Home Care V. Hosptial Care (Comparing Lorenzo's Oil and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest)

When people are diagnosed with an illness that cannot be cured, it is much better for them to receive home care, as opposed to hospital care. With home care, people who love and care about the patient and usually have their best interests at heart. In a hospital, often there are too many other patients for the nurses or doctors to really give one patient the care and attention that they need. Especially with today's overworked American healthcare system. With health insurance being so expensive it makes it very difficult for someone with a small salary to afford all the care needed.

In the film Lorenzo's Oil, directed by George Miller, the main character, Lorenzo Odone, played by actor, Noah Banks, is diagnosed with a terminal illness, which raises the level of saturated fats in blood cells, called ALD, Adrenoleukodystrophy. This disease was inherited from his mother, and is a disease that only boys can get, usually between the ages four and ten. It is a very rare disease and has not been researched enough to find a cure, or a medicine to slow the process of it. Doctors do know that it affects the brain with demyelination, which strips away the insulation for the nerves, and Lorenzo, among other boys who have ALD, will die within two years, after a long process of suffering. Some doctors suggest that Lorenzo stays in a hospital, so they can keep a close eye on him, because his parents do not know enough about the disease, to help him or take good care of him. The Odone's, played by actors, Nick Nolte and Susan Sarandon, do not agree with the doctors. They believe that Lorenzo will be much more comfortable at home where his family can take care of him which is later...