Reply #2: The judge made his ruling base partially on the fact the Daniel could not

[dflprincess]

explain his beliefs to the judge and did not understand what he (Daniel) meant when he said he was an elder and medicine man in the religion he belongs to. Also, the religion appartently doesn't forbid conventional medical treatments. He did go through one round of chemo and it was after that his parents decided that he would not have any more sessions despite his odds of it being successful are (or were) about 90%.

The examine he had last week indicated that the tumor had begun to grow again and one of the concerns is that it will grow enough to cut off his airway. According to a doctor quoted in yesterday's Star Tribune, Daniel has just a few weeks, possibly less than a month before this happens, the original chemo treatment had shrunk the tumor and eased his breathing. I wonder if his parents couldn't stand how sick the treatments made him, how they will cope when they have to watch him literally gasping for air.

Another factor in the judge's ruling was the fact Daniel is only 13 even the judge said that if he was 16 or 17 and seemed to have a better grasp of the risk he was taking the ruling may have been different.