Quality of Life
How often do we think about this phrase? What does it mean to you? It has been used all too often lately in my life about my very sick daughter. Her cancer has come back, she had about a year since the last round of chemotherapy treatments. The treatments were very difficult for her, she has been sick ever since and today may have been the first day we can say she may have finally taken a small turn toward some improvement. It's what she's facing that brings about this urge to blog after such a long time of not doing so. I'm not sure she understands the choices she will be facing. We're to meet with a group of doctors and medical personnel, possible as soon as tomorrow, and see if we can make her understand her choices here. She has been very stubborn about doing what they want her to do, sadly the only one that will suffer from all that obstinacy is her. So without bogging you all down with more details, we are basically looking at a couple of choices: Either she does what they tell her to do without wavering one little tiny bit, or she's looking at something like six months to a year to live. It seems simple, doesn't it? Are you saying, well, duh, just do what you are told....
But then, it's her choice, isn't it? Having spent most of a month in a hospital after just one round of chemo, does it get worse? After the next week long dose, will she be even more sick than the first time? If we get through that session, will the third time be three times as bad? And so, back to the origin of this blog, what does it mean to you? We all deserve a certain degree of quality to our lives. Is there a point where someone else can make that decision for us? If we aren't doing harm to others, or unable to make any kind of decision about anything, then yes, there may be a need for someone else to step in. But it's our right, isn't it, as long as we're of sound mind? I'm afraid of the answer to that, afraid of her answer, also of my own if I'm ever in that position. It's scary out there sometimes.
