancer treatment and live and possibly die in a dignified way then so be it. In one hundred years people will look back on chemo laugh about how crazy it was.

[lleeder]

What about Omega 3 is that bullshit?

[led37zep]

This is like an episode of House. Without the whitty puns and insults.

[SatCam]

In one hundred years people will look back on chemo laugh about how crazy it was.

hopefully they will be laughing about how crazy cancer was

[badmonkey]

second, i can see making that choice for yourself, but for a child it is totally different, they can't make that choice for themselves and as a parent shouldn't you do everything possible to keep the child alive rather than taking a huge gamble (and it wasn't even the last ditch experimental surgery/new medical treatment type that they went with)

This kid was 11 years old. These kids are often way more grown up and mature than most adults. They are usually the ones being strong and brave and comforting their crying parents during the weeks before they go. Everybody deals with this type of thing differently and there is no one right way to handle your kid's cancer other fatal childhood illnesses. Sometimes you just have to let the kids choose how they want to spend their last days.

Badmonkey

[boeman]

Cha Da Bugre

[weezcase]

This kid was 11 years old. These kids are often way more grown up and mature than most adults. They are usually the ones being strong and brave and comforting their crying parents during the weeks before they go. Everybody deals with this type of thing differently and there is no one right way to handle your kid's cancer other fatal childhood illnesses. Sometimes you just have to let the kids choose how they want to spend their last days.

Badmonkey

i agree that some children might be more mature than i gave them credit for, but that would have to be decided on a case by case basis. think of all the kids 11 year olds (or so) kids you know and think back to asking them to clean their room or vacuum or something, and how some of them will give up if you aren't around or whatever, can you imagine a kid sticking with a horrible treatment regiment on their own. additionally, since they are only 11 do they really have a concept of what they are giving up if the don't want to continue treatement?

[CofyCrakCocaine]

I'm not doing any chemo if I get cancer. Chemo is what winds up killing half of the people it treats. And yes, I know, the cancer was already killing them and would have if chemo didn't beat the cancer to it. And yes...I know...it's the best alternative we've got right now. Well our best sucks fucking balls and is ultimately a wasted action in the long-run. It's modern-day blood-letting. Let's irradiate your entire body to kill a specific area of over-replicating cells? C'mon.



The rates at which people die from cancer are dropping and have been for a while. It's happening for a reason. And it's not the stellar way people take care of their own health.

Yeah, I already said it was "our best alternative", so your whole post was unneccessary. I wasn't advertising "do-it-yourself" type holistic medicinal self-treatment- I was talking about trying alternatives and seeing what can be done- and holistic medicine is just one of many out there, so yeah, who knows. If it's all garbage how come Suzanne Somers didn't drop dead yet?

Because other methods fail (since we know jack and shit about how to treat this disease beyond what I've already described as a at-best 'nuke 'em' strategy) doesn't mean chemo is exactly "stellar" either, Sylvester Snide. It's still modern day blood-letting, there's probably a better way out there that we know nothing about unless we continue to experiment and learn new methods of containing it- disregarding it all in favor of "statistics" which are vague at best when it comes to cancer considering the myriad of different cases and types of cancer that occur in this country, to me, is symptomatic of your own ignorance.

[HBox]

Yeah, I already said it was "our best alternative", so your whole post was unneccessary. I wasn't advertising "do-it-yourself" type holistic medicinal self-treatment- I was talking about trying alternatives and seeing what can be done- and holistic medicine is just one of many out there, so yeah, who knows. If it's all garbage how come Suzanne Somers didn't drop dead yet?

Because other methods fail (since we know jack and shit about how to treat this disease beyond what I've already described as a at-best 'nuke 'em' strategy) doesn't mean chemo is exactly "stellar" either, Sylvester Snide. It's still modern day blood-letting, there's probably a better way out there that we know nothing about unless we continue to experiment and learn new methods of containing it- disregarding it all in favor of "statistics" which are vague at best when it comes to cancer considering the myriad of different cases and types of cancer that occur in this country, to me, is symptomatic of your own ignorance.

Do you HONESTLY think that no one is researching ways to treat cancer other than chemo? There are advanced cancer drugs out there with minimal side effects already and more are being developed. My sister was on one a couple months ago (a cancer drug that the doctors said definitively was NOT chemotherapy) and the only side effects it had was making her sleepy. (My sister did not have cancer, the drug was being tested in treating something else) Some are here, more are coming. People ARE trying to make the situation better. Do you honestly think there would be no interest in a simple, relatively side effect-free cancer cure?

And you were trying to have it both ways in your original post, first saying that yeah, chemo is the best alternative right now but then later saying who's to know if its the chemo that's saving some people. You could apply that logic to any alternative cancer treatments.

For me its not a question of alternatives its a question of who you are going to for them. Because at the end of the day these drugs are studied and researched. With alternative medicine it's rarely tested and researched to the degree normal drugs are. I'd never trust them to treat anything serious.