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I have never delved too deep into my personal story here on FR and I probably won't be able to do so now.

When I was born, I had massive oxygen deprivation. I was completely unresponsive to all stimulation and pain. Completely devoid of reflexes. My heart did beat and I was breathing on my own. It took a few days, but I did eventually swallow with stimulation. (At first, I couldn't even choke.) A nurse stuck a needle deep into my heel and I didn't even flinch. There was nothing.

The doctors all said that I was a 'vegetable' and that I'd never be able to come close to functioning on a normal level. they patted my mother's arm and reassured her that she 'could always have other children.'

My mother insisted that they give me to her. They resisted even letting her see me at first and insisted that I needed to be in an institution. When she insisted on taking me home, they balked. They said that I wouldn't survive without special care in an institutional setting.

Well, my mom won. For three months I was 'a limp rag'. She would drip milk into my mouth and stroke my throat to stimulate the swallow reflex.

All day long, all she did was massage me, work my limbs, and talk to me. Constant stimulation.

At three months old, I began to respond. After that, I caught up fast. By one year old, I was making all the milestones just as any other child.

I am angry at the attitude here on FR toward Jahi McMath's situation.

Some people here seem to believe that doctors are infallible gods who could never make a mistake. Others believe that 'brain death' means that the girl's brain is rotting in her skull.

Brain death means that there's bad damage to either the higher brain functions or the brain stem (depending on that state's legal perimeters). It does not mean that the brain is actually dead and rotting. It's also for people to understand that there is NO standard medical consensus for the definition and it can vary from location to location.

Do I think that Jahi will recover?

I don't have any idea. If I were to hazard a guess, I'd think that she'd have terrible deficit if she were to recover at all. At this point, the hospital has starved her and denied her medical care for three straight weeks that may have made a positive impact. So who the hell knows.

Jahi's lawyer says that he has a video of her responding to her mother. That's good enough for me. If she's responding at all, she's doing better than I was.

But when was the right removed from parents and family to make the ultimate life or death decisions in these situations? When did these decisions go to hospital administrators?

Just ten years ago, a person had to have a DNR to have life support removed. If there was no DNR, the family could decide on their behalf if they had authority. If a person didn't have one, it was assumed that they wanted heroic measures and these were taken.

Now the power is taken from husbands, wives, parents, and adult children.

Where there is a heartbeat, there *is* hope. We try. It isn't always going to work out and we all have to die, but it is out duty to fight for life.

The people making these decisions do NOT always have the patient's best interests at heart. Many are pessimists.

I have the ultimate respect for physicians and I believe that most of them are good people who are there for the right reasons. But I also know enough doctors to know that most get pretty beaten down and jaded over time.

It is the family's job to play the part of the optimist and to do their best to push forward.

Please stand with life. There was no hope for me and I'm happily married with two adult children. My first grandchild is due any minute.

No. I wasn't declared 'brain dead' (there was no such diagnosis back then). But I was declared vegetative. I made a 100% recovery.

Never stop fighting for life. Win or lose, the fight is worthy.