Maybe it is you, maybe it is your child, your parent, your friend, either way you seem them suffering from the harsh chemicals designed to fight cancer and think there must a better way. What would you do? Would you follow white man's rules and use their drugs? Or would you use your traditional medicine and ancient teachings to treat the disease? Read and think:1) Does the government have the right to tell this family how to treat their child?
2) Does CAS (an agency designed to help kids and the agency that had a large impact in the residential school system) have the right to take this child away from her parents?
3) What would you do? Chemo or traditional medicine?
4) How is this a world issue?
http://www.cbc.ca/news/aboriginal/first-nations-girl-chooses-traditional-medicine-over-chemo-1.2644637
This is my post for the week;
ReplyDeleteThis article is really sad but also has a harsh truth. The little girl, Makayla, does not have much insight nor intelligence to choose for herself what type of treatment she will undergo so she will automatically default to whatever her parents put before her. If her parents think that chemotherapy is doing more harm than good then that may be so but statistically it has a higher success rate.
Personally, I think the government has a right to protect the children of its country (the next generation) from parents who want to hurt there children and make sure they don't get treatment. I do not however think that this case in one of those situations. The family has already undergone a round of chemotherapy and realized that is was not working and was making the girl more sick (which does happen) if there culture has an alternative way to solve the cancer problem then I believe they should be able to explore that option.
If i was diagnosed with Leukemia i would honestly do the same thing Makayla and her family are doing. Try chemo to see if it helps at all, if my condition worsens then I will try another form of medicine. When my Grandmother had lymphoma we dropped chemo to try and take a different route and it ended up helping her live another 5-7 years!
This could be seen as a world issue in many ways mainly because of privacy. People like to have privacy and to treat and raise their own kids with values that they want for then. Having the government stick their noses in business like this isn't necessarily wrong but for a case like this, i see no reason why children's aid should intervene.
here is an article that shows the effects of chemotherapy and its long term effects of children who undergo treatment:
http://www.cancer.org/cancer/leukemiainchildren/detailedguide/childhood-leukemia-after-long-term-effects
Its awesome to hear that your grandmother got to live a longer life by using different types of treatment. In a world where you can go to the drug store and get a pill to fix anything we need some examples of people that show that western medicine is not always the best option. Nice post Adrian.
DeleteI agree with Anne, I think we are very dependent on pill fixes and that they might not always be the best fixes. However I also do not belive that typical western medicine is bad or that other methods are better. If you were to combine the two I feel it would provide the best results.
DeleteI think that the situation for this little girl is more than difficult. In addition to her already bad condition, she is making decisions as to how it should be treated. On top of all of this, she is at threat from being taken from her family during what may be the last days of her life. It is difficult to say whether or not the government or CAS has any right to take this young girl away from her parents. On one hand, it is the right of the parents to choose the treatment of their child, particularly if it is according to their native culture. On the other hand, if scientists and other medical professionals can agree that this will ultimately lead to the death of the little girl, it may be best for her to provide her with the healthcare she needs. Personally, I believe it is best to respect the wished of the family, but perhaps offer information on "white man's" medication and how it may be better than the naturopathic way.
ReplyDeleteI honestly don't think I could say what I would do in this situation. With smaller issues like colds, or the flu, or any other basic illness I will always take the most "natural" route possible for the situation. I have completely sworn off of any unnecessary medication like Advil, Tylenol, etc. and try to solve my issues with healthy foods, lots of water, rest, and various teas. Personally, I just think that this is what is best for my body. That being said, if it were something much more serious like cancer, I can't say that I would do the same thing. At that point it would be a fight for survival, not something I can endure like a headache.
I believe that this particular case is a world issue because it becomes a matter of whether or not we, as settlers, have any right to tell Native Canadians how they must live their lives. The question of whether or not they must conform to our societal values or are allowed to hold their own is one that has been asked for several decades.
This is a link explaining the sovereignty of the First Nation's People
http://www.chiefs-of-ontario.org/faq
Its cool that you drink tea instead of taking an advil! I wish i could do that but i just dont think it helps me at all.I really like your perspective on this article, good post Trev.
DeleteThis is my weekly post;
ReplyDeletePersonally i do not think that the government has the right to dictate how they should be parenting their child especially when they havent done anything wrong, especially in comparison to parents who sexually and physically abuse their children. Much worse people exist out there and the government needs to spend more time on them rather than on innocent people who are just trying to make their sick daughter's life somewhat under her own control.
