Teenage child consulted in her treatment for Hodgkin’s disease

Good news: Katie is going home.

Last week, a Texas state district judge ruled that Katie Wernecke would be allowed to go home after completing one more round of chemotherapy.

Katie is the 13-year-old cancer patient who was taken from her parents by Texas Child Protection Services (TCPS) last June in order to force her to accept a radiation treatment that neither she nor her parents wanted her to have.

When Katie was first diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease last January, her parents complied and in a few months Katie’s cancer was under control. But when her doctor recommended radiation, strictly as a preventive measure, the Werneckes said no.

The possible long-range side effects of radiation in the upper body include damage to the heart muscle, lungs, spine and thyroid gland, a high risk of breast cancer and potential disruption of hormonal activity.

Katie’s doctor felt the Werneckes were remiss in rejecting his radiation regimen. He reported the matter to TCPS, and Katie was removed to a foster home where contact with her parents was strictly limited throughout the summer.

But that government intervention nightmare is now over.

And here’s the most refreshing line from the Associated Press report on this new development: “The ruling orders that Katie be consulted in her treatment care.”

By the time you read this, Katie will probably have returned to her parents’ care. But she won’t be home for very long. Michele and Edward Wernecke will take their daughter to Wichita, Kansas, as soon as possible. There she’ll undergo an intravenous vitamin C treatment designed to kill cancer cells and strengthen the immune system without the danger of life-threatening side effects.

Sources:
“Judge: Parents Can Decide Child’s Cancer Care” Lynn Brezosky, The Associated Press, 11/2/05, ap.org