Wyoming mom of 5 who refused cancer treatment to have 6th child has passed away

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good job, bringing a special needs baby into the world with five other kids and a dad with no job. Plus thousands of dollars in medical bills that have him begging on GoFundMe.

That is another argument for another thread. This thread is about whether to abort or treat a deadly cancer. Your argument is about whether to have a lot of children if you can't afford them. Two completely different issues.

Nobody lives 5 years with glioblastoma. She had a year at most.

No, it's not a different thread. The fact that her body was shutting down is why the baby was a micro-premie who needs tons of expensive care. I can't see any way that the mother's decision made life better for her existing five children.

[Anonymous]

I found out I had cancer while pregnant. I opted for an aggressive surgery while still pregnant ("essentially cut the cancer out") and then as soon as my child was born, I did chemo. It is an AWFUL position to be in. Don't judge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I found out I had cancer while pregnant. I opted for an aggressive surgery while still pregnant ("essentially cut the cancer out") and then as soon as my child was born, I did chemo. It is an AWFUL position to be in. Don't judge.

Here is to your continued good health.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She should have gotten treatment and stayed pregnant. As it is, she's dead years sooner than she might have been, and she leaves behind a sick micro-preemie and 5 other young kids.

With this type of cancer, there are no options to significantly extend life expectancy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good job, bringing a special needs baby into the world with five other kids and a dad with no job. Plus thousands of dollars in medical bills that have him begging on GoFundMe.

That is another argument for another thread. This thread is about whether to abort or treat a deadly cancer. Your argument is about whether to have a lot of children if you can't afford them. Two completely different issues.

Nobody lives 5 years with glioblastoma. She had a year at most.

No, if you are aggressive with treatment at a top brain tumor center (and have a bit of luck) it's not unusual to live 2-3 years.

I work with glioblastoma patients (for years at Hopkins and now elsewhere).

Surviving 5+ years makes you far more of an outlier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am very pro-choice, but I completely understand when a woman chooses not to have an abortion, even if the pregnancy is threatening her own life. It's her life, she gets to choose.

I am pro-choice as well and I agree. I hope the husband finds work soon - the medical bills for mom and baby, the funeral expenses, and the cost of raising 6 kids alone will be staggering. They do have a GoFund me page, and I hope their church is helping them as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am very pro-choice, but I completely understand when a woman chooses not to have an abortion, even if the pregnancy is threatening her own life. It's her life, she gets to choose.

Well, yes. That is the point of being pro-choice. It is not pro-abortion. Women should get to choose. Period.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If she had aborted she would have died much sooner because they wouldn't have kept her on life support for so long just to grow the baby.

If she had aborted the reason would have been so that she could receive life extending treatment. It may not have bought her a long time, but that time would have been very different than lying unconscious, severely brain damaged, without a skull, while machines kept her "alive."

[Anonymous]

I'm of course glad she had the ability to choose.

This one is complicated to me, since the type of cancer she had was so deadly and the prognosis so poor. I'm not sure when she discovered the pregnancy, but I can certainly imagine feeling like a marginal extension of my own life (1-2 years, whilst on treatment, maybe... I think the trial she was accepted into was an immunotherapy one) might not be worth the cost, especially since she is devoutly pro-life.

Had it been a different kind of cancer, I would have different feelings. But GBM is really terrible.

[Anonymous]

I grew up very close to where this family lives and know several people who know this family. Religion is big in that part of Michigan so I am not at all surprised that she did not have an abortion. Such a horrible position to be in and so sad for her children and husband.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm of course glad she had the ability to choose.

This one is complicated to me, since the type of cancer she had was so deadly and the prognosis so poor. I'm not sure when she discovered the pregnancy, but I can certainly imagine feeling like a marginal extension of my own life (1-2 years, whilst on treatment, maybe... I think the trial she was accepted into was an immunotherapy one) might not be worth the cost, especially since she is devoutly pro-life.

Had it been a different kind of cancer, I would have different feelings. But GBM is really terrible.

I struggle with this situation, too. The fact that it's GBM makes the decision worse, I think. Would I feel more of a responsibility to try and fight it to have more time with my other children? Or forego treatment to give the one growing inside of me a fighting chance, even if that meant none of my children would have a mother? Honestly, it's upsetting to even think about having to make such a choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I only skimmed the article but it said that with treatment she could live 5 years with glioblastoma. The percentage of people who live 5 years with that kind of brain cancer is in the single digits, even with treatment. The typical survival time after diagnosis is about a year.

A lot of women find out they have cancer while pregnant, since pregnancy suppresses the immune system causing latent cancer to grow. Some women choose to abort and treat the cancer, but I understand completely if one chooses not to, especially with a cancer that has dismal survival rates.

FWIW, this is the same type of brain cancer that John McCain has, and that killed Ted Kennedy.

Yes, nobody survives this cancer - not yet. I pray they develop new treatments. But 18 months is usually the maximum.

[Anonymous]

The newer chemo drugs have helped prolong life for this over the last 10 years. But 2-3 years would have been a more realistic, best case scenario.

[Anonymous]

I am glad she got to chose and I respect her choice. But man I feel bad for the dad. 6 kids and the preemie will most likely have health problems. That is a lot to put on one person. I hope the kids get therapy. It has gotta to hard knowing your mom died earlier due to the new baby. Because eventually the kids are going to get old enough to read this article.

[Anonymous]

I hate these stories and wish they'd stop publizing them.

Just more prolife fodder.

The women is not a hero.