No i really dont think that CAS has the right to take away their daughter. Saying this i also dont know her entire medical history or the severity of her condition so its hard to say. Children Aid Services was created to bring children out of poor living conditions so that they could be safe and happy, so this makes their motives unclear due to the fact that this little girl is the one who requested she be taken off of chemo not her parents. It is clear that this child is loved by her family and her community so i disagree with the route of action taken by CAS. Despite her age, Makayla is the one suffering from this horrible disease, she feels the pain and she is the only one who understands what her body needs, even if it is not the recommended choice by doctors or government officials. This sickness has taken over her life and if she feels that chemo is doing her more harm than good, then i believe she should be able to choose what happens. She's been out of control of her own body long enough. Not to mention this may just be another way for the government to show Natives how archaic their traditions are and how inferior they are to the white man.
I really dont know which route i would take. I suppose i would need to educate myself on each medical choice so that i would be able to see the pros and cons in each one. Just for history's sake i would most likely go with chemo simply because it has been used for so many years, although i dont really know anything about the natural ways so maybe if i did enough research and talked to enough people i could be swayed. Its always difficult to say what you do in such a difficult situation because it is life or death so i suppose i wouldnt know until i was actually faced with it (fingers crossed).
I believe this is a world issue because it comes down to personal rights and freedoms and whether or not we have the right to tell Natives how to live their lives. I mean it really comes down to whether or not we all must conform to the same morals and values of Western society, or if we should all be allowed to make our own choices depending on our own culture or beliefs because in the end that may be all that separates us as individuals. I think it is very important to understand and hold onto where we all come from because so much is mind numbingly similar in this day and age. If we can't even allow a dying girl her right to freedom and personal preference on choice of leukemic treatment then what have we become?
Here is an article that sheds light on how CAS has gone wrong in the past. http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2013/02/27/barbara-kay-the-problem-with-childrens-aid-societies/
This is my weekly post:
ReplyDeleteI chose this post because I found it extremely interesting to explore the boundaries between people’s cultural beliefs and the rules and regulations of western medicine treatment. Personally, I think that the government does have the right to take children away from their parents if they are deliberately putting their child in danger. In this case, I do not think this is what the parents are doing. Mikayla’s parents did put their child through chemotherapy. Once they realized that this was not what their daughter wanted, they decided to use a different option. To me, they are still fighting for their daughter’s life, they are just using a different method to do so. It could be possible that the alternative treatment works. Below, I attached a link explaining how the use of a certain natural treatment using enzymes to coat cancer cells has a 90% cure rate. If Mikayla’s parents believe that these treatments can work (which they have before), I have no reason to believe that they are intentionally putting their daughter in danger. For this reason, I do not think people have any right to take her away from her parents.
If I was in their position, I would also consider using alternative medicine instead of chemotherapy. Chemotherapy is an extremely intensive treatment with a lot of negative side affects. It is also not always successful. There are some natural treatments that can help. I would rather use these less of the intensive treatments and try to live a happy life than make myself miserable doing the other painful treatments. Also, it is part of Mikayla’s culture to believe this way will work which encourages her to do this.
This is a world issue because it addresses the elephant in the room for our health care system. Eventually people need to realize that western medicine is not always the best approach to curing diseases. Also, we need to realize that although we do not always agree with people, their culture is usually one of the most important things. Some believe that this could impair their judgement. A line must be drawn between what people think is right and what their religion tells them is right. The lack of the boundaries between the two is what makes it a world issue.
This is the link I used:
http://www.cancertutor.com
Much like what Trevor said, I think the situation can be looked at in two different ways:
ReplyDelete1) (I personally believe that) the parents should have the right to choose which treatment they want for their child because they are responsible for her wellbeing
2) However, from a medical perspective, if the government can prove that this treatment is the best way to increase her odds of survival, it's hard to argue with them
I do not believe that the agency has the right to take Makayla away from her parents. I'ts one thing to push the decision to continue to use chemotherapy, and another to take the child away because the parents plan to use a method of medication that doesn't appeal to the government or doctors. We should be helping children away from abuse or neglect, if anything, not taking them away because their parents believe that they are doing the right thing.
I honestly don't know what I would do in this situation. Like with most taboo topics, I could only imagine what I would do if the situation actually did occur. I would like to say that I would try chemotherapy first. However, I also come from an ethnic and cultural group that are native to south/central america that is still dependent on natural medicine. Therefore, if the chemo didn't seem to be working, I would completely understand if my mother resorted to such medicines.
I think that this is a global issue because, not only can cancer affect anyone worldwide, but I can imagine that a lot of cancer patients, with Leukemia especially, have a hard time making decisions regarding therapy. For this reason, I think that this is a topic that can definitely be covered on a global scale.
Here is the source I used:
http://www.canceractive.com/cancer-active-page-link.aspx?n=248