But you just have to "let" them go....It's not about us, it is about them! JMO...
How is it about them? If they are dead and their body is just a shell, then they're gone and all it's about us, the ones grieving and left behind.
I see so many posts with "I feel sorry for them, but..." and then talking about cost or how they have to accept facts, or are being selfish, or even cruel (to a body that lacks brain stem activity) etc. Until we walk a mile, however, in
their shoes, I don;t know how fair it is to criticize.
If there wasn't a question of limited resources then I would agree with you. But the reality is that there are only so many ICU beds, ventilators, nursing staff, etc. Additionally, all these things cost money. Who is to pay if in every case of brain death the hospital is required to keep the body hooked up to machines until multiple organ failure occurs? The family? The hospital? The taxpayers? Should these extensive measures be taken for every patient, or only for the ones whose family goes to the media or gets a lawyer? What if the bed, the ventilator, the nurses are needed to care for someone who has a chance to live? Does that person lose his or her chance to receive life-saving care because brain-dead bodies are being kept alive until the last organ system breaks down?
I feel horrible for Jahi's family, but their daughter is never going to 'spark awake' or come back to them. At a certain point, it is selfish to use limited medical resources in a hopeless cause (IMO, of course.)
I just hope brain-dead bodies don't feel any pain.
If a brain dead body felt pain then clearly, the person would not be dead. Pain = existence. I think it is horrible that in the U.S., we are still making medical decisions based on cost.
I think extensive measures would not be taken for every patient and should not be taken. Most people are able to accept after a while and with evidence. I hear an "entitlement" vibe going on. I don;t like that. These are people facing the sudden death of their little girl. If I felt someone was trying to take my baby, I'd go to the news, get a lawyer, whatever to fight for my child.
Wow, the different tests they do, that's an education. I hope they did all of it in this case and made sure there was no blood flow. Also, from the article:
Barrios said it's not unusual for family members to resist a diagnosis of brain death.
While the hospital is not obligated to keep life support going after that diagnosis, Barrios has left brain dead patients hooked up for up to five days while family members move toward acceptance, he said.
"I understand why sometimes for families it's devastating and confusing," he said.
I think if the hospital had not moved so quickly and had allowed the family to come to a slow understanding, things may have turned out differently. This was a shock.
My 18-year-old daughter had a tonsillectomy on December 16 and I've been freaking out the whole time. She's on day 8 post op now and is recovering well, but I'll be glad to get past day 10.
I don't blame you! She'll be great, though and we're all thinking of you and your daughter!
I'm curious about the "suctioning" of the blood the family members were doing. Is it possible they thought they were being helpful and started doing this prior to the bleeding event leading to the cardiac arrest? Thus contributing to heavy bleeding?
Very, very, sad event. I believe the mother is just hoping against all hope that this will all go away and that her daughter will wake up smiling. I am quite sure she was informed the bleeding was a possible complication. I was terrified when my son had a tonsillectomy because of this possible complication. (Instead he had a total asthma attack in recovery and then broke out in hives all over his body.)
A young eight year old girl in my son's elementary school did die from this exact complication. She had already been discharged from the hospital. Unfortunately, it does happen.
Isnt the aunt an ER nurse? I doubt they caused this issue. But I had no idea this was a not so rare complication. Scary, ButForFortune.
'Miracle recovery' of teen declared brain dead by four doctors
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/h...teen-declared-brain-dead-by-four-doctors.html
This is not even two years old.
jmo
Here is another:
Man makes “miraculous” recovery from brain death after accident
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/n...ous_recovery_from_brain_death_after_accident/
And there's more. In this article, we learn that "brain death" was a legal definition that was not created until a 1981 presidential panel determined such a state equals death:
Jahi's family and doctors disagree over whether she's dead, but on one topic everyone is united: She is a very special case. Almost all deaths are because of heart and lung failure. Less than 1 percent fall into the category of brain death, a condition officially incorporated into the definition of death by a 1981 presidential panel of doctors, lawyers, researchers, psychologists and ethicists charged with defining death at a time when rapidly advancing technology was blurring the lines between life and nonlife.
Medical, legal guidelines
According to the panel's report, death occurs when "an individual has sustained either (1) irreversible cessation of circulatory and respiratory functions, or (2) irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain, including the brain stem."
The report was the basis of the Uniform Determination of Death Act, a draft law later adopted by many states, including California, that provides medical and legal guidelines for determining death in cases when the brain has stopped functioning.
The guidelines were intended to help doctors and families navigate the nuanced and difficult decisions about ventilators, feeding tubes and other life-sustaining measures. But they remain silent on time of death, stating that the actual declaration of death is to be determined on a case-by-case basis.
http://www.sfgate.com/health/article/Alive-or-dead-Brain-death-a-complicated-issue-5083320.php
So the law has determined that Jahi's medical state is the same as death.
Then, there's this:
Parts of the brain may still be active after a commonly used brain activity reading goes to a flat line, according to a study on cat brains published Wednesday in the online journal
PLOS One.
In all of the cats, a previously undocumented “ripple event” was evident in the hippocampus after EEG read-outs went “flat,” indicating a silenced cortex. The results appeared to replicate what had been seen in the human patient, according to the study.
The findings could revive debate over the criteria for declaring a person “brain dead.” In the U.S., two such flat-line readings 24 hours apart are necessary, along with other tests of brain function.
Researchers said their findings suggest that the brain can survive an extremely deep coma and that inducing such a state could help preserve some brain function that otherwise might cease, causing the brain to atrophy.
http://articles.latimes.com/2013/sep/18/science/la-sci-sn-brain-activity-death-20130918
Do I think Jahi is going to recover? No. Do I think her family may be deluded? Yes. But here's the thing: While I don't want my laws governed by others' religious beliefs I also don't want the law to restrict my or others' religious beliefs - or non-beliefs (except in certain, specific circumstances, like Hindu bride burning, Muslim genital mutilation, etc.) and I don't want the government making life or death decisions for me or my family.
The only detriment to keeping Jahi alive is cost. This family believes she may recover. There have been some cases where the doctors were wrong. If it was your kid and your belief, how would you feel?
