Strollerderby

Such a horrible position to be put in. As a parent, I don't know what I would do, either. And, I'm sure they have wrestled with the ideas. But, they do know their daughter best, and I admire them standing by her decision. She's been through so much as it is.

I'm really not sure what I would do either. However, I don't think we can judge. They have seen their daughter go through so much with her leukemia treatment, and maybe the suffering is just too great. We don't know what the chances are that the heart transplant would work, and if it caused the leukemia to come out of remission, I'm not sure what the point would be.

Often, doctors want to lengthen life no matter what, but sometimes the person and family have to decide when the pain is just too much.

I admire their courage to fight as long as they have and their courage to stop fighting as well.  

This poor girl didn't have the choice of how to live(including her childhood), but she should have the choice of how to die. Even at 13, the pain she has probably already endured has most likely aged and wizened her.

I cannot imagine what her parents are going through, but I have enormous respect for them in that they are respecting their daughter.

Amy - <i>"I tend to think that I would try to convince my child to try every last possible treatment before giving up, as long as the treatment had a decent shot of helping."</i> - there's the rub, right? The treatment has a decent shot of helping her - but also of killing her just the same by the same disease she's been dying of.  I'm not sure how great the option sounds, in that case - or that I'd try and convince a kid to go through it with those risks.  Many folks who've been through cancer treatment might find it extremely hard to take that risk, especially if it seems like the girl might not make it either way. So I'm throwing my two cents in with the above and congratulating the parents on handling the situation in the way they all felt was best for the family.

As a kid I used to fear that I could be forced to undergo medical treatments I wouldn't have wanted. My mom told me that I always had the right to refuse - I didn't realize until just now how wrong she was! Forcing someone to have surgery - even at a possible benefit to them - just sounds absolutely barbaric to me.

The government trying to force anyone to have surgery, especially in a situation like this? Terrifying.

This family strikes me as very courageous in an unimaginable situation.

i may self had a transplant. at the time i too did not want a trasplant as i felt i had gone through enough pain. but i went through it. it was the best decsion of my life. i leave a normal life as do others who had trasplants. this girl should think again about this.

Decubitus position of the patients for long periods of time (currently used in clinical practice) without being performed daily a preventive and suitable physiotherapy for the metabolic and physiological stimulation of the body represents a serious error in modern medicine, for the most common pathologies. To treat a body in the circumstances of a metabolism that oscillates long periods of time around the basal rate value, is evidently that in these metabolic conditions may additionally appear and other pathologies or latent pathological affections can be released, leading to major pathological complications and sometimes to the complete body collapse.      

Particularly speaking is regrettable that the Hannah’s cardiomyopathy was discovered so late, since it may be even the essential cause of the leukemia, according to my concepts on the human physiopathology (published in the Journal of Experimental Therapeutics and Oncology  - Volume 6, Number 2, 2007, “Somatic tissues degeneration”).  

Obviously, there are certain palliating circumstances, because the Hannah’s cardiomyopathy if it initially existed (if it was the cause of leukemia), its initial stage was relatively imperceptible the cardiomyopathy has evolved progressively. Besides, the initial status of the cardiovascular system was probably not examined as a potential and essential cause of the leukemia.

The intention of this comment is absolutely not to accuse the pediatricians from the Herefordshire Primary Care Trust where Hannah Jones was receiving treatment, because the physiopathologic concept above mentioned on the correlation between the heart failure and leukemia it is a new concept, it has not yet been implemented in the medical practice and education.    

However, the heart transplant is not the best solution in this pathologic case (having in view her clinical and physiological state), especially owing to the fact that the physiological degeneracy has inclusively been occurred at the level of specialized nervous areas of the heart from the CNS, in direct proportional relationship with the heart condition.  

If Hannah’s leukemia has not been nervously determined by functional nervous disturbances of specialized nervous areas of the bone marrow tissues from the central nervous system (that’s less probable at the age of 4-5 years), and it has only been determined by the heart condition, the physiotherapy can be a valid possibility of treatment. A suitable physiotherapy systematized applied for the physiological stimulation of the cardiovascular system and respectively its specialized nervous areas from the CNS, is able to solve the girl’s cardiomyopathy and implicitly the remission of the leukemia. It is not difficult of applied and the physiotherapy can be performed at home, not in the hospital, it may be accepted by Hannah and her parents having regard to the girl’s emotional state.      

Certainly, the duration of physiotherapeutic process will be relatively long time, a few years, about 1-2 hours every day it will be progressively applied in relationship to the physiopathologic status of the body. Also, this suitable and constant applied physical therapy should be preventively used and after her complete cured (at an adequate intensity), for the health maintenance of cardiovascular system and parenchymal organs. Additionally, I would like to mention within this context that the last aspect (exercise and physical fitness) should have a general character, the physiological and metabolic preventive stimulation of human body tissues is absolutely necessary in the social environmental conditions for avoiding degenerative and pathological processes at the level of cardiovascular system and parenchymal organs – and implicitly at the level of musculoskeletal tissues.  

Finally, after the physiotherapeutic treatment, if an open heart operation will be imperious necessary for correction, or even a heart transplant, it will certainly be performed in superior conditions for survival, and without possibility of recurrence of the leukemia.

I would be very glad if this short scientific comment (opinion) will favorably influence the decision of this amazing brave girl for a good outcome - and the British medical authorities agree that the solution of the physiotherapeutic treatment is scientifically founded and valid for this pathologic case if the Hannah’s leukemia has occurred due to heart condition.

Pavel D.