Overcoming Cancer Consent

Part I: Non-Consensual Cancer Growing up, one of my heroes was Sir Ernest Shackleton. He was a polar explorer at the turn of the century who led an expedition straight south to explore Antarctica in his ship, aptly named The Endurance, with a motley crew of burly Englishmen wrapped in layers of wool, icicles hanging from their thick beards. After their ship was stuck in ice and capsized, Shackleton had to abandon his exploration mission and lead his crew through the harsh Antarctic conditions to safety. To his men, Shackleton was a true leader, heroic, humble and selfless. I have not thought much about Shackleton since the report I did on him in third grade, though. Fifteen years later, while my life is consumed with the constants of living with cancer and being in and out of the hospital, brawny Antarctic ice adventure heroes do not currently impress me... Everything my medical team does to treat my cancer requires written consent. My doctors diligently present their recommendations, the protocols and research studies, detailing the course of treatment, side effects, and complications. But none of it can happen until my signature is on that piece of paper. My doctors sit in two chairs at the end of my hospital bed, in my dimly lit room on Six North. My mother is in another chair closer to the window. It's dusk and the shade is open, letting in the blue and yellow glow of the city at night. Outside crowds of salary men and research assistants wait for buses, evading the c...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news