Prayers to John Travolta and Kelly Preston

so sad

This is so heartbreaking...it has to be horrible to deal with this plus deal with the media....

My prayers go out to them and there family.

Tammy
 
I believe there is no greater pain than the loss of a child. My thoughts and prayers are with the Travolta family.
 
While I feel for the Travolta family for their tragedy, they are experiencing a tragedy that happens to many people across this country of ours everyday of the year - the loss of a child. Whether it be by accident or illness it is a sadness that only one can imagine.

While Matia may have sounded a bit harsh in her wording I have to agree with her on one thing - the child had some issues that obviously they wanted to keep quiet - which should be respected. In every film clip that has played out this weekend he does not act quite the normal teenager and his weight was not normal either (possibly steroid induced - prednisone possibly?). The film clip of them in Paris recently had my DH asking me if the teen was mentally handicapped? I replied that the only thing I had heard of is Kawasaki's disease and possibly autistic.

Personally - I think scientology is nuttier than hell. I doubt that this contributed to his death unless they refused him prescription drugs based on their beliefs and that those same drugs may have stopped his seizures.
 
I doubt that this contributed to his death unless they refused him prescription drugs based on their beliefs and that those same drugs may have stopped his seizures.

I heard Jett Travolta was on Depokate for seizures for several years until the drug stopped working (which is common for this drug) AND caused severe liver damage.

Prescription drugs are not a cure-all for everything! And just because some of us don't believe in everything the pharmaceutical industry tries to sell us doesn't mean that we are stupid or irresponsible. Drugs have serious side effects and as individual and as parents we have to make decisions that are based on information we have, research we have done and what our belief system is. It is easy for someone who is not walking in those shoes to pass judgement.

I truly believe that John Travolta and his wife loved their son and to say that they are "not all that upset" and "are unburdenend" sounds heartless and mean-spirited to me.

My heart goes out to the family for their loss, what a tragedy!
 
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Very well said about the prescription drugs issue. I was on Cymbalta and it was not a fun ride and coming off of it was pure hell. As with ANY drug there are side effects that have to be weighed in.

Does Scientology really not believe that autism is real?? I am asking a serious question . .not making light.

My personal belief is that it's not a religion - more of a cult/way of life. But as I said - I don't think that caused this childs death.

And does the coroner have to release the full results of the autopsy?
 
In every film clip that has played out this weekend he does not act quite the normal teenager and his weight was not normal either (possibly steroid induced - prednisone possibly?).


How about the fact that most American children are fat? John struggles with his weight. His son looked very much like his father.
 
MAY I INTERJECT

that MUCH of the media has really really tried to push alot of famous ppl's children as "autistic". maybe jett was or had some other "handicapp" that is similar but really we have to even take those specials with a grain of salt.

it seems when things LOOK like autism mainstream labels it as such and that is not fair to anybody. he may have had the rare fragile x syndrome(remember chris beniots',the wrestler, son) some symptoms mimic autism with lack of speech and poor coordination etc along with medical factors like seizures. with fragile x being such a rare and more misunderstood thing, that really took the focus off of learning something new and lumping it in with autism. if somebody has OCD they say autism or aspergers(don't many claim bill gates is but he never admitted to it? i don't recall).

even if jett was autistic there is no set therapy or pill that will fix it. all the love in the world and lots of teaching is the best way a family can cope with it. i am sure the travolta's did that so i don't think they were "unattentive" to his needs. not every autistic child will respond to the same therapy another child repsonds too so its really harsh to judge.

and unless you deal with parenting a child with autism or work in a field dealing with autism(or any such disability), its hard to judge what is the "proper" way of dealing with children b/c you simply cannot discipline,teach, work, and play with an autistic child the same way you would with a neurotypical child. their brains work in a totally different way for most kids so what may seem wrong to you is actually the right way for the family. and if what was seen about travolta's was on a autism special, its very likely ALOT of footage was edited and cut so things aren't always what they appear.(as i have learned from another thread i harshly judged on you really have to do the homework and come from all angles and not to judge the one side set by media.)

you might not like how i work with my child at times but i know what produces results so i wouldn't want to be judged like that either as much as no other parent wants to be told how to take care of their child whether they have a disability or not.

