We shouldn't be judging the 'chemo kid'
The hell of treatment gives cancer survivors insight into Hauser's decision to flee
May 25, 2009
DR. RAHUL K. PARIKH
SALON.COM
The story of Daniel Hauser, a 13-year-old boy from Minnesota with Hodgkin's lymphoma, instantly grabbed international headlines last week when the boy and his mother went on the lam. Daniel's mother Colleen refuses, because of her beliefs, to authorize chemotherapy treatments for her son.
Hodgkin's lymphoma has a 90 per cent cure rate with chemotherapy, and a 95 per cent chance of killing a person without it.
Chemotherapy will likely save Daniel's life and, as a pediatrician, I would not hesitate to recommend it.
But I would also like to turn down the volume on the talk-radio chatter and outraged editorials. That's because nobody seems to be talking about what it takes to beat Hodgkin's (or any other cancer).
...For the rest of this excellent article go to The Toronto Star's parentcentral.ca
