Treatment also depends on the stage that the disease is placed in. Staging is simply a method by which the cancer is categorized for the purpose of developing a treatment plan and for research purposes with regards to cure rates and treatment successes or failures (Leukemia (http://www.emedicinehealth.com/leukemia/article_em.htm).
In most cases of the disease, including Kate's case the treatment of choice is chemotherapy. There is a scene in the novel in which Anna, Kate and their mother are dancing around the kitchen together after shaving their heads so Kate would not feel awkward about losing her hair during a chemotherapy course of treatment.
ETHICS
There are several ethics questions that can be related to this story. The first and foremost question of ethics was whether or not Anna's parents had the right to conceive and give her life for the sole purpose of providing parts and medical needs for her older sister. While the parents did grow to love their second daughter, many people believe that the purposeful conception and birth for this purpose is unethical at best and horrific at worst.
The idea of creating a human parts machine is extremely distasteful and unfair to the child who comes into the world as a part house.
When the question of ethics comes into the picture those who support what families like this one did point out the fact that the child is loved, regardless of the circumstances of its birth and conception.
Throughout the nation parents have had to face ethical decisions with regard to the medical care of one or more of their children.
In one recent case of conjoined twins the parents, who were devoutly Catholic refused all medical treatment to separate and save the twins. They believed it was God's will that they had been born like that and it was God who should decide whether the conjoined girls would live or die (Tierney, 2002).
During that hearing the court ruling stated in part that the parents had a right to make themselves into martyrs for their personal convictions but that they had no legal, ethical or moral right to make their children into martyrs for their personal beliefs.
In the same way that the court rules in that case it could be said that Anna had the right to fight against her parents based on the fact that they had her for the sole purpose of becoming a martyr in the quest to save Kate.
The next ethical question is founded in the fact that she had been forced her entire life to provide medical treatments for her sister whenever the need arose.
In the case of the twins the courts faced an interesting dilemma regarding the rights of the children. Children have the right to medical treatment but parents also have the right to choose or refuse said treatment within reason.
In the case of Anna and Kate the parents were trying to choose a medical treatment for Kate while forcing a medical treatment upon Anna. The ethics of such a decision created a hotly debated court case in the novel from which the court believed that Anna should not have to subject herself to more medical procedures even if her refusal to do so would mean certain death for her older sister.
The next ethics question is whether or not Anna should be duty bound and court ordered to provide the kidney for her sister.
There are several issues at the crux of this particular question. Anna has the exact match and her kidney could very well save Kate's life, however, she refuses to provide it, which according to the doctors will mean certain death for Kate....
The ways Mark and Anna react to the events that impact their lives illustrate how children are sometimes more morally mature than their parents are. Anna is her sister's keeper, and she devotes much of her life to caring for Kate. Anna's decision to take her mother to court was not based on selfishness but on moral righteousness. She knew that her mother was making the wrong decision to infringe
Picoult, J. (2004). My Sister's Keeper: A . New York: Atria. Social Justice Issues. I hone ethical principles/theories expressed situation write thesis statement including principle/theory. Jodi Picoult's 2004 novel "My Sister's Keeper" puts across an account involving ethical dilemmas and ethical thinking that are likely to trigger intense feelings in readers. The novel is told from several perspectives, most probably with the purpose of presenting readers with an overall image of
Sister's Keeper -- Case Study Using Developmental Theories Anna Fitzgerald was given a life so that she could keep another person alive, her seriously ill older sister Kate. On the surface that seems terrible cruel and wholly unfair. Looking deeper into the issues surrounding the Fitzgerald family, Anna and her older sister Kate, it is more unfair and cruel than it appears on the surface. There are important ethical issues
MY SISTER�S KEEPER 1 MY SISTER�S KEEPER 5 My Sister�s Keeper: An Ethical Perspective X. Ample zzzzz Ethical Issue: Genetic Technology in Healthcare �I was born because a scientist managed to hook up my mother�s eggs and my father�s sperm to create a specific combination of precious genetic material...because I could save my sister, Kate,� (Picoult, 2004, p. 7-8). Anna, the protagonist of Jodi Picoult�s novel My Sister�s Keeper bemoans her special status when she first introduces herself
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