We should have a right to choose our own form of healthcare

"What it boils down to is does the American family have the right to decide on the health of their child or is the government allowed to come in and determine that themselves and threaten one way or the other to split our family up?"

-- Jay Cherrix

A young Virginian of 16 years, Starchild Abraham Cherrix, became "nauseated and weak" after undergoing chemotherapy for his Hodgekin's disease. As a result, he decided to find an alternative to the sometimes lifesaving and sometimes deadly treatment. His choice: eating organic foods, adopting a sugar-free diet, and taking herbal supplements, a treatment being overseen by a clinic in Mexico.

Instead of applauding this young man for his boldness and determination to adopt a newer, healthy diet rather than undergo the painful and ineffective usual treatment, a Virginia judge named his parents "neglectful," ordered that his parents "share custody with the state," and ruled that the 16 year old check into his old clinic by Tuesday.

WHAT?!

One would think that a young man of 16 would be capable of making decisions about his own life, and about his own future. Even if this young man is "incompetent," surely his parents (who wholeheartedly support him) have enough brain power to recognize what is best for THEIR OWN SON.

Furthermore, beyond the concept of what I believe to be one's right to choose one's own form of health care, and beyond a parents' right to make MAJOR decisions about their own children without the government stepping in, I believe it appalling that a judge would order someone to undergo painful and, arguably, unnecessary and ineffective treatment!

I believe that it violates the “dignity of a human being” to have unwanted medical practices forced upon oneself.

The usual treatment from this young man’s cancer made him “nauseated and weak.” Is not subjecting him, against his parents’ and his own wishes, to a medical treatment that has proven harmful and ineffective, tantamount to torture?

This judge should be ashamed of himself for his ruling and RECALL this recent decision!
Let this be a warning to all citizens of America and their children: choose in what state you live carefully, as it may mean the difference between life or death, and your decision to choose between them.

--Xi Hyperon

Please post your stories and comments on this matter. This case will set a dangerous precident, opening new windows of "big-brother" oversight into some of the most personal decisions of our lives. Let me know your thoughts.

--->> Articles referenceing this subject below <<---

CNN .COM
“NORFOLK, Virginia (AP) -- A judge ruled Friday that a 16-year-old boy fighting to use alternative treatment for his cancer must report to a hospital by Tuesday and accept treatment that doctors deem necessary, the family's attorney said.

The judge also found that Starchild Abraham Cherrix's parents were neglectful for allowing him to pursue alternative treatment of a sugar-free, organic diet and herbal supplements supervised by a clinic in Mexico, lawyer John Stepanovich said.

After three months of chemotherapy last year made him nauseated and weak, Abraham rejected doctors' recommendations to go through a second round when he learned early this year that his Hodgkin's disease, a cancer of the lymph nodes, was active again.

A social worker then asked a judge to require the teen to continue conventional treatment. In May, the judge issued a temporary order finding Abraham's parents neglectful and awarding partial custody to the county, with Abraham continuing to live at home with his four siblings.”

http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/07/21/sick.teen.ap/

DAILY PRESS .COM
By DENA POTTER
Associated Press Writer
July 11, 2006

RICHMOND, Va. -- A teen cancer patient fighting for the right to use alternative treatment on his illness told a judge Tuesday what it was like to go through chemotherapy and why he didn't want to relive that.

The judge heard 11 hours of testimony over two days, concluding with nine hours on Tuesday. He is expected to issue a written decision by July 18.

"I told him my story... so he could understand where I was coming from and live through me," 16-year-old Starchild Abraham Cherrix said after the closed hearing ended around 10 p.m.

Abraham, as he's usually called, and his family were in juvenile court in Accomack County to determine whether he can make his own medical decisions and whether he can keep living with his parents and four siblings on Chincoteague, an island off Virginia's Eastern Shore.

Abraham has Hodgin's disease, a cancer of the lymph nodes. Three months of chemotherapy last year made him extremely weak. So when he learned in February that his cancer was active again, he turned _ against doctor's advice--to a sugar-free organic diet, herbs and visits to a clinic in Mexico.

A social worker asked a judge to require the teen to continue conventional treatment.

In May the judge issued a temporary order finding Jay and Rose Cherrix neglectful for supporting their son's choice to pursue alternatives. Judge Jesse E. Demps also ordered the parents to share custody of Abraham with the Accomack County Department of Social Services; they face losing custody completely.

"What it boils down to is does the American family have the right to decide on the health of their child or is the government allowed to come in and determine that themselves and threaten one way or the other to split our family up?" Jay Cherrix said Tuesday night.

Barry Taylor, the family's attorney, said the case had major ramifications not only in Virginia, but across the nation, when it comes to parents' rights to determine what is best for their children.

"I don't think any family in the commonwealth would be comfortable with the fact that a social worker with no medical training could make a medical decision for their child," Taylor said. "It's an assault on the American family."

Social Services officials have declined to comment, citing privacy laws.

Abraham testified for about an hour Tuesday, as did his parents and "a litany of witnesses," Taylor said. Doctors testified for each side.

"We're confident that we will carry the day, if not at this level, then at the next level," Taylor said.

Abraham and his parents think a doctor reported them to Social Services for not continuing with chemotherapy, landing them in court. The judge initially forbid to the family to leave Virginia, then let Abraham return to the Mexican clinic last month after the teen had X-rays to assess his disease.

The X-rays showed the chest tumor had grown mildly, Abraham said.

Abraham said he wouldn't stress over the case as the judge makes his decision. Instead, he'll go back to his regular life of biking with his sister, reading and hiking.

"In the end, everything works out for the best," he said.

http://www.dailypress.com/news/local/virginia/dp-sou--
sickteen0711jul11,0,1865109.story?coll=dp-headlines-virginia
Associated Press Writer Sonja Barisic contributed to this

Oddities of the English Language

Have you ever seen a horseful carriage or a strapful gown, met a sung hero or experienced requited love? Have you ever run into someone who was combobulated, gruntled, ruly or peccable?

I know that I sure haven't! I was inspired to compose the following essay on the premise of having fun with words.

Enjoy, and, as always, feel free to post similar works/experiences of your own!

--Xi Hyperon


Having learned English as my native language, I’ve grown accustomed to its unusual characteristics. All the homonyms, idioms, clichés, and the like can be very confusing, despite their common use. It’s difficult for me to conceive how anyone can truly master this language, let alone communicate at all! Have you ever tried explaining to a foreigner the difference between two similar phrases? It’s difficult enough for me to understand the concept, let alone try to explain it to someone else.

Take, for example, the words “plain” and “plane.”These two words sound the same and seem innocent enough, but they have very different meanings and they can wreak havoc with your sanity. So just what is a plane figure? Is it something in the shape of a plane? Or is it something flat? Or is it a carpenter’s tool? Can you use a plane to plane a plane to make it more of a plain plane?

Sheesh!

Let’s examine the word plain. A plain figure is something ordinary and mundane, right? If you’re standing in the middle of a prairie somewhere, are you now a plain figure, because you’re standing on a plain? If you ask the farmer on the prairie, would he respond that he “just cant plain figure it out?”

So what is a figure anyway? Is it a shape? When you tell someone to go cut a figure, are you telling them to go make an impressive performance, as in the common figure of speech, or are you telling them to act literally and cut something, as with a pair of scissors? If you cut a figure in the shape of a plane, is it automatically flat, or is it in the shape of an airplane? How do you keep these things straight?!

What does the phrase “Go figure” mean? When someone tells you to “go figure,” are they telling you to go look like a number, or work out an equation? Are they telling you to deal with numbers, or think about a problem having nothing to do with numbers? Is it used as a command or simply as an idiom?

English is indeed a crazy language. Only such a language would permit one to send cargo by ship and a shipment by car or truck. Where else can one find noses that run and feet that smell? If I as a writer write, then why don’t my fingers, being such, fing? What a feat (or feet?) it would be for someone to know all the tricks of the trade, and be versed in all the English oddities. Imagine what a figure one could cut if one could determine what a combobulated or a gruntled person was. If one could figure out a clever phrase and cut a figure, even if they were a plain figure, they no longer would be figured as having a plain (or is it plane?) sense of humor.

