Boy who resisted chemo now to receive it

Published 11:16 am Friday, May 29, 2009

The 13-year-old Minnesota cancer patient who fled the state with his mother rather than face chemotherapy underwent a round of the treatment he feared Thursday — and doctors have vowed to soften the symptoms with natural methods favored by his family.

Treating the often harsh symptoms of chemotherapy with practices outside Western medicine is increasingly common at hospitals around the country, and doctors at Children’s Hospitals and Clinics had wooed Daniel Hauser and his family back to chemotherapy by saying it could be part of his treatment.

Daniel attended his chemotherapy session Thursday, according to Jim Navarro, a spokesman for the family. Navarro had no immediate update on Daniel’s condition. A hospital spokesman wouldn’t release information about the procedure, citing patient confidentiality.

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The Hausers, who initially resisted chemotherapy out of a preference for alternative, American Indian-based treatments, faced immediate legal consequences if they skipped the appointment. Daniel attended an appointment a day earlier at the same hospital.

Daniel, who suffers from Hodgkin’s lymphoma, had an earlier round of chemotherapy that his family said made him sick and hardened both the boy’s and his parents’ resolve against further chemotherapy.