Parenting

Court Overrules Mom Who Was Treating Girl's Cancer with CBD Oil & Forces Her to Get Surgery

ParentingPublished Aug 20, 2019
By Kaitlin Stanford
Kylee with her mother; Kylee in the hospitalKylee's Fight/Facebook

It's no secret that interest in alternative medicine has been on the rise in recent years -- from acupuncture to essential oils. Many of them have been found to offer some pretty big benefits, too, easing symptoms related to eczema, anxiety, and a slew of other ailments. But when it comes to curing cancer? The science is clear: alternative medicine therapies are certainly not enough. And this week, an Oregon court is reminding the public of that in a big way, after ruling that 13-year-old Kylee Dixon must undergo surgery and other treatments for her cancer, despite her mother's objections.

Kylee was diagnosed with a rare form of liver cancer in February 2018, after being rushed to the ER with excruciating stomach pains.

Once there, doctors discovered a mass inside her liver that had ruptured, causing severe internal bleeding.

And so, the then-11-year-old began a cycle of procedures, including chemotherapy. But right away, her mother Christina agonized over what those treatments were really doing to her daughter.

“The best way I can describe it is like my kid was on death row,” Christina told KGW8. “Every single time -- you literally feel your kid’s life getting taken away."

After six months of treatment, her mother Christina says she simply couldn't take it -- and neither, she claims, could her daughter.

“I couldn’t do it anymore and my daughter wanted to go home," Christina told the outlet. "She had enough too. She begged me to take her home before they did more chemo."

In June of 2018, Kylee was released from the hospital -- at which point, her mom began to treat her at home with alternative therapies that included vitamins, herbs, and pure CBD oil.

But Christina claims those alternative remedies did more than just soothe her daughter's pain -- she says they started curing her cancer.

“It started reversing her tumor for the first time,” said Christina, who claimed the tumor actually reduced in size by 90 percent since last year. (It should be noted, however, that this has not been verified by Kylee's doctors.)

“My daughter’s cancer has not spread," Christina continued. "And no, she hasn’t had chemotherapy or any other treatments for the last 11 months. She is thriving, surviving and doing better than ever.”

Not everyone is in agreement on that one, however. Not Kylee's doctors, and not the Oregon Department of Human Services, which stepped in earlier this year.

In March, DHS filed a petition that stated Christina had "neglected child’s medical needs, which creates a risk of harm to the child.”

Not only had Christina withdrawn her daughter from treatment against medical advice, the petition claimed, but she has also "failed to follow through with recommendations of child’s medical team" by choosing to exclusively treat her daughter with CBD.

The crux of it all? Without proper medical intervention, Kylee's doctors believed -- and still believe -- she will die from her disease. Which is why they were stunned in June, when the teen and her mother suddenly went missing.

A search for the missing mother and daughter was launched on June 10, when county police put out a bulletin for a "missing/endangered juvenile."

The search ended three days later, after a tip led police all the way to Las Vegas, Nevada, where both Kylee and her mother were found in a hotel room.

Both were brought back to Oregon, where Kylee was placed in protective custody -- a move that many supporters of Christina have called a "medical kidnapping." Meanwhile, the issue over what would become of Kylee's  medical care went to court. 

The case has sparked some heated debate over whether parents have the right to overrule medical advice for their children, particularly in a case as serious as cancer.

This week, a judge finally reached a decision: Nope, they don't. 

“I’m going to let the surgeons do what they need to do,” Judge Heather Karabeika of the Clackamas County Circuit Court reportedly said.

The ruling comes just days after Christina Dixon turned herself in to authorities.

Dixon now faces charges of criminal mistreatment and custodial interference, and is said to be still fighting the state of Oregon to regain control of her daughter's care.

For now though, the judge has ordered that Kylee be placed in the care of a family member, rather than foster care, and the state is moving forward with a treatment plan Kylee's doctors feel will give her a shot at recovery.

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