Posted on 01/09/2014 9:34:58 PM PST by Morgana
The lawyer for the family of Jahi McMath, the 13-year-old who has been declared brain dead, said Wednesday that doctors successfully inserted a gastric tube and tracheotomy tube into the teenager at an as yet undisclosed facility.
Jahi was transferred from Oakland Children’s Hospital January 5 after a protracted legal battle between the family and the hospital which declared Jahi brain dead December 12 and sought to remove her from a ventilator.
The arraignment to move Jahi was reached during a hearing Friday before Alameda Superior Court Judge Evelio Grillo under which Jahi’s mother, Nailah Winkfield, could remove her daughter from the hospital as long as she assumed full responsibility.
Christopher Dolan told reporters that Jahi’s health is “improving,” and labeled the surgery “a success.”
“She is doing very well and getting the treatment she should have gotten 28 days ago,” Dolan said in a text message, according to the Oakland Tribune. “Doctors are optimistic that her condition has stabilized and that her health is improving from when she was taken from Children’s Hospital Oakland.”
Illustrating the daily ebb and flow, on Monday, Nolan was far less optimistic. “She’s in very bad shape,” he said, adding examinations show Jahi’s medical condition “is not good.”
The hospital reiterated its position that Jahi is brain dead. Deterioration “became inevitable the moment she died,” according to Dr. Heidi Flori, a critical care physician at Children’s Hospital.
The Los Angeles Times reported that Dr. Flori said in a court declaration filed in U.S. District Court that “The medical team and I believe that additional and more dramatic signs of the body’s deterioration will continue to manifest over time, regardless of any procedures and regardless of any heroic measures that any facility in the country might attempt.”
At the recommendation of doctors Jahi underwent an operation on December 9 to remove her tonsils, adenoids and extra sinus tissue to treat pediatric obstructive sleep apnea.
Afterwards “The teen girl was alert and talking to doctors after the procedure, even asking for a Popsicle because her throat hurt,” CNN reported. “That was a relief in some ways because she’d expressed concerns to her family about the surgery, fearing she would never wake up from it, her uncle has said.”
The brain can re-route traffic --to a limited extent but brain cells themselves do not heal and the brain does not make new ones.
“Pediatrician: Jahi McMath is Not “Brain Dead,” Can Recover With Proper Care”
As for “re-route” or heal, does the patient and their loved ones care, as long as they are better?
Bottome line, that’s what counts.
Did you get to the part in the article where Dr. Byrne admits to not having actually examined McMath?
As for “re-route” or heal, does the patient and their loved ones care, as long as they are better?
Healing is one thing. Rising from the dead is another.
“..Dr. Byrne admits to not having actually examined McMath..”
And doctors HAVE examined many patients and declared them “brain dead” when they were not, including Zack Dunlop, who recovered completely and went on to tell his story on tv.
Do you think doctors are infallible?
Drango is correct. He describes exactly what happens during an open heart surgery or a heart transplant....it’s called a bypass machine and keeps patients alive while circumventing the need of a beating heart to do the job.
I’ve seen the human heart continue beating in a surgeon’s hand while he’s operating on it and the patient is on bypass.
The girl is dead even though her heart is beating and her lungs are working...it’s the machines doing it for her. Not her brain.
From the FAQ in # 35
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Q: Well what if you're wrong? Aren't doctors wrong all the time?
A: All the time? No. Occasionally? Yes.
Q: Well doesn't that prove that you could be wrong here?
A: No. At least 6 physicians have done a thorough examination, all of which were conclusive for brain death.
Q: But you just said doctors make mistakes! What if they all made one?
A: She's also had two electroencephalograms (EEGs) which have shown no electrical activity in the brain. Live brains have electrical activity. She also had a radionuclide brain scan which showed no blood flow to her brain. Brain tissue is extraordinarily sensitive to lack of oxygen, so no blood flow means a dead brain. A computer could read a flat EEG and a blank brain flow scan. Then again, so could a 5-year old.
Q: But couldn't you still be wrong?
A: No.
I read a story about a baby who showed no brain waves. A number of doctors said he was “brain dead,” except for one doctor, who did not give up.
This “brain dead” baby later received mostly As in school and was quite athletic.
Medicine is always learning, and that’s a good thing.
It’s difficult for me to understand the rush on a human being’s LIFE.
Of course not. Doctors are human and make human mistakes. They made a mistake with Zack Dunlop who should've never been diagnosed until his brain swelling had subsided.
But in this case we are talking about 6 different physicians agreeing that Jahi is brain dead as well as and the observation of posthumous decomposition.
This whole story is making a mockery of the pro-life movement --especially lifenews.com who has chosen to champion this story as some kind of Terri Schiavo redux, making pro-lifers look like a bunch of unhinged Jesus freaks holding vigil over a rotting corpse while waiting for God to miracle her back to life.
That is what I am asking, if there are machines keeping the heart and lungs going that is a different issue.
I said if she were breathing without a machine she should be cared for.
That is what I was asking about.
Ok, then why the issue about feeding tubes, just remove the ventilator and that will resolved the issue.
See FAQ in #35
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Q: But why? All these reports can't be false, can they? I've read it on the Internet, so it must be true! The Internet would never lie to me!
A: Of course they can all be false...
Machines are making her heart & lungs “work.”
That having been said, IF she is not in fact brain dead, there's going to be hell to pay over her care up to now.
If she is in fact brain dead (which seems likely, but not proven in a public forum), then the lawyers and advocates pushing for ventilation of a dead body should be ashamed of themselves.
I’ve been involved with “brain death” since the beginning of the idea. I even had the chance to hear Fred Plum discuss the issues surrounding the concept, and answer questions about it. There’s no doubt brain death is a real thing, and I have made the diagnosis several times in 40 years.
That having been said, it IS a difficult concept (we bury heart-dead people right away), and the nationwide standard of practice around diagnosis does have some concerning variations.
The decision to discontinue life support for people who are NOT brain dead is fraught with complex ethical and emotional issues. Many of those same issues are visible in this case.
When a family objects, to this degree (which is very rare), it’s probably best to allow nature to take its course. True brain death does not allow prolonged survival.
The judge who ruled Jahi McMath dead took a rare, if not unprecedented, move and ruled that the family had until a certain date to find another facility to accept Jahi McMath's body. He also ruled that the hospital had to maintain cardiopulmonary support until Jahi McMath's body was removed from the hospital.
This is unusual, because when a patient is brain dead, California Health and Safety Code Section 1254.4 only requires that a hospital provide a "reasonably brief period" to the patient's family before disconnecting cardiopulmonary support.
"Reasonably brief period" means an amount of time afforded to gather family or next of kin at the patient's bedside.
After brain death, and other than cardiopulmonary support, the statute provides that "no other medical intervention is required." Hence, it's not required to provide feeding tubes or nutrition to a brain dead patient. The hospital did not do so and the judge who ruled Jahi dead did not order that nutrition be provided.
The family waited until it was right against the deadline set by the judge - the point where the hospital had the right to disconnect cardiopulmonary support - before it had the body moved.
Not exactly, she was perhaps is on a ventilator, but her heart is still pumping au natural. So her autonomic nervous system is still functioning at some level. That’s the crux of the issue.. she’s declared brain dead but not heart dead.
Happen to my sister
First time she walked into hospital went into cardiac arrest 2 times by the 4th day they were pulling the tubes and taking her off of everything.She breath on her own.
2nd time she fell over dead-this was 4 years later.They brought her back.Rushed to see her-no brain activity-she was dead.We waited for the machines to stop with the Chaplin and she went to God.
I am sorry for your loss.
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