Should she have been allowed to change her mind?

[Jonathan M]

I'm asking virtually the same question as summerdays. Are you in favour of not treating teenagers because they act like normal teenagers?[/quote]


I'll ask a question back.

Can a teenager with a chronic condition (possibly life threatening if not controlled?) live like a "normal" teenager, (whatever one of those is, as they are all individuals)?

Injections, regular medicines, hospital visits are not part of life for a "normal" teenager, so some teenagers with long term conditions may choose to not follow the management required of their condition. Results: increased ill health, possibly death, shortened life expectancy. Doesn't matter what condition the young person has, to some their condition makes them feel significantly different from their peers.


A disproportinate amount of my working time can be spent on the few whose lack of compliance causes significant concerns, so in terms of do I feel we should not treat teenagers, no.

 

[summerdays]

With the young alcoholic I would want to know why nothing was done sooner - he had travelled too far along his path I think to make a difference. If anything should come of that case it would be to tackle teenage alcoholism much sooner.

 

[summerdays]

I'll ask a question back.

Can a teenager with a chronic condition (possibly life threatening if not controlled?) live like a "normal" teenager, (whatever one of those is, as they are all individuals)?

Injections, regular medicines, hospital visits are not part of life for a "normal" teenager, so some teenagers with long term conditions may choose to not follow the management required of their condition. Results: increased ill health, possibly death, shortened life expectancy. Doesn't matter what condition the young person has, to some their condition makes them feel significantly different from their peers.


A disproportinate amount of my working time can be spent on the few whose lack of compliance causes significant concerns, so in terms of do I feel we should not treat teenagers, no.

It doesn't just affect the ill teenager, the rest of the family can be severely affected too. The teenager needs their support to help them with their condition, but they in turn need support too. Siblings whose lives has to revolve around the needs of this child/teenager.

 

[Jonathan M]

Yes, but the media in reagrds to the young lady who has undergone the transplant has focused on it being her decisions, and due to the nature of the decision originally made then it will have encompassed everyone of relevance to this young lady's care - it did end up in the high courts after all.


The biggest omission in young persons health care generally is access to appropriate emotional/mental wellbeing services, for the young person, parents & siblings. But it is very much the forgotten service within this country.

 

[wafflycat]

I'm asking virtually the same question as summerdays. Are you in favour of not treating teenagers because they act like normal teenagers?[/quote]


I'll ask a question back.

Can a teenager with a chronic condition (possibly life threatening if not controlled?) live like a "normal" teenager, (whatever one of those is, as they are all individuals)?

Injections, regular medicines, hospital visits are not part of life for a "normal" teenager, so some teenagers with long term conditions may choose to not follow the management required of their condition. Results: increased ill health, possibly death, shortened life expectancy. Doesn't matter what condition the young person has, to some their condition makes them feel significantly different from their peers.


A disproportinate amount of my working time can be spent on the few whose lack of compliance causes significant concerns, so in terms of do I feel we should not treat teenagers, no.

Can any person with a chronic condition (possibly life threatening if not controlled?) live like a "normal" person, (whatever one of those is, as they are all individuals)?

Injections, regular medicines, hospital visits are not part of life for a "normal" person, so some people with long term conditions may choose to not follow the management required of their condition. Results: increased ill health, possibly death, shortened life expectancy. Doesn't matter what condition the person has, to some their condition makes them feel significantly different from their peers.

Having suffered a chronic condition that kept me from leading a 'normal' life for a significant amount of time, was I 'normal' during that time? No. Does this mean I shouldn't receive treatment? No. Does it mean life was shoot during that time? Yes. Does that mean I shouldn't get ongoing help to understand that chronic condition to help me manage it the best I can or that I'd be incapable of accepting such help? No. Having had a chronic condition, it gives me an all-too-up-close-and-personal view of how people might/can/may/do react. Obviously not everyone has the same reaction - so should we deny treatment to those who don't react who we think they should? No. Of course, in the case of transplants the issue of organ shortages comes in, so the issue of the 'deserving recipiant' comes into play, separate to whether or not there's an organ match... a whole can of worms.

Interesting medical debate on Radio 4 the other day - on this sort of issue - about carrying out treatment on someone who objected to having treatment even though it was a life-saving treatment.

Edit: this was it

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00lk1kv

 

[summerdays]

Yes, but the media in reagrds to the young lady who has undergone the transplant has focused on it being her decisions, and due to the nature of the decision originally made then it will have encompassed everyone of relevance to this young lady's care - it did end up in the high courts after all.


The biggest omission in young persons health care generally is access to appropriate emotional/mental wellbeing services, for the young person, parents & siblings. But it is very much the forgotten service within this country.

I didn't mean the decission involved everyone, I meant that the whole family and beyond to friends etc are effected by the serious illness of one member. Everything from maybe what they eat, can they have friends around, can the sibling see friends, have they got time to buy birthday presents, what do you buy as a birthday present, are you going away on holiday, what do you tell close friends, casual friends, schooling, parents missing time off work to go to appointments etc. The knock on effect from the illness is much larger than people realise.