The Fight of Our Lives

Last updated on: August 25, 2010 at 7:54 am by Chase Livingston

The Fight of Our Lives 2010-08-25T07:54:59-06:00 Chase Livingston

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

As someone who has witnessed prolonged terminal illness as it gradually diminishes the life of loved ones, I have seen the way that dying people hang on to life; I have seen what it takes for them to let go. I have also seen how the promise of medical advance entices and further complicates that process of acceptance. Denial may seem harmless to some and may even be deemed an appropriate coping mechanism by others but the refusal to accept is detrimental.

This level of denial renders daily care, doctor-patient conversations, and treatment decisions much more difficult than they already are. Desperate patients cling to life-sustaining treatment even as it destroys their quality of life. Some doctors will continue to offer treatment as long as the patient is willing to endure it. The patient and their families exist in an emotionally painful and physically exhausting state between denial and acceptance with the long-shot hope of a cure always just out of reach like a mechanical rabbit on a dog track. And they run after it on and on into futility.

Extraordinary Measures is the story of John and Aileen Crowley, determined parents of two children who have a rare glycogen storage disorder called Pompe Disease. The Crowleys, faced with the dismal life expectancies of their children, partner with a research scientist to form a biotech corporation and develop a treatment. The film follows the family’s journey through many discouraging turns until a drug enzyme is developed and brought to market.

These questions: what lengths will parents go to for their children and at what costs? are considered in at least two other contemporary films. In the similarly titled 1998 action movie Desperate Measures, Frank Connor obtains the only matching bone marrow transplant for his son but in doing so destroys his career, endangers innocent civilians and police, risks a more violent death for his son, and nearly allows a convicted killer to escape. The child lives but at what cost?

In last year’s My Sister’s Keeper, the Fitzgeralds have a second daughter by in vitro for the express purpose of having a genetic match for their daughter who has a rare form of leukemia. The younger daughter later sues them for right to her own body but only does this for her sister who wishes to die peacefully. Her parents only understand and accept this wish after many traumatic months in court. All of this struggle and the child still dies. I get Ecclesiastical just thinking about it. Then I remember something else the writer of that book said, “There is a time for every purpose under heaven: a time to be born, a time to die…a time to fight and a time to surrender (Ecc. 3:1-2,8).”

Extraordinary Measures ends on more of an up-note than these. The enzyme is available in time that the children can begin treatment. Their lives are saved. Thousands of other children are spared too as a result of the breakthrough. This would not have happened had the Crowleys not been so persistent. Indeed, there is a time to fight. I worry though that many people only know this single mode of operation. What happens when they need to let go but do not? Their suffering increases.

As a caregiver, I have watched the dying cling to their lives with weak hands. I have winced while they struggle and in those moments I want only that they can accept so that their pain would diminish. After seeing these events play out for months, all involved parties grow weary. In our weariness, we cry out for mercy. In our exhaustion, those cries may sound cold and unlike us but they are in fact measured. We have counted the cost. At that point, we can no longer fight. We are ready for surrender.

Previous Post

August 24, 2010

"Chasing Mummies" Chasing the Wind

Next Post

August 25, 2010 Stem-Cell Research Goes to Court

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Asides Elsewhere Featured Film Games General Culture Headline Literature Music Of the Moment Podcast Politics RetroPost Sports Technology Television Uncategorized Viral

Select a Month February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz