Dad Gives 2 year old son battling with Brain Cancer Medical Marijuana

[ape descendant]

http://www.thelibertyunderground.net...urce=BP_recent

This story made me cry. I'm just glad that they were able to get the little one to eat a little something again. :'(

[Despanan]

that is a tearjerker.

[Fruitbat]

Originally Posted by ape descendant

http://www.thelibertyunderground.net...urce=BP_recent

This story made me cry. I'm just glad that they were able to get the little one to eat a little something again. :'(

So friggin' sad, made me cry too... How do kids that small get brain cancer.. that's just so wrong.

[Despanan]

Originally Posted by Fruitbat

So friggin' sad, made me cry too... How do kids that small get brain cancer.. that's just so wrong.

Maybe they read your posts.

Just Sayin'

[Ben Lahnger]

My ex's 6 year old granddaughter has a stage 3 (borderline 4) Neuroblastoma and she's going in for her 5th round of aggressive Chemo today. These sessions have left her in more and more pain and increasingly nauseous. I don't know how her family deals with it, but they don't put videos of her on YouTube.

[Despanan]

Originally Posted by Ben Lahnger

My ex's 6 year old granddaughter has a stage 3 (borderline 4) Neuroblastoma and she's going in for her 5th round of aggressive Chemo today. These sessions have left her in more and more pain and increasingly nauseous. I don't know how her family deals with it, but they don't put videos of her on YouTube.

That was a news story.

[Ben Lahnger]

I get that. They don't put her on the news either.

[Fruitbat]

Originally Posted by Despanan

Maybe they read your posts.

Just Sayin'

Bwah-ha-ha-ha-ha!!

No my posts make you want to cry in despair at my stupdiditity and lack of spelking...

Anyway the only thing my 2 year old writes on the computer is:

fdjsaklfjdsap ou43jP09NJAC[PM;IA;FLISADU[PFDSOA JMFSAOIFKOC M

or
bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb

and gives me the blue screen of death.

Maybe they need to get the kid to stop using a cellphone.

Ben - yeah why do people feel the friggin' need to put everything on youtube or the internet... screw that... somethings are personal and they should stay that way.

[Solumina]

Different people deal with things in different ways, if putting this out there helps the family to cope then really what harm does it cause you?

[Ben Lahnger]

Originally Posted by Solumina

Different people deal with things in different ways, if putting this out there helps the family to cope then really what harm does it cause you?

That's not the question. The question is what harm does it cause them?

In the middle of trying to get their two year old through this most monstrous of circumstances, where they've chosen to find a controversial means to assist the boy, publicizing that information is certain to instigate questions from other people. When you're walking the thinnest of tightropes, is courting controversy and outside interference really in their child's best interests?

[CptSternn]

Both are very good points, but at the end of the day, is it not in the best interest of society to bring the discussion to a public forum? There will be detractors no matter which path you take, but if you bring it out in front of everyone you are more likely to garnish needed support that could help as well as provide support for anyone else who may find themselves in the same situation.

[Ben Lahnger]

And you could do that after the child has won/lost this battle. My point still stands.

[Solumina]

Maybe the hope that what they are doing could help another family is what gets them though this hard time. Maybe having all of this going on around them lets them take their minds off of the pain and sorrow that they are dealing with, if only for a moment. Maybe they were just so sick of having to tell people that their son has cancer that they just wanted to get it out as publicly as possible (I can personally attest to how rare the good days are when you are watching a loved one slowly waste away and how soul destroying it can be when, on one of those rare days, you run into someone that you haven’t seen in a while and they innocently ask how your family members are doing. The reality of it all, which had somehow been lifted for a short time, comes crashing back down). We don't know their motivation, we really don't know how it is affecting the family, and you really can’t know what you would do unless you have been in their position.

[Ben Lahnger]

Originally Posted by Solumina

... and you really can’t know what you would do unless you have been in their position.

Uh ... what? That was the point of my story; that I've been around and close to people who are in their position. So, yeah, I can know what I would do because I have been watching my friends go through this.

