Blake

 "I get that my cancer's back," said Blake, obviously frustrated and eager to leave Dr. Conrad's office. "So what's the plan? How tough is it going to be?" Dr. Conrad answered, "Well, it is a fairly aggressive treatment. I can't deny that. But you're 16 now and pretty strong. The side effects are different for everyone; they can range anywhere from mild to harsh. This therapy has worked for a lot of patients and I believe it can work for you. What do you think?"

Just then Blake's cell phone rang. "I'm stepping out for a second," he said to Dr. Conrad. "It's one of my best friends."

"Sure, go ahead." Dr. Conrad said and turned to Blake's parents for some corroboration. They had been over this ground before when Blake's initial chemo treatments had put his acute lymphoblastic leukemia into remission, giving him several years of normal life.

"I've been talking to him about the importance of starting treatment again," said Blake's father. "Maybe I didn't do a good enough job explaining the urgency of it. He says he wants to know what to expect before deciding."

Blake's mother also weighed in, "I think he should be the one to make this decision. He asked directly, what does this treatment entail? He doesn't like it when we hold out on him. He wants to know the truth—and he deserves to be given all of the information straight."

"This time treatment will consist of not only high doses of chemo but radiation, too. But I don't want to lay all that on him right now," said Dr. Conrad. "All I want is for him just to agree to begin the new round of treatments."


*http://virtualmentor.ama-assn.org/2008/08/pdf/ccas3-0808.pdf