Go figure.

Women and Science: The Debate Goes On

The following post is a copy of my response to
http://sciencewoman.blogspot.com and http://propterdoc.blogspot.com/2006/07/article-barres-nature-2006.html .



I don't believe that women, as a whole, are disadvantaged in math and science compared to men. I have had the privilege of knowing, in my short 17 years, quite a few very gifted left-brained women. Both my piano teacher (a professional classical pianist) and my financial advisor are women, and they have outperformed many men in their field.

When anyone tells me that men are more suited to math and science than women, I scoff.

I believe that any difference lies in the form of education that the said girl or boy received when they were younger. Boys and girls are documented as learning differently, and, as such, can excel or fail in a class as a result of the process of education.

Granted, both my high school Algebra teacher and my Chemistry teacher were women, and they were both horrible teachers, but I don’t hold that against the entire female gender. They were simply some of the not-so-great people in the world.

I believe that it depends more on the individual person’s intellectual focus (i.e. left brain v. right brain, math + science vs. language arts) than on the gender of that individual person.



In "The Chronicle of Higher Education," there appears an excellent article going into furthur detail on this topic. Click HERE to check it out.

Television's World of Distorted Reality

Sadly, Americans as a whole spend an ever-increasing amount of time watching television. In fact, the average time spent being brainwashed in front of the tube has grown to four hours a day. Although “life” on television is simply a mix of fantastical adventures and dramas, many of the impressionable minds that place themselves in front of the indoctrinating machine believe that television indeed is an accurate reflection of reality.

They couldn’t be more wrong.

Television presents a world that reflects an extremely skewed reality - a stereotyped world made up of artificial and improper values.

For instance, two-thirds of the United States population is employed in blue-collar jobs, whereas television’s population is made up of celebrities or the white-collar professional types. This furthers the feeling of inadequacy of one’s unpretentious self-reflection.

What message is portrayed to the poorer classes, the youth of today, and those searching for a job, when the careers deemed “fashionable” by television are the only “acceptable” jobs? How could television possibly further the pursuit of independence and self-control?

The sexes are also represented disproportionately to reality. Just under half of this nation’s population consists of males, as opposed to three-quarters of those people who appear in the television world! Women are “left out in the rain, ” per-se, and both sexes are stereotyped. White males rule the television world, and are thus portrayed in controlling roles. Women are placed in the typically female jobs – secretaries, nurses, and the like. Although the female workforce is today stronger than ever, no hint of this comes from television.

Although apparent to some, with further examination, the messages that are synthetic messages of the world of television are naught but negative. Television controls society, and it dictates the material possessions one wants, despite any financial restraints one has.

The perpetual bombardment of commercials, and possessions of the characters on television’s fictional world perpetuate the belief that, to be popular, or successful, one must purchase the items advertised on television.

The ideal of free will so emphasized by common American belief is fading, and the life of the American public is ruled by a fantasy. America’s values, morals, icons, and even clothing choices are directly affected by the mass media.

As television continues to control the society of today, so also is it raising the future of America. The lives of more and more of today’s youth are consumed by television, and it is to such an extreme that one could say television has replaced the role of a parent.

In today’s world, babysitting, teaching, entertainment, and even socialization is provided by the encroaching influence of television. America needs to carefully evaluate its values and goals if it is to continue to advance and prosper as a nation. Otherwise, we all shall succumb to television’s brainwashing influence.

The Threshold -- Launched

Dear readers,

Please bear with me! I'm very busy this summer so please check back often, and don't get fed up if I haven't posted anything new. By August, I'll be blogging regularly.

The Blogs I write will cover almost anything under the sun. Photographs I deem interesting, opinions on current events, editorials, excerpts from aritcles, etc.

I hope that you will find The Threshold as interesting to read as it is for me to write.

If you disagree with something I should write, PLEASE comment back! I would love for there to be an atmosphere welcoming debates.

Have fun with my first post about the detrimental effects of television, soon to follow this one.


See ya!

--Xi Hyperon