Jennifer
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Jennifer noticed her son was breaking out in “red spots” on his arms and face, as well as experiencing headaches and vomiting. She brought him to the doctor and after some atypical labs they were sent to the ER; later that night the doctors “informed us that it was cancer.” At just two and a half years old, Jennifer’s song was diagnosed with Leukemia. At the beginning of treatment, they were approached about participating in a clinical trial, however they “decided not to.” It was a lot all at once, so Jennifer decided “to stick to the course of action in front of us.” At the time, Jennifer “didn’t even know what” they were “getting into and what that kind of looked like” so for that “simple fact” they said “no.” Instead, Jennifer decided to “complete” the treatment they were presented with, rather than the trial which “effected his dosing and steroids and that.” Jennifer was not in the place to “incorporate the possibility of something else” and have to worry about if it was “going to be the same outcome” and that was the end of it.
Jennifer did not want to deal with the uncertainty of a clinical trial.
Jennifer did not want to deal with the uncertainty of a clinical trial.
Do you recall if you were offered the opportunity to take part in any clinical trials?
Yes.
And did you?
No.
And could you maybe tell me a little bit about your thoughts on why you decided not to?
So we decided not to for the simple fact that we didn’t even know what we were getting into and what that looked like. So then, to think about well, we’re going to do this trial of this--for me, it was just a no brainer. Nope. We’re just going to stick to the course of action in front of us, complete that, and go for it.