[Solumina]

I hate to sound like a bitch but watching friends' families is not the same, not even the same ballpark, and yes, what your ex and her family is going through is also cancer, but it is also a very different situation, now if your ex's granddaughter was undergoing an experimental treatment that was showing great hope for success and they decided that sharing that hope with others through a news source wasn't worth the attention or controversy then that family would have been in the same situation (and even so you still would have experienced it third hand). Besides just because one family chooses not to do something that doesn't mean that it is wrong for others to do it.

What exactly is your problem with what they are doing? Honestly I can't begin to see your side here.

[Deadmanwalking_05]

I'm glad to know that the child was able to get some help from one of the oldest forms of medication on the planet,I would have done the same if I were in their boots.

[Ben Lahnger]

Originally Posted by Solumina

I hate to sound like a bitch but watching friends' families is not the same, not even the same ballpark, and yes, what your ex and her family is going through is also cancer, but it is also a very different situation, now if your ex's granddaughter was undergoing an experimental treatment that was showing great hope for success and they decided that sharing that hope with others through a news source wasn't worth the attention or controversy then that family would have been in the same situation (and even so you still would have experienced it third hand). Besides just because one family chooses not to do something that doesn't mean that it is wrong for others to do it.

What exactly is your problem with what they are doing? Honestly I can't begin to see your side here.

If you didn't want to sound like a bitch, a suggestion presents itself.

It is the same ballpark ... I'm just in the stands, not an actor on the field. I see everything they are going through and witness the conversations when they discuss what they are going through and what they are choosing to do next. The 6 year old is in fact receiving an experimental treatment that has been achieving positive results, but there are proper channels for that to be publicized in (which is how their doctor heard about it in the first place.)

I understand two families could choose to deal with even the exact same problem in different ways. That doesn't mean one choice doesn't merit criticism.

My problem isn't with their choice of an experimental fix, but in publicizing a lightening-rod-controversial fix when they need to focus all their energies on getting that child well. In putting the controversial subject of treating their 2 year old child with medical marijuana (which I am very okay with) in the media, they are inviting the inevitable distraction of dealing with pundits, reporters, critics and busy-bodies who will distract them from where their focus should be. It's simply a matter of time and resource management.

[Solumina]

So your whole issue with this is that the parents may get distracted? You are judging them for wanting to share their sliver of hope with others in similar situations because they could get distracted?

Originally Posted by Ben Lahnger

It is the same ballpark ... I'm just in the stands, not an actor on the field.

No it isn't and no you're not, you are watching the game on tv with a time delay. Right now you are showing a lack of understanding of basic human psychology and a level of egocentrism that I din't expect from you and quite frankly it is making me furious.

Originally Posted by Ben Lahnger

there are proper channels for that to be publicized in (which is how their doctor heard about it in the first place.)

Well that is great that their doctor found it in a medical journal but medical journals take a long time to come out and unless there is a lot of money thrown at it or it is a beyond anyone's belief chances are that article isn't going to get a ton of attention and you aren't going to have a doctor who has happened to read that particular article in that particular journal.

There is another even more important reason, at least to me, for a human interest piece like this. Medical journals are about science, doctors need the science but patients and their families need hope, which is something this article gives them.




Maybe I'm just too close to this and maybe I just can't think rationally about this because if I learned about someone undergoing a new, experimental treatment that would have at least given my father a fighting chance and they wanted to wait until their battle was over before sharing then yeah I would fucking resent them and their decision. I wouldn't hate them as I'm sure they would have thought that decision was in their family's best interest and I wouldn't think less of them for that but I would still think they made the wrong choice.

[Fruitbat]

Originally Posted by Solumina

Maybe the hope that what they are doing could help another family is what gets them though this hard time. Maybe having all of this going on around them lets them take their minds off of the pain and sorrow that they are dealing with, if only for a moment. Maybe they were just so sick of having to tell people that their son has cancer that they just wanted to get it out as publicly as possible (I can personally attest to how rare the good days are when you are watching a loved one slowly waste away and how soul destroying it can be when, on one of those rare days, you run into someone that you haven’t seen in a while and they innocently ask how your family members are doing. The reality of it all, which had somehow been lifted for a short time, comes crashing back down). We don't know their motivation, we really don't know how it is affecting the family, and you really can’t know what you would do unless you have been in their position.

