Nick Cannon has explained his painful decision not to treat his son Zen, who died at 5 months from brain cancer, with chemotherapy.
The TV personality explained during an interview with People magazine that he and Alyssa Scott did not want their son to suffer.
"We started asking, 'Is there a way to prevent this? If not, how long do we have?' " Cannon recalled. "The conversations quickly turned to, 'How can we give him the best life for the time that he does have?' It could be weeks, it could be months, it could be years."
Zen was 2-months-old when he was diagnosed with high-grade glioma, a rare and aggressive form of brain cancer. A shunt was placed in his skull to drain the excess fluid, but doctors then discovered that his tumors had continued to grow. Cannon and Scott, who had undergone chemotherapy for lupus, ultimately made the difficult decision not to pursue any further invasive treatments.
"We were having quality-of-life conversations," Cannon said. "We could have had that existence where he would've had to live in the hospital, hooked up to machines, for the rest of the time. From someone who's had to deal with chemotherapy before, I know that pain. To see that happen to a 2-month-old, I didn't want that. I didn't want him to suffer."
Instead they chose to focus on cherishing the time they had left with Zen.
"We focused on Disneyland, our favorite place," explained Cannon. "Every month we would celebrate his birthday, just really seeing it as a victory every time he had a milestone that he was still here with us."
Things took a turn for the worse over Thanksgiving and on Dec. 5, Zen had his last breath. Speaking to fans during "The Nick Cannon Show" last week, Cannon explained that he was thankful they got to spend the weekend with Zen.
"This weekend I made a valid effort to spend the most quality time I could spend with Zen," he said, according to Entertainment Tonight. "We woke up on Sunday — I got to spend the weekend with him — and I woke up on Sunday and was like, I feel like I want to go to the water. We got a chance to go to the ocean."
During his interview with People, Cannon added that he and Scott "had a short time with a true angel."
"My heart is shattered," he continued. "I wish I could have done more, spent more time with him, taken more pictures. I wish I could have hugged him longer."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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