8mm
Posted on 08/02/2007 4:53:15 PM PDT by wagglebee
I was reading, "Brain-Injured Man Speaks After 6 Years" by Malcolm Ritter, AP Science Writer, (New York - Aug 1, 2007 -AP) and I just knew somewhere in the article, it was going to suggest that this case was unlike Terri Schiavo's. Had to read almost to the end, but as faithful as the sun coming up every morning and going down every evening -- there it was. "He noted that a similar treatment did not help Terri Schiavo, the Florida woman in a vegetative state whose care triggered national controversy before her death in 2005. That's the typical outcome for electrical brain stimulation in vegetative states, he said."
Oh really?
But before we go there, let's go to the marvelous miracle that a family and young man have been blessed with. According to the article, "A brain-damaged man who could communicate only with slight eye or thumb movements for six years can speak again, after stimulating electrodes were placed in his brain, researchers report.
The 38-year-old also regained the ability to chew and swallow, which allows him to be spoon-fed, rather than relying on nourishment through a tube in his belly."
Ritter goes on to report, "The man's brain was injured during an assault, he spent six years with only occasional signs of consciousness and no useful movement of his limbs. In an experiment, researchers implanted electrodes in his brain for a procedure called deep brain stimulation, which is routinely done for Parkinson's disease and some other illnesses."
The unidentified young man can apparently talk and recently recited a portion of the Pledge of Alliance. He has also gained some mobility. All of this is wondrous news and it does make one smile to read this quote, "But the treatment has helped him, the man's mother said in a statement. "Now, my son can eat, express himself and let us know if he is in pain. He enjoys a qualify of life we never thought possible," she said."
One can assume that this mother once thought her son was lost to her, but she wasn't ready to give up. Neither was Mary Schindler. Unlike Mary though, this mother's child was given a chance to improve and survive.
While I am very happy for this young man, his mother and the rest of the family, I remain sad for Mary Schindler and her family. How could they survive such an ordeal as to fight desperately for their child (sibling), only to lose at the hands of misconception and deceit that painted Terri as a hopeless and empty vessel not worthy of saving?
The propaganda machines were hard at work forming a false picture and assumptions in the public's mind. As a result, an innocent woman was executed by court order in the State of Florida. An execution that began on March 18, 2005 and ended on March 31, 2005. An execution that involved the agonizingly slow and horrendously painful death by starvation and dehydration. A death that is considered cruel and unusual punishment if applied to criminals and animals, but apparently quite acceptable when the victim is innocent and disabled.
Returning to Ritter's article, he writes, "Dr. James Bernat, a professor of neurology at Darmouth Medical School who didn't participate in the new work, called the Nature report exciting and important. Further study is needed to shed light on how many patients would respond and how to identify the minimally conscious patients with the best chance of being helped, he said.
He noted that a similar treatment did not help Terri Schiavo, the Florida woman in a vegetative state whose care triggered national controversy before her death in 2005. That's the typical outcome for electrical brain stimulation in vegetative states, he said."
I wonder if Ritter or Dr. Bernat ever read the article about Terri's treatment? I have.
According to the St. Petersburg Times' article, "St. Petersburg Beach has special day for coma victim", (Feb. 17, 1991) (City Edition) ,
"This city has proclaimed today Terri Schiavo day.
Last year Mrs. Schiavo, 27, suffered a loss of potassium in her body that caused her heart to stop beating and resulted in a coma. She underwent surgery, performed by Dr. Yoshio Hosobuchi of the University of California at San Francisco in December, to implant a stimulator in her brain.
The brain stimulator implant was a success, said her husband, Mike. Mrs. Schiavo is slowly emerging from the coma at the Mediplex Medical Center, a neurological care center in Bradenton, he said. She will undergo at least a year of speech, occupational and physical therapy."
What's that?
The St. Petersburg Times is quoting Michael Schiavo as saying "the brain stimulator implant was a success"?
They are quoting Michael as saying that she is slowly emerging from the coma?
How interesting!
I guess what Dr. Bernat meant when he said that similar treatment did not help Terri Schiavo, was that it did not help save her life in the end. After all, we do have it documented that Michael Schiavo stated the implant was a success and she was emerging from the coma. Guess that little bit of information became inconvenient some where along the line and that's why it wasn't readily shared. It certainly wasn't readily shared after the check was in the bank. Amazing how it seems to have worked that way.
As the sun rises each morning and the sun sets each evening, with a success story like this young man's, we will no doubt hear the case is unlike Terri Schiavo's. It must be said. How else can this society live with the fact they allowed (or caused) an innocent woman to be starved and dehydrated to death?
Yes, we must attempt to paint the picture pretty so we can live with ourselves and justify the horrendous murder of an innocent young woman named Terri Schiavo. But the truth always reappears eventually -- just like this seemingly forgotten article from the St. Petersburg Times.
Well said.
Pro-Life Ping
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wagglebee could you add mountain flower to the moral abolute ping list. If you ping folks on pro life issues could you add her to that list too
I would have sworn that MountainFlower was on the MA list, but I was wrong, she is now though. I only ping pro-life ping list holders to pro-life threads (cgk, Coleus, cpforlife.org, narses and 8mmMauser), I didn’t know she had a pro-life list, but I will be happy to ping her if she does (she should also let cgk know, because she keeps the list of ping list holders).
She asked to be informed of future legislation on life issues.
If there is a pro life ping list out there she would like to be added.
.
Yeah the cases are all “unlike Terri Schiavo” - so predictable.
thanks for the thread. deeply saddened with the memory of the loss of Terri.
Thanks for looking out for me, mware!
8mm
From the time I first became aware of Terri’s case, it was obvious that Michael had a vested interest in her NEVER recovering to the point that she could explain the cause of her condition.
