Teen seeking risky cancer treatment compromises
Teen seeking risky cancer treatment compromises
Family to blend traditional, alternative treatment
When Virginia teenager Abraham Cherrix decided early in 2006 to take control of his treatment for Hodgkin's disease, his aversion to traditional chemotherapy drove him to seek an alternative, herb-based therapy available in Mexico — a decision that put him and his family at odds with his physicians and the Virginia Department of Social Services, which sought to force him into chemotherapy and petitioned for custody.
At the time Cherrix's story was told in Medical Ethics Advisor, he faced a court hearing that could have meant separation from his family and a treatment he objected to. Ethicists at the time described Cherrix's position of alternative therapy at the complete exclusion of traditional treatment as extreme — most cancer patients who seek alternative treatment for cancer do so as a complement to traditional treatments, not as a replacement.
In August, Cherrix and his parents compromised with state authorities by agreeing to be cared for in the United States by a physician who practices both traditional and complementary medicine, clearing his parents of charges of medical neglect, allowing him to pursue the treatment he wants and reassuring his physicians that he will be monitored by and receive traditional medicine.
"Free, happy, and ready to live. That's me!" says Cherrix of the resolution.
Alternative medicine meets traditional care
Cherrix was diagnosed in 2005 with Hodgkin's lymphoma, and underwent three months of chemotherapy at Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters (CHKD) in Norfolk, VA — treatment that he says made him deathly sick.
"It poisoned me," he told MEA in June. "It was the worst I ever felt in my life."
And when the cancer was found to still be present in early 2006 and his doctors wanted to resume chemotherapy, Cherrix refused. He had learned of the Hoxsley method, a controversial, organics-based treatment offered in Tijuana, but dismissed by American medicine as ineffective at best, and dangerous at worst.
Cherrix says the Hoxsley treatment makes him feel better, but believes that chemo alone will kill him. Under the agreement reached in court in August, Cherrix was allowed to voluntarily place himself under the care of the North Central Mississippi Regional Cancer Center in Greenwood, as the patient of Arnold Smith, MD, a board-certified oncologist with experience in alternative cancer treatment. He will undergo radiation therapy, but will not have to receive chemotherapy.
The agreement between the Cherrix family and social services requires the family to provide the court updates on his care and condition every three months until he is cured or turns 18, whichever comes first.
The family has created a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization, Abraham's Journey, to assist other families seeking to provide young cancer patients and their families assistance in pursuing the treatments of their choice. For more information, visit www.abrahamsjourney.com.
When Virginia teenager Abraham Cherrix decided early in 2006 to take control of his treatment for Hodgkin's disease, his aversion to traditional chemotherapy drove him to seek an alternative, herb-based therapy available in Mexico a decision that put him and his family at odds with his physicians and the Virginia Department of Social Services, which sought to force him into chemotherapy and petitioned for custody.Subscribe Now for Access
You have reached your article limit for the month. We hope you found our articles both enjoyable and insightful. For information on new subscriptions, product trials, alternative billing arrangements or group and site discounts please call 800-688-2421. We look forward to having you as a long-term member of the Relias Media community.