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You know how we run across stories every now and then about people who have been declared brain dead by more than 1 expert but then they wake up. Somehow they did the "impossible".....?
I read about this one boy who was declared brain dead by several doctors but parents refuse to turn off life support. Well, the kid wakes up weeks later and recovering.
Im doing my clinicals at a huge Trauma hospital and this one kid was brain after a MVA and they were about ready to harvest his organs. As much as I want to help people live, I don't know if I could do it to my own kids. After hearing survivor stories like these.
Please, any insight or education on the matter from those of you who know.
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We recently went through this with a relative. Apparent miracles do happen, but when (by law here ) a team of 3 different doctors confirm that a person is brain dead. That involves bringing the comatose body back up to normal temperature, eliminating drugs, then a host of tests and observations, and a decision based on all of that. Unfortunately this is all very expensive, and mist people cannot afford to pay for extending it in the slim chance of recovery. In this case the cost was $110,000 from admitting to death (just 3 days) of which most was paid by the state as the patient was on medicaid, the remainder written off by the hospital.
You know how we run across stories every now and then about people who have been declared brain dead by more than 1 expert but then they wake up. Somehow they did the "impossible".....?
I read about this one boy who was declared brain dead by several doctors but parents refuse to turn off life support. Well, the kid wakes up weeks later and recovering.
Im doing my clinicals at a huge Trauma hospital and this one kid was brain after a MVA and they were about ready to harvest his organs. As much as I want to help people live, I don't know if I could do it to my own kids. After hearing survivor stories like these.
Please, any insight or education on the matter from those of you who know.
I'm thinking that as a future health care provider, it is very important for you to have an accurate understanding of this subject, top to bottom. It seems the best way to do this would be some very detailed conversations with your professors and peers. Maybe you're already doing that as well, which is great.
May I add, I am not aware of any case where an accurately diagnosed brain dead person recovered adequately and became no longer brain dead.
Anyone know what is happening with that young black cute brain dead girl of a few years ago? She was overweight and about 10 years old. The mother moved her to a new facility that told her they could bring her back. I think they live in CA.
I'm thinking that as a future health care provider, it is very important for you to have an accurate understanding of this subject, top to bottom. It seems the best way to do this would be some very detailed conversations with your professors and peers. Maybe you're already doing that as well, which is great.
May I add, I am not aware of any case where an accurately diagnosed brain dead person recovered adequately and became no longer brain dead.
I use to know a young man who was in a coma, and the Doctors told his mother he was brain dead and it was only a matter of time until he died....and even if he lived, he was brain dead that he would never be able to understand or realize what was going on....he said he heard every word that the Doctors just said to his Mother while she was beside his hospital bed.
He was in the coma for a very long time....but he woke up again...he said he needed help learning exact speech and everything again, although he could talk some. He also need PT because of not using his legs for that extended period of time. He made a complete recovery and was attending college when I knew him.
The day that we arrived at the hospital to have a relative unplugged from his life support machine we were told upon arrival that he was "waking up." We had received counseling by staff earlier in order to make our decision and were told that he was brain dead. He is alive, well and apparently none the worse for his experience.
A girlfriend flat-lined for ten minutes in the operating room and later accurately described the crash equipment which had been wheeled in and the conversation of the nurses and doctors. During the time she was flat-lined she says she watched the proceedings from the ceiling of the room looking down on herself.
The doctors refused to have a conversation with her about this but the nurses listened and nodded and were familiar with similar cases. This woman has a Master's Degree and taught for a lifetime. Her credibility is not in question in my experience.
It certainly does give a person pause to wonder. I hope continued research will produce answers which will bring a better understanding of the connection between what we know of the physical and the paranormal (for want of a better word.) I think research in Quantum Physics is already hinting at possibilities.
No matter how many personal examples people cite, once someone is declared brain dead, it is statistically very rare for them to recover in any meaningful sense. However, there is still a ton we do not know about the human brain and its capacity to repair itself.
OP, as a healthcare professional, you need to have faith in science and things like statistical probabilities. It is possible someone could make a full miraculous recovery from what is assumed to be a brain-dead state. Possible, but highly unlikely. I see it as being similar to how rescues are called off when someone is missing but could technically still be alive since their body hasn't been found.
Consider also that their may be some form of consciousness for some of the people who are on life support and they are trapped in a living hell in a body where they can't communicate or move. And since most people don't actually recover, they remain that way indefinitely. That is actually a thought that horrifies me beyond measure, and I would hope someone would pull the plug on me.
I would advise you to advocate for patients based on the best scientific and empirical evidence you have and modify your process as we learn more.
I use to know a young man who was in a coma, and the Doctors told his mother he was brain dead and it was only a matter of time until he died....and even if he lived, he was brain dead that he would never be able to understand or realize what was going on....he said he heard every word that the Doctors just said to his Mother while she was beside his hospital bed.
He was in the coma for a very long time....but he woke up again...he said he needed help learning exact speech and everything again, although he could talk some. He also need PT because of not using his legs for that extended period of time. He made a complete recovery and was attending college when I knew him.
Thank You....This is what Im talking about.
Also..And for me being in healthcare, I should question these things not just accept things for what they are. It's easy to say, oh, it's a small chance for recovery....but if it was your child would you be that quick to pull the plug? I'm not saying people who do are bad parents, relatives because they are far from it. But I totally understand why somebody would not want to do it....just in case.
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