If you know me at all you know that I am a very naturally minded person. We eat organic and local. We grow our own veggies. We research every individual vaccine. We try herbs and oils before calling a doctor. We clean with our homemade cleaners. We buy used not new when possible.
 |
| Emma wearing a cloth diaper & wool cover |
That's why it hurts so very badly to put my child in chemotherapy. I cry about it several times a day. My organic fed, no processed foods, no refined sugars, no food dyes kid is going to have chemicals pushed into her body for the first time. If it wasn't do or die time I'd never, ever consider it.
 |
This choice is an open wound, I am having a very hard time dealing with it mentally. I am actually going into counseling over it. I am writing this post because several people have asked us since her diagnosis if we have considered alternatives. The answer is yes, we have. We have researched endlessly since December, fought doctors who wanted to start drugs months ago and hired a team to look for something, anything that will help Emma from gene therapy to stem cell research.
So I formally ask all our loving friends and families that unless you have a specific treatment that is actually possible that will help Emma with her specific type of cancer that you just support us. We understand the dangers of chemo but right now the alternative is death. We are fighting, the best we know how with the best medical team we can find. Fighting, literally, for our lives.
So here is my confession, I chose to fight. I chose to believe that science has advanced to the point where we can save my baby. And what we need from all of you is love and support. And maybe some cookies.
 |
| Visiting our CSA farm |
I am similarly crunchy. I would choose chemo in a second. You are absolutely making the right choice for your little girl.
ReplyDeleteWhen my sister was 3 she was diagnosed with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis. My parents looked at all their options and decided to go for the steroid treatments. They were advised by the doctors that to ignore steroids would only lead to further inflammation which would damage her joints, which would put her in a wheelchair for life. You would not believe the number of people who not only suggested alternative things like eating gluten free, fasting, and herbal remedies and then looked down on our family for choosing the "modern medicine" route. However, fast forward 6 months later, she was in complete remission, with no sign of her JRA or steroid treatments (aside from being slightly more pudgy and having a unibrow). Today she's now 14 and is first string pitcher for her softball team that just made it to nationals. You wouldn't even be able to tell she was once unable to move without extreme pain. She does still have her unibrow, but plucking is a small price to pay for an active life! Know that you've made the best choice for Emma and may you always feel supported in it!
ReplyDelete