I watched my parents fade away with cancer and I wouldn't make it public. Hell, even my siblings didn't know how sick they were.

It's not about the right and wrong of giving a kid weed, it's about what helps the dying/sick person deal with what they are going through at the time.

You sit by a bed and hold the hand of someone who is dying, not because you need the comfort but so you can give comfort to the person in their last hours.

The parents would be critizised if they let the kid starve or if they got the kid to eat using weed.

If I was in their shoes, I'd do whatever it took to make sure my kid had the best chance of survival, regardless of what anyone else thought of me.

I get that they shared their story to try and help others out in similar circumstances, and I get that some people would cling onto that to use the story for better or worse and that family has balls the size of Texas for making that decision to go public.

[Ben Lahnger]

I understand the personal connection anyone who's had a loved one battle cancer or other critical illness would have to this story, and I appreciate your empathy and passion. I still stand by my opinion. The primary concern of the parents should be optimizing the recovery of their child's health ... and anything that distracts from that is a problem.

Here is a better reporting of the story from ABC News that doesn't make the story a campaign for the legalization of medical marijuana.

I am for the legalization of medical marijuana. The benefits are many and undeniable. I'm even for the legalization of all marijuana, even though I have no interest in using it myself. I probably would have taken the same steps to get my son the medical marijuana if I was in that father's shoes. But this wasn't the time for the father to publicize the story as advocacy for legalization.

Doctors say there's a 50% to 80% chance that Cash's cancer is going to come back. His father should be making sure his family is in an optimal position to fight, should that happen.

I said that it was a matter of time and resource management. Here's an example: making sure the father is around to support Cash is one of those concerns. If after his very public admission, Salt Lake City or Utah officials decide to prosecute the father for illegal possession of medical marijuana, he could spend time in jail. It would be a crappy thing to do and it would generate a backlash of negative public reaction, but considering the ultra-conservative types of laws and legal rulings I've seen come out of Utah over the last couple of years, it wouldn't surprise me.

The current laws of Utah (according to this www.medicalmarijuanablog.com post) state that possession of less than 1oz of marijuana can result in up to six months in jail and up to a $1,000 fine. Any conviction results in 6 month drivers license suspension. As that blog puts it, "if you medicat(e) a serious medical condition with marijuana, you risk arrest and imprisonment."

I'm not saying that should happen or that it would be a good idea. I'm just saying that it is a real and possible risk, at a time when this family can ill afford to be without their father for 6 months (or more if he were to be prosecuted for multiple occurances.) And both articles make it clear the father knew he was risking prosecution by his public admission of using illegal medical marijuana.

I very much want this boy to beat this thing and live a long and healthy life. I admire the father for doing "whatever it took" to help his boy fight the cancer. I just have a different opinion than you about whether he should have made a public admission about it at this time, regardless of his motivation.

[PortraitOfSanity]

It's not YOUR granddaughter. Changes the game completely.

[Ben Lahnger]

Okay. He could still be arrested.

[Fruitbat]

Originally Posted by Ben Lahnger

I understand the personal connection anyone who's had a loved one battle cancer or other critical illness would have to this story, and I appreciate your empathy and passion.

Doctors say there's a 50% to 80% chance that Cash's cancer is going to come back. His father should be making sure his family is in an optimal position to fight, should that happen.

Those are shit odds. Totaly agree Ben.

I would keep my mouth shut - what's the use of dear old dad spending time in jail when he should be out, helping his son battle cancer/spending time with the kid.

I'd do it, but I'd keep it quiet... because you just know that the authorities will get hold of him and prosecute him for it, to make an example of him (or some other crap).

[CptSternn]

Originally Posted by Ben Lahnger

Okay. He could still be arrested.

It depends on the state.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decrimi..._United_States

http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6331

Most people are unaware that many states have already put legislation in place to decriminalise marijuana use not just for medical for also for recreational purposes.

[Ben Lahnger]

Sternn, read before you post. I already addressed the state in question, posted a summary of the current law there, and linked to a medical marijuana advocacy blog that summarized the state of affairs in Utah ... an attempt was made in 2010 to get such legislation passed, and failed.