To think that Neon's Mum, Sally Roberts, definitely displayed Narcissistic tendencies?

[VulvaVoom]

This is for anyone who watched the documentary last night. Maybe it was edited to make her look bad but I felt really angry and sad about her behaviour and attitude.

She seemed more concerned with pursuing a court case that she knew she was never going to win instead of being with her sick son. An example of this is that she didn't see him the night before his brain surgery (even though she could have done) Surely it doesn't really matter what you believe, once the decision was made, she should have been there for him.

She also seemed to be enjoying the media attention a bit too much IMO and spoke to Neon in quite an odd way, when she wanted him to go into a bariatric chamber for some 'alternative' treatment, she asked him to 'do it for her'.

She believes that radiotherapy will affect his DNA and change him - well isn't that better than him dying ffs? The poor bloody kid.

Sorry should read, he is only a little boy not a lab rat!

I hope he ate that whole fecking pizza and enjoyed that huge bowl of spag bol he was heaping cheese on. I wanted to cheer when I saw that! Yay! It's wonderful when their appetite returns and you see them gobbling away and keeping it down.

I really hope dad was telling mum a few porkies WRT the table of supplements she had supplied for him to take.

I watched my MIL go through cancer treatment and the last thing she would have wanted would be to have to take that lot.

I can't imagine what the dad went through when they were missing, the urgency of the situation.

Why did she think the doctors were charlatans but not realise the actual charlatans were?

expat - seeing him help himself to a big handful of cheese for his spag bol brought a lump to my throat, - so great to see him getting his appetite back.

Fabergegg - when someone loses their appetite on cancer treatment, anything they fancy eating is a bonus - doesn't matter what it is, in fact if its calorific so much the better, when you are having chemo, not only do you feel sick, but most things taste vile, you have apermanent nasy taste in your mouth, so anything you can manage a bit of or actually get some enjoyment out of eating is a big deal.

Expat

I thought the father came across quite well and was obviously close to his son.

The mother berating her son for not cleaning his teeth and not first asking how he was me. I did think the father should have told her (Neon's mother) to sling her hook but I guess she was the primary carer for 7 years so must have some sort of relationship with her kids.

On the pizza thing, it was great to see him eat it and would (hopefully) have given him the confidence to ask his dad for whatever he wanted to eat without the fear of being told no (by his mother).

OMG, the cleaning teeth thing. Shows how far removed she was from it all. They boak. Often. DD1 had a gel and hated even that. She had these lolly stick thingies, too. It's important they do it, because they can get dreadful mouth ulcers as the chemo kills all the fast growing cells in their wee bodies, but it makes them puke often and so they try to use gels or those sponge thingies to help them, but they can really, quite understandably, fight against it.

Exactly, simpson, the eating thing. After DD1's first round, she wanted mashed potatoes and gravy. All.the.time. Being in a hospital with only a kettle, toaster and microwave and strict infection control, this meant Smash and gravy granules. With pepper. She never wanted pepper before that. But that was me, in the wee hours, whipping up a bowl. If she ate two bites, RESULT!

Then, she went off it and never ate it again. Ditto Monster Munch pickled onion, chicken satay sticks, Magnum bars and Chicago Town pepperoni pizzas. Among others.

All the staff and her doctor were of the opinion to give her whatever she wanted, when she wanted it.

Her last time at home, it was chicken jalfrezzi. Yep. So she got it!

pmg at feeding him rubbish comments if my child was wanting pizza or cheese or whatever while going through cancer treatment id frigging well give them as much junk food that satisfied them jeez he is going through a terrible time with a mother who hid away with him because she was scared of the big nasty doctors .

I thought the dad was very patient with the mother and was clearly putting the needs of his son first ie refrained from arguing and bickering over her obvious delusions.

I havent watched this yet - my 4 year old DS is currently undergoing chemotherapy so it's all a bit close to home. But I can honestly say, that when he has his surgery in a couple of weeks, wild horses couldn't stop me being with him.

As for the comments on eating pizza - I can only echo what Expat has said. When a child is on chemo, healthy eating goes out the window. They eat what they want, when they want - the more fatty and calorific the better.....with the full endorsement of the doctors/specialists.

Aside from the very real need to build him him up, if a pizza (or Dominos garlic bread in DS's case!) cheers him up, I'm certainly not going to deny him it. He has bigger worries than his 5 a day at the moment.

YY, nocakes, to garlic bread! What is it with that? The whole ward would be smelling of it.

I hope it all goes well for your son :)

nocake i hope your son is well soon and keep the garlic bread coming, It must be strong flavours they crave,

I was an child (no where near as ill as any of the children on here) and when i was ill id crave things like cheese and salt and vinegar crisps and pickled onions and beetroot mum used to smuggle pickle jars in at visiting times

an ill child*

I wonder if either child will thank them for letting a film crew into their house at such a traumatic time though? Seems odd to me as a parent, as the aim of the programme seemed to be just to portray how bad the mother was, rather than to raise awareness of the dearth of funding for research into childhood cancers.

Nocake - I hope all goes well for your DS.

Expat - I remember reading (on MN) about your DD1 wanting monster munch.

I did think at the time when watching the programme that maybe his mouth was sore and that's why he didn't clean his teeth. It was so sad hearing a sick child defending himself against his mothers many questions

Thanks Expat and mrsjay

Bloody stunk the ward out - luckily he had is own room .

Thanks simpson

Both children were delightful, it must have been hard for electra at such a young age to understand why everything was about neon, although obviously it would be.

oxygen chamber woman was a disgrace and I was swearing at the tv, it ought to be a crime to give out false hope that conflicts with established medical opinion. My blood is boiling just thinking of her taking advantage of the desperation of parents in that situation.

So sorry to everyone on this thread that has gone through similar situations to neon

My DD craved pizza too like mad, it's also the steroids in addition to the chemotherapy, they will sit there panicking and weeping with the hunger pangs when it hits them on steroids and giving them a salad when they are craving pizza is not going to cut it and can even result in them harming themselves in their desperation. Too much weight loss results in the often traumatic insertion of a tube down their nose to feed them, which is hazardous when their platelets are low through chemo, or surgery to insert a feeding tube through the abdominal wall, also obviously hazardous. If you can get them to eat, you do pretty much anything it takes.

If she hadn't run away, then it would have been relatively private, amouse, but I think the film will be the least of it if this child hopefully lives.

You are right about the dearth of funding for nearly all paediatric cancers, though :(.

My daughter died of a form of leukaemia that strikes, and kills, largely 'elderly' adults, and treatment has moved mostly nowhere in decades due to that.

Yet is accounts for 20% of all paediatric leukaemias.

But honestly, put yourself in the other parent's position and imagine, just for a moment, what it would be like if your other half disappeared for days with your seriously ill child.

OMFG, I'd have thought the worst: that she'd killed him and herself. I'd have been out of my judgement with worry.

oxygen chamber woman was a disgrace

Here, here! My cousin died in her early 50s from a very treatable cancer because a quack clinic persuaded her that coffee enemas and a ridiculous diet would be better than surgery. She was relieved of tens of thousands of pounds in the process and would have ended up bankrupt if she had not died because her cancer was untreated.

I have nothing at all against complimentary/alternative medicine used with conventional medicine. I can also understand that some patients will not want conventional medicine even if it might be life-saving, but it must be an informed decision. It is a disgrace that quacks are allowed to prey on the sick and vulnerable and mislead them with complete and utter crap, to the point where they lose their lives.

The grandchildren comment has always stuck in my mind from the moment it was reported in the media.