In Cassandra's own words, from her "Hartford Courant" Op-Ed,
"Over the past 17 years, I have lived a good life. It has always just been me and my mom and all of our pets. My mom raised me well, to be a strong, competent and independent woman. She taught me right from wrong and always led me in the right direction, standing by my side through every decision I made. I wouldn't have my strength, determination and motivation if it weren't for my mom. She played the role of a mom and a dad, and she did a damn good job!
"Over the past 17 years, I have lived a good life. It has always just been me and my mom and all of our pets. My mom raised me well, to be a strong, competent and independent woman. She taught me right from wrong and always led me in the right direction, standing by my side through every decision I made. I wouldn't have my strength, determination and motivation if it weren't for my mom. She played the role of a mom and a dad, and she did a damn good job!
Words cannot describe what my life has become over the last few months. "Horrifying" seems like an understatement. What I have been going through is traumatizing. Never did it cross my mind that one day I would be diagnosed with cancer. In September, after a stressful summer of blood work, examinations and biopsies, I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma.
My mom and I wanted to make sure my diagnosis was correct, so we agreed to seek a second opinion. We wanted to be 100 percent sure I had cancer. Apparently, going for the second opinion and questioning doctors was considered "wasting time" and "not necessary." My mom was reported to the Department of Children and Families for medical neglect because we weren't meeting the doctors' time standard."
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They also sedated and restrained her in order to render her unconscious to perform an invasive procedure to put in place a port. They have detained her in her hospital room with.a security guard at the door according to the article. This added on top of DCF and the police banging on her door at her house causing her to hide in the closet prior to taking her into custody. Best interests? Reasonable? All because they wanted to explore treatment options?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.policestateusa.com/2015/cassandra-forced-chemotherapy/
ReplyDeleteI think what is interesting is that when you read the reports on this case in "The Hartford Courant" and the "CT Law Tribune" they make it sound as if Cassandra was choosing to refuse all treatment and that by doing so she was choosing to die. They defined this case as a "right to die" case for teenagers. In fact, this is simply a case about a teenager who wished to have a second opinion, who wanted to know what her treatment options were in order to choose the best option for herself. In the treatment of cancer, there are always various approaches to treatment and certainly a 17 year old has the right to make such choices. I feel as though the media is manipulating the story and not telling the truth about what is going on. What is interesting also is the lack of awareness regarding attitude. The ability to face and overcome a challenging health crisis such as cancer comes from having a positive mental attitude and the will to fight. You can't establish that kind of attitude by bullying and manhandling a patient. This case is all about medical imperialism and nothing else.
ReplyDeleteThe case was spun as a failure to treat case when Cassandra herself indicates that she wanted to explore a second opinion - medical options. Doesn't appear that any investigative reporter even cared to speak to her prior to reporting on her ordeal. I would not expect anything less from the CT Law Tribune when the head of DCF sits as Chair of its editorial board. Without unbiased reporting and a free press, there is NO DEMOCRACY AT ALL. At least the Courant published her Op - Ed. They should get some credit for that.
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