Court-ordered cancer treatment

For some reason, this makes me really sad. I'm glad he got the treatment, but I'm really sorry that he had to be bullied into it.

A 13-year-old boy cancer patient who fled the state with his mother rather than face chemotherapy underwent a round of the treatment he feared Thursday, a family spokesman said.

Jim Navarro said Daniel Hauser attended his second chemotherapy session at Children's Hospitals and Clinics but he had no immediate update on the teen's condition. The hospital wouldn't release information about the procedure, citing patient confidentiality.

The boy's parents, who initially resisted chemotherapy out of a preference for alternative treatments, faced legal consequences if they skipped the appointment. Daniel also attended an appointment a day earlier.

The family had said an earlier round of chemotherapy made Daniel, who suffers from Hodgkin's lymphoma, feel sick and hardened their resolve against further treatment. A Brown County judge ordered the treatment anyway, prompting Daniel and Colleen Hauser to leave their home in Sleepy Eye and spend a week on the lam.

The family prefers natural healing practices suggested by a religious group called the Nemenhah Band, which says it follows American Indian beliefs.

Earlier this week, the family agreed to accept chemotherapy when doctors vowed to integrate some natural treatments favored by the Hausers.

Although integrative medicine doctors said such therapy were not meant as an alternative to traditional cancer treatment, it can help patients deal with the effects of chemotherapy.

"A lot of people want to avoid chemotherapy because they're afraid of it, and what they're actually afraid of is the symptoms," said Dr. Lucille Marchand, clinical director of integrative oncology services at the University of Wisconsin Paul C. Carbone Cancer Center. "And symptoms can be treated."