BUT we really don't know what their life was like. i didn't even know his child was sick b/c it was kept pretty private and out of the limelight so its hard to say. maybe they were unattentive maybe not we just don't know.

kassia
 
I cannot imagine anything worse than one of my daughters dying. And then to have people who don't know you all over the world passing judgement on things they have NO clue about is horrible. HORRIBLE!
 
I was trying to stay away from this thread but this is really bothering me.

What does the fact that the Travoltas are members of Scientology have to do with their decision how to treat the disease of a family member and especially what does it have to do with the tragedy of losing a child? I really don't understand how people find it okay to attack the Travoltas over the tragic death of their son, claiming (without any evidence) that they were unwilling to keep the boy on seizure medication and, therefore, were responsible for Jett falling and hitting his head, which led to his death.

Now, I am not a member of Scientology, nor do I agree with some / many of their beliefs. However, I not only believe in religious freedom which we are granted by our constitution but I also believe that parents have the right to decide what treatment they deem appropriate for their child(ren).

People seem to forget that modern day pharmaceuticals and conventional medicine are not without controversy either. What about all those kids on SSRI drugs who end up committing suicide? What about the almost 800,000 people yearly who are killed by modern day medicine and its pharmaceuticals? Yet to some people modern day drugs are always good and the lack thereof is always bad.

Baylian, I am not sure what exactly Scientology's stance on autism is but I think the teaching is that any mental, neurological or psychological disorder is fraud and they reject the use of psychopharmaca and psychiatry.

My personal opinion is that there are instances where those kinds of drugs are indicated and are a life saver but I also think that America is the most overdiagnosed and overprescribed nation in the world and that modern medicine comes at a heavy price. Therefore, everyone should have the right, the freedom and the obligation to make medical decisions for themselves or their loved ones without fear of being prosecuted, literally or in the court of public opinion.
 
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Is everyone sitting down????

I TOTALLY agree with Carolla.
As a pediatric nurse by training, I have seen sooooooo many children medicated rather than educated about their health conditions. I have seen many parents place their boys on ADHD meds when the problem was obviously poor parenting and not the illness. I'm not saying ADHD doesn't exist but it is way over diagnosed. Even things like Tylenol and Advil are way overused by parents. A mild fever is the bodys NATURAL defense against germs. The heat the body produces kills the germs. So by lowering the temp (unless it is at a dangerous or seriously unconfortable level) is actually counterproductive. And please don't get me started on antibiotics!!!!

Unless a parent is withholding a life saving drug from their child, it's really the decision of them and the doctor as to what is best for the child. People in our country use prescribed meds for the craziest things. How about the new macular degeneration drug that was recently found (as a side effect) to grow long black eyelashes!!! Women are now using this drug to grow longer eyelashes. Anyone stop to think what it might do to their eyes??? And Rogaine was developed for high BP and one side effect was hair growth, which is how it became to be precsribed for baldness!!!!

BTW- seizure disorder is still a very under studied disorder and all of the drugs for it have nasty side effects!!!!

ellie
 
Scientology is very controversial, as is with most religions. Only John Travolta and Kelly Preston know if they did everything they could for the safety and health of their child. No one on the outside can make that judgement.

As parent, I struggle every day wondering if I am making the best decisions for my children - thankfully I am unknown and there are no cameras to take pictures of my every mistake.

On another note, I'm sure we have all seen the photos of John and Jett on the boat taken just the day before. The two photos that really get to me are: the one where Jett is looking and smiling at the camera while John is looking at Jett's face - you can seen the love on John's face for his son and the photo where John's head is on his son's shoulder and Jett is cradling his father's head.

The love between father and son is purely evident. Those photos weren't "staged" for us - they were only released because of what happened.

So very tragic and I hope I never have to endure the loss of a child.
 

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