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Parker just 'normal' kid, dad says

I hope all turns out well for the Jensens. They have suffered the most agregious interference into their role as parents. I can't image what it would be like to have the State and the doctors decide that you were incompetant to make decisions for your child. Parker sure seems to be doing better than all the doctors said he would.

Beyond the "he said, she said" differing stories, obviously Parker did not need emergency chemotherapy. The medical and legal bureaucracy was out of control. Giving government that much authority over our lives is a mistake.

So did Parker ever need any kind of chemotherapy or was it just a matter of removing the lump surgically. If thats the case the state and doctor owe these people money.

I know of a women who was diagnosed with a later stage of Breast cancer, she said that chemotherapy would not be an option. She went on a raw food diet and eliminated her cancer. This was in 2000 and she has been healty since.

Every person I know that has had cancer that used radiation and chemotherapy and have died. It had prolonged their suffering and made them very ill.

Enter comment
I know the Jensens well, and I heard much of their story from them. They were victims of a crazy scenario, which I too believe was fueled by power hunger, over zealous "social services" and prestige driven medical people.
In the midst of all this, they catered a reception for a family member, and several attendees told me it was the best food they'd had at such an event! The Jensens needed to earn money for family survival.

Under the banner of 'protecting the children' our government has intruded on parental rights and continue to do so through the education system and by laws that make it harder to raise our children.

The problem going to continue to intensify as more and more calls to 'protect the children' come and legislatures, fearing public backlash, simply go along with the crowd without proper due diligence.

There's enough evidence coming out in support of "alternative" medicine lately, that conforming completely and unquestioningly to "conventional" drug therapy medicine might be more harmful than good. I applaud the Jensens for seeking other opinions and informing themselves about Parker's condition and treatment, rather than just accepting the insistant remedy offered by a single doctor.

A wake up call to medical and government egos.

Time has proven them wrong. Congratulations to courageous parents who prevailed. Time for the medical and governmental egos to pay up.

I applaud the Jensens for standing up for parental rights and parental choice. I hope they prove that we CAN fight city hall!

Whatever the state or PCMC or the doctors say, one thing is true: Their court filing that claimed Parker would die within a year if he didn't get immediate chemotherapy has been proven completely false.

Parker's continued good health is all the proof one needs that the DCFS lied in this case.

I also applaud the Jensens for their efforts to strengthen the parental rights of this state and I am excited that they will get their day in court - Whaooo for them!

It makes me happy to see that we can turn the dictator fifedom back so that we as parents can have the rights to take care of our own families.

It is easy to pile on the Doctors, I was in a situation where we were given two options for surgery on our child, one at PCMC and one out of state. We elected for the one in state, the physicians strong armed us and sent us out of state for a better surgery. The reason we didn't want to go out of state was over concern that our child would not make the trip physically. Still the lesson learned was the Doc's did know best and in our case their ego's got the job done. We were thrilled with the results, but we were lied to about our options initially. The problem is that it is usually the decision of one or two, parents should seek multiple opinions.

I find it far more plausible that a doctor would try to force a patient into treatment for the sake of a study to be published on the suspected condition, than a parent would deny genuine needed care for a children.

Are the Jensen's able to take donation's to help fund
their legal fight, I as a parent am very interested in seeing them win something. If its only an apology.
I also hope they can recoup their legal fees that they have as wel, at the very least their son is alive,and doing well. Way to be a great parents should be the name of the book.

I have worked with kids where parents have not gotten them the medical care they have needed and it is sad to watch. I have also seen MANY times when a parent can tell things are not right just because they are the parent and the doctors have not listened to the parents because they are not medically trained. I think there is a line here that was crossed by the medical profession. That doesn't mean that there isn't a case down the line where the safety of a child needs to be seriously looked at because a parent is unable to make an educated decision for one reason or another. I am not sure what in the world happened here but I feel very sorry for this family that they did not receive the respect that all good parents deserve for knowing their child best, and of course wanting what is best for their son. No one wanted their son to live as much as they do.

I am happy for this family and that their choice appears to have been inspired. I think the doctor may have meant well, but the state's ability to interfere in this case was excessive.

However, I hope no one takes this as a blanket license to ignore the advice of physicians. In general, they know what they're doing. You should have a very good reason, such as inspiration or a second opinion, to reject a doctor's advice.

Justin, you haven't met many parents.

to "Steve's right": I would argue with your statement that "Their court filing that claimed Parker would die within a year if he didn't get immediate chemotherapy has been proven completely false."

I suspect what they actually said was that the overwhelming majority of people with Ewing's sarcoma die in a year if untreated.

I see your point but it is a little like a kid's playing Russian roulette, then telling his parents that they were silly to worry about him since he lived through it.

Recommendations for medical treatments are based on medical case histories and studies, influenced by risks and rates of survival. Homeopathic treatments are based on testimonials of successful results.

I know the father. I applaud the boy's continued health, but wonder about the motive and character of the father, especially when it comes to the money being saught.

To Grandma Anne,
Unfortunately, some parents are incompetent and can't make the correct decisions for their child. Sometimes the doctor really does know best. (I don't include the Jensen family in this category.)

Unfortunately, doctors think they are god themselves, the omnipotence personified, they put themselves in altar and the rest of the poor human beings, well, we just have to accept and adore them. I do believe this doctor gave that diagnostic just because his own convenience/profit/whatever. When my kid was a todler, he ate crayolas and got a very bad allergic reaction. I knew he needed anti-allergics soon and tried to tell that to the doctors. They ran x-rays, tests, etc to find out why my kid couldn't breath while I was telling them it was an allergic reaction. Finally, I got mad, talked to the chief of ER and told him he BETTER give those shots to my kid. He's going to turn 18 this month.

After that experience, I always look for another opinion AND without telling anything to the other doctor. I also found that IHC is a network of cover-my-back doctors too.