Brandon Crutchfield

4/11/17

Inquiry project

Ms.Caruso

Cancer Treatments

Choosing the right treatment for cancer can always be a difficult decision,

especially for people who dont know much about the treatments in the first place.

People sometimes dont realize the expenses they agree to, the side effects or the

difficulty of their treatment. According to, Personal Values and Cancer Treatment

Refusal by Evert van Leeuwen, individuals have different back grounds and they

have different values when it comes to ways of living, which also plays a role in how

people narrow the choice down between treatments. Theres risk in everything, the

key is to take the risk that would best for that individual.

To help make the choices between treatments a little easier my product is

fictional but realistic stories of people starting their treatment, going through it, and

ending their treatment. This seemed like a good idea to me, guidance is crucial in

tough times like being diagnosed with cancer. I wanted to help guide those that are

indecisive about what treatment they want. I remember my friend, Hailey Hawkins

was reflecting on her cancer diagnosis experience one day, she mentioned how she

was clueless as of what she was to expect with certain treatments. That inspired me

to create a product that would inform the individual before they did something they

would regret. I figured that the stories would be fairly straight forward, not to

lengthy so it would be a quick informative read.

 The targeted audience for this product are people who are newly diagnosed

and still choosing which treatment they want to do. This group of people seemed

like the right audience to me because they have the most to gain from the stories I

wrote. The readers could possibly relate to one of the characters and help choose

the path that he/she would like to go. I would hope that my stories help my

audience understand what to expect with the choice they take, after the consider

the factors that go into each treatment. My stories are fictional, so there is room to

have imagination with the story, there are less concrete facts in them as much as

the characters realistic experiences with the treatments.

Chemotherapy is the one of the more popular choices of treatment, it has the

highest survival rate according to Most Popular Evidence-Base Oncology Articles, however

there are numerous negative side effects, that sometimes lead people away from

doing the treatment. Thats when they go into alternative medicine, like one of my

characters lisa did, they dont have the highest survival rate but some people take

into consideration the type of life they would have while under chemo therapy.

In my stories, I tried to make sure that I showed there is two sides to

treatments especially chemo-therapy. My first story included a women named

Sophia who went under chemotherapy, the chemo did its job and got rid of the

cancer however it had made her body so weak her heart couldnt take it anymore. I

based that story of a childhood friend of mine named Dylan, his story was similar,

he had beat cancer and everything seemed like it was going well, and then his heart

just stopped.

The product I created took in multiple perspectives from the basic situation,

cancer. I felt it was important to include the unorthodox methods of treating cancer.
Sometimes these medicines can be mixed in with the Chemo or radiation treatment

and it becomes a complementary treatment, Hailey had informed she was taking

medical THC pills to balance her diet during her treatment.

We have all seen at least one person affected by cancer, some come out

winners in the battle and some lose honorable, no matter the treatment life is not

guaranteed especially a life similar to before cancer. New treatments will hopefully

come out in the future where the side effects are minimal and the results are

greater. For now all we can do is strive for results and do the best we can to help

people beat this horrible disease. Ive had quite a few people in my life effected by

cancer, thats why to me my product not only represents the certain paths we can

take but also that there is hope in every situation. To overcome such a horrible

disease is an incredible act of courage and strength and I just hope my stories will

help lead people to victory.

Old Work cited

Huijer M, van Leeuwen EPersonal values and cancer treatment refusalJournal of Medical Ethics

2000;26:358-362.

Li, Bei et al. Impact of Anticancer Drugs Price Cut on Physicians Prescription Choices on First-Line

Chemotherapy Regimens and Health Expenditure for Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer in China.

Journal of Thoracic Disease 8.10 (2016): 28322842. PMC. Web. 23 Feb. 2017.

Kaestner, S.A, and G.J Sewell. "Chemotherapy Dosing Part Ii: Alternative Approaches and Future

Prospects." Clinical Oncology. 19.2 (2007): 99-107. Print

Smith, Peter J, Alexandra Clavarino, Jeremy Long, and Kathryn J. Steadman. "Why Do Some Cancer

Patients Receiving Chemotherapy Choose to Take Complementary and Alternative Medicines and What

Are the Risks?" Asia-pacific Journal of Clinical Oncology. 10.1 (2014): 1-10. Print.

Hawkins, Hailey L. "Hailey hawkins interview." Interview. 20 Feb. 2017: n. pag. Print.

New work cited

Most Popular Evidence-Base Oncology Articles in 2004." Cancer Treatment Reviews. 31.2 (2005).