Thank-you Soledad - that does change things. How tragic for her and her parents. How awful that she's been denied therapy that could improve her quality of life.

Stacwase - in my friends case, he knew he was dying. He had gone through radiation and chemo and it extended his life but never eradicated the cancer. (unfortunately, he was not diagnosed with cancer until it had already spread) He had developed a new tumor on his spine which could not receive radiation treatement, and that was when they had to increase his pain medication to a staggering degree because he was suffering so much. When they did this he lost his appetite, but it was the first time he had been truely pain-free in months, so yes, I think the trade-off was worth it.