Difficult Questions Every One

To Abort or Not to Abort:
Ever watched TV dramas portraying those who lost their minds? You know, those who no longer had any life in their eyes and are forever trapped in a world hard for us to reach? Yeah, that was how my friend is like now. She has this dazed look about her, and no longer respond when you talk to her. She does not even bother to clean herself up and just let the breast milk drip and mess up her blouse.

Essentially, she is going through post-natal depression (PND), but it is something we all expected to happen as she is not ready to be a parent plus she had a history of depression a few years back. When we found out she wanted to abort the baby at 30wks, my first reaction was, "It is a hard decision." My senior gave me a funny look. I then add on, "If she really really cannot cope with having a baby mentally and physically, then she should have aborted right at the beginning when she discovered she was pregnant. Not when she's 30 wks into her pregnancy."

Okay, that's it, my senior started saying things like it is not fair for the baby, yada yada... My counter argument, "So you mean it is fair to bring the baby into this world and deny him of parental love?" I must clarify that I AM NOT PRO-ABORTION. I know my friend, that's why I say what I am saying. She would have been a loving mother, that much I know, but she is just not ready and being in a foreign country with no next of kin except the stupid husband is not really helping.

Anyway, to what end now that the baby is born, and my friend is reduced to an empty shell who just keep mumbling, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

To Continue Living Or Die:
Imagine the day when you are old. You become senile, and a stroke leaves you paralysed and weak. You are no longer able to continue going about your daily activities of living ie. brushing teeth, wearing clothes, bathing etc, and you are mentally reduced to that of a 2-3 yrs old. Would you rather meet your maker, or prefer your family to continue extending your life though it no longer has any meaning?

Or what about when your child has cancer that relapsed twice and the prognosis is bleak. You seek overseas treatment and the cancer relasped again. Would you let your child go in peace and less suffering? Or to continue letting your child suffer by trying more and more unorthodox treatments including the use of intravenous arsenic knowing full well you are just gambling with your child's life?

I cannot answer for everybody, neither can I dictate that everybody has the same opinion as me. I know I would choose to meet my maker, and I would let my child go in peace. Hard decisions, but that is what I choose.

Regarding the use of intravenous arsenic for treatment, I am talking about a true case. The patient has passed on, and till this day I still cannot understand why the parents let him suffer this much. He was in so much pain that he had to take high doses of morphine everyday. The highest that I have seen in my pediatric oncology patients thus far.