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Pioneers
This
morning I talked with a caregiver whose father has agreed to be
treated with an experimental chemotherapy in an attempt to halt
the rapid progression of the cancer that has tormented him for
months. I commented to the caregiver that I believe his dad is
courageous in agreeing to be treated with the new therapy,
especially in consideration of all of the possible side effects
of the treatment.
The son responded that his father is feeling anything but
courageous. “Truthfully, Dad is distressed and uneasy about this
new treatment. He has become suspicious of the doctors and
wonders if they are using him as a guinea pig to test this new
therapy.”
Who among us has not felt this way, even if just for a moment,
when considering the pros and cons of established medical
treatment, let alone, new medical therapies?
On one hand, we are optimistic that the new treatment will
arrest and possibly eradicate our disease. On the other hand, as
educated patient/consumers we read the “fine print”, hear rumors
of what might possibly go wrong, and perhaps increase the
suffering that we are attempting to prevent.
Virtually everyone living today, who has ever been treated
through modern medicine, including dentistry, has benefitted
since our mother’s pre natal care, from what were initially
experimental treatments, that have been refined and improved
through the centuries. Anesthesia, pain management, infection
prevention, vaccination, diagnostic tests, etc, etc, have all
been developed through experimentation. Therapies that initially
are tested with laboratory animals, eventually move ahead to
human testing, if they are deemed worthwhile.
Since we have all benefitted from tests that were conducted on
patients before us, we may consider it to be part of the human
responsibility to also participate in new tests, if we are
inclined to do so. We ask ourselves, “do the risks outweigh the
benefits?” “Do I have other choices?” “What are the consequences
of me accepting this therapy, or not accepting it?” Often we
feel we are caught between a “rock and a hard place” especially
when we are diagnosed with a terminal illness.
How much does our perspective affect the way we consider the
risks and benefits of new therapies? Do we see ourselves as
“guinea pigs”, as helpless laboratory animals, or as pioneers
dedicating our bodies to science? Are we gamblers, taking a
chance with a roll of the dice, so to speak? Are we warriors,
attempting another stand, risking possible defeat, or the bounty
of improved health?
For those of us who have experienced years of medical
treatments, surgeries, chemotherapies and the gamut of
diagnostic tests, whether we realize it or not, we have
contributed to the teaching a of countless young physicians,
nurses, researchers and medical technicians who have observed
and treated our medical cases, both with “conventional” methods
and new therapies. Our bodies, tests are used to educate
healthcare professionals, and, in turn, the knowledge our
surgeries, our diagnostic e they have gained from our cancers,
indeed from our very suffering, has been utilized to improve the
medical therapies for patients in the future. Just as we have
benefitted, and our lives have been extended from the
contributions of patients that were treated before us, so will
future patients benefit from the medical care we receive today.
An excerpt from Where the Red Tailed Hawk Flies
Copyright 2006 by Gabriella Graham/Red Tailed Hawk Publishing |