Thanks, 8mmMuaser!
I'm by no means a fan of Mr. Schiavo's, but a more reasonable interpretation of this is that what was initially believed to be successful implantation turned out to be nothing of the kind.
Treatments and therapies fail all the time, even those that at first appear to be succeeding.
You are welcome!
Warm regards...
8mm
I have read your recent article on the brain implant procedure that was a sucess with the man who has brain damage.
You are absolutely right. The article is very quick to keep Terri Schiavo in check. This is a typical response these days in all the ariticles I have read about brain injured cases.
I believe Terri was MCS and could recognize her family.
The implant procedure is an interesting chapter in the Schiavo saga.
Michael did go to California for the implant procedure (which I believe was not court ordered) for Terri.
The implant was tried and ultimately it failed.
However, I don’t believe Michael tried his best to get the implant to work.
Michael’s 1993 Depo has some interesting information regarding the implant procedure. Michael seemed to be ignorant in the process and “forgot” any follow up treatment that was suggested by doctors. Terri was supposed to go to Shands hospital for follow up treatment but never went because funding was not in place. When asked about the prospect of sending Terri to Shands, Michael was totally against it and even got angry when he was asked if he had the money to send her to Shands.
Below is part of his very disturbing and chilling tesitmony.
1993 Depo:
5 Q Okay. Tell me about Doctor Hosobuchi and his
6 treatment of Terry?
7 A Well, the basic thing was we took her to
8 California. He had some experimental stimulators that he
9 was placing in peoples’ heads. There were some people
10 that woke up.
11 It’s a whole protocol on it. I don’t have it
12 with me. But it would be very experimental. He put it
13 in. He did some testing. There was no evidence of it
14 working with Terry.
18 your knowledge?
19 A He came out — Terry was at Mediplex — he came
20 out and did some testing, and he needed a CP-900 machine
21 or something from Shands, and it wasn’t available, and he
22 said it wasn’t no big deal.
8 Q Have any diagnostic tests been performed since
9 Doctor Yingling saw Terry?
13 Q Okay. Of a neurology strain.
14 A I don’t recall. There could have been. I don’t
15 recall.
21 Q Did you ask him (Yingling) if he had any suggestions for
22 treatment?
23 A I don’t recall asking him that.
24 Q Was there any discussions between yourself and
25 the doctor about treatment?
___
43
1 A I don’t recall. It was two years ago when he was
2 here.
3 Q You don’t recall whether he suggested that she
4 have any further treatment?
5 A I think what he wanted to do at the time was get
6 the CP-900 machine from Shands, and it couldn’t be done,
7 and it was left at that.
8 Q Explain that to me. He wanted a machine brought
9 down to St. Petersburg —
10 A Uh-huh.
11 Q — from Shands?
12 A That’s what I believe he wanted done, yes.
13 Q Was there any problem with taking Terry to Shands
14 rather than having the machine transported?
15 A I think my biggest problem was money.
16 Q Was there — at least there was a suggestion by
17 the doctor that she be tested neurologically with this
18 machine?
19 A I don’t recall if that was a suggestion or not.
20 I think — I think he was trying to work on getting
21 Mediplex’s machine when she was admitted to Mediplex.
22 Q Tell me about this machine. What do you know
23 about it?
24 A Nothing.
25 Q Do you know what the purpose of the testing was?
___
44
1 A Brain waves. I believe it was to see what the
2 stimulator was doing.
8 Q Okay. Fair enough. Did the doctor tell you that
9 he thought this was something that should be done?
10 A Um, I don’t recall whether he said that or not.
11 Q Okay. But your recollection is that he wanted
12 the machine to come to St. Petersburg to test Terry?
13 A My recollection is, yes.
14 Q And that didn’t happen because?
15 A If I remember correctly, the machine wasn’t even
16 at Shands and nobody knew where it was.
17 Q Okay. And you couldn’t transport Terry to Shands
18 because you didn’t have the money at the time?
19 A Correct.
20 Q You do have the money now?
21 A That’s none of your business.
9 Q That’s my question. There is money available now
10 to transport her to Shands to have that testing done,
11 isn’t there?
12 A Yes.
13 Q But that has not been done?
14 A No.
15 Q Is there a reason why that hasn’t been done?
16 A I haven’t talked to Doctor Yingling in a year and
17 a half.
18 Q Do you have any reason to believe that Doctor
19 Yingling’s opinion has changed?
20 A I have no idea what his opinion is.
A Doctor named Dr. Yingling is mentioned. This is a PhD doctor (He’s no an MD) from California named Charles Yingling.
Yingling came out a did nuerological tests on Terri even though he is not an MD or a nuerologist. Many have argued that Dr. Maxfield (radiologist and MD) had no neurological experience to diagnosis Terri in the 2002 trial.
Dr. Yingling has a website:
Michael also claimed that he kept Terri with the implant protocol procedure for a year. This may be true, but Michael lied and attempted to stretch out the time of implant procedure regarding his visit with Dr. Yingling.
11 Q So did she see Doctor Yingling?
12 A She — Doctor Yingling came out here, I believe,
13 a year later.
19 A He came out — Terry was at Mediplex — he came
20 out and did some testing, and he needed a CP-900 machine
21 or something from Shands, and it wasn’t available, and he
22 said it wasn’t no big deal.
Terri was at Mediplex during February of 1991 to July of 1991. Terri had implant procedure done in December of 1990.
This means Dr. Yingling came out only a few months later and not a year as Michael claims.
It was reported that after the implant procedure failed, that Michael should have them removed if he wanted further testing or therapy done on Terri.
The implants were never removed.
If the truth isn’t reiterated, the agents of falsehood
can advance. This ploy (”unlike Terri Schiavo”) is
becoming a standard. I’ve heard it locally also.
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