Has everyone had a chance to talk about Ashley yet? (link)
Ashley is a nine year old girl with with “static encephalopathy.†That just means that she’s got brain damage, and she’s not ever going to get better. In her case, her abilities and thoughts are somewhere around a three-month old baby. That is, she doesn’t walk or talk. Her parents (mostly her dad), have to lift her to take her anywhere.
Soon, she’ll get too big to lift (so they’ll have to use mechanical means, or have a professional stranger do the work). She’ll also grow breasts, and start menstruating, which anyone can see would make her life less comfortable.
The solution? Nothing nice. Her parents and her doctors decided on the following course:
Remove her uterus.
Remove her breast buds.
Give her hormones to stop her from growing.
Remove her appendix (maybe while they’re in there, they’re hitting the possible trouble spots?)
She’ll always remain about the size and shape that she is now. She’s being called the “Frozen Girl.â€
To me, this is one of those stories that sounds shocking and disgusting at first. Then, as I read the comments of the parents and doctors, I start to see their point of view. The main thing that they want to get across is that this isn’t in order to make things easier for them (the caregivers), but to improve Ashley’s life.
I’m not sure where I land, though I obviously lean towards thinking that it’s an ok decision. Except in a sort of fuzzy way, she won’t be hurt by it (after she heals from surgery, that is), but it does seem like a grotesque answer. Still, when the question is as impossible as this one, I guess the answers aren’t going to be pretty.
[Incidentally, BBC quotes some Chat Room participant as saying, “I find this offensive if perverse.†(Link) It’s interesting to me that they bother quoting this random person, who obviously meant to say that it’s offensive if NOT perverse. Now he or she will have to go down in history being misunderstood.]
[UPDATE: Seed provided a link to the parents’ blog. Get the story straight from them. (Link)
I’m with you, it sounds horrible on first thought. Give it some additional time, you begin to see their point of view. In the end, however, I just don’t think it’s compelling to mutilate this girl in order to avoid her physical maturity. It’s not my call, though, and I’m thankful for that.
A person with a child’s mind needs to be treated like a child. If there were some way to truly arrest development, so the girl stayed looking like a child, I could really see that helping her by making it easier for others to volunteer the kind of attention and physical affection she needs.
I don’t think they’re really achieving that through these procedures, but just the fact that they’ll be able to hold her and carry her will mean a lot to her, I think.
I agree that it’s really difficult to take seemingly drastic steps like this, which for anyone else would be mutilation, and which may not turn out as planned, but I’m sorry for the parents that they have to be second guessed. They’ve committed themselves to a lifetime of caring for a 3-month old … that’s really tough.
Can I edit that to take out all those “really’s”?
No editing. In a previous comment, where I was supposed to be sounding smart, I said, “probably cause” instead of “probable cause.”
The word “mutilate” obviously puts an emotional feel toward the idea. I won’t call it that, but I can certainly see your POV, Kevin.
This makes me think of the Terry Schivo case in some respects. This is going to sound really cold – Although there are differences seems to me like another case a life without purpose/value being manupulated for the girl’s benefit? The parents? It’s a terible thing to have happen to your child but the physcial and emotional maturity of a 3 month old for her whole life? What happens when she outlives her parents?
Since there’s no life treathing or artificail means keeping her alive there’s no pulling the plug. Paging Dr Kevorkian, paging Dr Kevorkian
Well, there are institutions full of adults with limited mental capacity who have outlived their parents. Would it be right to page Kevorkian if they were like a 3 year old?
Come on, Garry.