Family Photo
Leukemia and complications have spread throughout Knya Dismuke-Howard's 6-month-old body. Posted on 05/03/2005 1:06:56 PM PDT by van_erwin
Family Photo Leukemia and complications have spread throughout Knya Dismuke-Howard's 6-month-old body. |
The parents of Knya Dismuke-Howard, who also has multiple-organ failure and a life-threatening antibiotic-resistant infection, vowed to fight the decision. Under Texas law, they have eight days remaining to find another facility to take her.
"I think she can beat the odds," said Tamiko Dismuke, the baby's mother. "She's a fighter. The hospital's given up on her, but everyone who's witnessed her through this has been amazed at how she keeps coming back."
Dismuke said the family hasn't hired a lawyer or decided to take legal action but may still do so. She said their first priority is finding a hospital to take her.
Memorial Hermann officials said other pediatric hospitals they consulted concurred with their treatment plan and decision to discontinue care.
They said the infant, who is on a respirator, is suffering badly — she is on morphine and other opiates to relieve pain — and described her condition as hopeless.
The case is the third in Houston this spring to publicly test a 1999 state law that allows hospitals to discontinue treatment in futile cases 10 days after notifying loved ones of their intentions. The others involved a 6-month-old boy with a fatal form of dwarfism and a 68-year-old man in a persistent vegetative state.
The families delayed both those cases by appealing them to the courts, and in that time the wife of the man found a San Antonio nursing home to take him. The boy died after Texas Children's Hospital unplugged his respirator.
Knya Dismuke-Howard's case dates to early December, when Memorial Hermann diagnosed the then 5-week-old with leukemia, the most common cancer in older children but extremely rare in infants. She received treatment at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center but shuttled back and forth to Memorial Hermann because M.D. Anderson's intensive care unit only accepts children 3 and older.
The survival rate for infant leukemia is 50 percent, but it drops to 5 percent if the patient relapses, and significantly less than that once complications occur. Infant patients tolerate chemotherapy reasonably well, as long as the dosage is adjusted for their size, said an M.D. Anderson doctor.
In the last month, Knya Dismuke-Howard's leukemia relapsed and complications set in, such as the brain tumor, bacteria-resistant infection and multiple-organ failure. Her white blood cell count dropped to zero.
Memorial Hermann's ethics committee met Thursday and decided further care would be futile. They plan to discontinue treatment except for pain relief May 8.
"Knya's story is a sad one for everyone who cares for her," Memorial Hermann said in a statement. "The committee has determined that curative treatment is no longer appropriate given the specific facts of the case."
Dismuke said she wasn't surprised by the decision, hospital officials having emphasized the case was "a long shot the whole time." But busy searching the Internet and asking people for referrals in hopes of finding another facility, she said she hasn't given up.
"If you saw our daughter, you'd know why we have hope," said Dismuke. "She's fully aware — she opens her eyes when we enter the room and makes facial expressions, like moving her eyebrows or pouting. She's a trouper."
Meanwhile, the man transferred to a nursing home seemed destined again to be taken off life support earlier this week when a San Antonio hospital, where he'd been admitted with pneumonia, announced such plans.
But Friday, his wife said the nursing home agreed to take him back even in a condition requiring intravenous feeding.
"They said the infant, who is on a respirator, is suffering badly — she is on morphine and other opiates to relieve pain — and described her condition as hopeless."
Keeping that infant on a respirator any longer amounts to torture, plain and simple. I understand how hard it is for parents to let go, but ...
This has been posted.
Prayers being sent for this dear little angel. What a shame. It's too bad and its hard to believe how cancer could come to such a tiny baby.
Uh, oh look out you'll be catching hell from the
torture 'em Till You Drop Brigade.
Meanwhile, the man transferred to a nursing home seemed destined again to be taken off life support earlier this week when a San Antonio hospital, where he'd been admitted with pneumonia, announced such plans.
What the hell is up with these hospitals? Pneumonia isn't a terminal illness. The slippery slope isn't just slippery anymore. It's greased and loaded with ball bearings.
Any contacts in Texas?
KTRK TV
3310 Bissonnet,
Houston TX 77005
Our Phone Number is (713) 666-0713
Our News Tip Line is (713) 669-1313 Our Sports Fax # is (713) 663-4591
Any contacts in Texas? or can the hospital be anywhere?
KTRK TV
3310 Bissonnet,
Houston TX 77005
Our Phone Number is (713) 666-0713
Our News Tip Line is (713) 669-1313 Our Sports Fax # is (713) 663-4591
From the article: Knya Dismuke-Howard's case dates to early December, when Memorial Hermann diagnosed the then 5-week-old with leukemia, the most common cancer in older children but extremely rare in infants. She received treatment at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center but shuttled back and forth to Memorial Hermann because M.D. Anderson's intensive care unit only accepts children 3 and older.
This must be hard for all involved. I am not sure what I would do, but I'd like to think I wouldn't make my baby suffer that much for an extra few months with her.
"Doctors" in this Country have been murdering babies IN the womb for years. I find it amazing anyone is shocked that now the "Doctors" are murdering babies OUT of the womb. Simply horrendous, the value of a child's life couldn't buy a six pack. Best wishes too the child and the family. I can never understand how a hospital or courts, can simply decide the fate of a parents child.
Jeff
I don't know anyone in Texas, unfortunately. My biggest concern is that the baby will be cut off from medicine, water, and nutrition. I'm wondering how agressively they treated her Leukemia in the first place?
Exactly my point. She did receive some treatment, I'm not saying she didn't, but she should have been admitted. They could have found a way to waive the rules for that baby.
Why do you think she was shuttled between M D Anderson and Hermann?
These two hospitals are in the Houston Medical Center and among the best in the country. I think it's safe to assume the child received the best treatment available.
Of course this is different from Terri's case, but I've been looking at the medical profession from a whole new point of view, since my mom was admitted to care facilities. I'm sorry to say that I don't trust them as far as I can throw this computer.
God will comfort the child and her parents.
I think some of you folks certainly know these hospitals better than I do, so I'll take your word for it. Anderson might want to look into accommodating infants in the future, even though Knya's cancer is rare in infants. Imo, shuttling her back and forth was ridiculous.
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