We won the battle – certainly not the war. Oshin’s parents have ‘won’ the right to care for their son. They have won the right not to have treatment administered to their son, which they believe weighs heavily toward destroying the quality of life left to him. Many questions present themselves as to how much of the past nine months were really necessary, but I believe now is not the time to dwell on those questions. This has always been about Oshin, so now is the time to rejoice in watching this little man slowly regain some semblance of who he was prior to the diagnosis. Significant is the fact that the 9 months of hell culminated on the 1st day of spring, the season that symbolises light and new life. There is a long road ahead. Put simply Oshin has been left brain damaged, and significantly physically and psychologically impaired from his brain surgery and subsequent treatment/s. The court orders state, “The parents are to meaningfully engage with the Oncology team at the treating hospital to: Undergo palliative care” – all well and good until you realise there is no palliative care plan. There has never been a child with this diagnosis given palliative care at this institution. They’re treated til they’re called ‘cancer free’ or until they die. There are children who have been receiving treatment for 5 years. Undergo all supportive care including but not limited to, neuropsychology, physiotherapy and occupational therapy” – 2 months down the track and nothing. Not a single thing. No supportive care whatsoever. No home services of any kind – not even a helmet. The family home has yoga mats taped to the walls and swimming pool ‘noodles’ taped to shelves and steps to try and make them not so harmful to a very fast, very wilful and very unsteady little Ninja Turtle warrior. But that’s day-to-day tedium, the battle. Let’s look at the big picture aka the war. There’s an underlying worry that needs to be addressed and hopefully in time will be. I have attached a link to an article by a NSW QC, Ian Freckelton, who writes for the Journal Of Law And Medicine. There are actually several untruths in the article, which we cant do anything about because they’ve been stated in affidavits from the ‘other side’ – so the authors of the affidavits have in fact perjured themselves, but unless or until anyone wants to go back to court, then they remain ‘fact’ and can be reported on as such. The real concern I see from this article, is the suggestion that a hospital must be extra vigilant and after preliminary mediation attempts, if it suspects there may be parental resistance to standard treatment protocols then it must act swiftly and quietly to instigate court action, enlisting the help of child ‘protection’ agencies to help immobilise the parents, while at the same time silence any media discussion. So, in other words, use MORE brute force – as much and as quickly as possible, take the kid, shut the parents up and gag anyone who might dare mention it. My most sincere hope is that none of you will never hear this most awful diagnosis, but for those of you that will, then I pray that you’d have done your research, and with an open heart and clear conscience make YOUR OWN decision as to which road to take. This petition will stay online so I can keep everyone up to date on Oshin’s progress. I will ask everyone in WA to please keep gathering signatures on the hardcopy petition – this is to be presented for parliamentary discussion when they reconvene in March 2017. Love and eternal gratitude for your treasured ongoing support x