Parents of young cancer patient await custody decision

TAMPA, Fla. - Taylor Bland-Ball described the chemotherapy treatment being given to her son, Noah as "medical kidnapping."

Florida Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Beck wanted to know what she meant by that.

"I was concerned if we didn’t find alternative remedies right away, John Hopkins would see it as some form of neglect," she said.

Bland-Ball and Joshua McAdams are trying to regain custody of their 4-year-old son. He was diagnosed with cancer in April, and then removed from their care after they stopped Noah’s chemo treatments. They took him to Kentucky to pursue natural remedies. 

Authorities tracked them down and returned them to Tampa. Noah's maternal grandmother was given temporary custody and a judge ruled the child would continue the chemotherapy. 

A very soft-spoken Bland-Ball explained her reasons for removing a PICC line inserted in Noah's arm by doctors for chemo treatments. She said she understood the risks.

"I knew that a part of it could break and result in an infection," she explained.

She conceded she was not a trained medical professional but said she learned how to remove a PICC line from watching online videos. Later she echoed the same distrust Joshua McAdams had about Noah’s doctor.

The last witnesses on the stand Tuesday was Noah’s case manager. She described an incident when Joshua cornered her after Noah was given green slime as a token for getting his blood drawn.

But McAdams' attorney tried to clean up the idea that Joshua McAdams was hostile towards medical staff, saying the father had real concerns about the green slime possibly having chemicals that could be toxic to Noah's sensitive condition.

The judge has 30 days to decide who will have custody of Noah McAdams.