Man's brain rewired itself in 19 years after crash

MSNBC ^ | July 3, 2006

[Alouette]

Doctors have proof on how man who was barely conscious for decades woke

Doctors have their first proof that a man who was barely conscious for nearly 20 years regained speech and movement because his brain spontaneously rewired itself by growing tiny new nerve connections to replace the ones sheared apart in a car crash.

Terry Wallis, 42, is thought to be the only person in the United States to recover so dramatically so long after a severe brain injury. He still needs help eating and cannot walk, but his speech continues to improve and he can count to 25 without interruption.

Wallis’ sudden recovery happened three years ago, but doctors said the same cannot be hoped for people in a persistent vegetative state, such as Terry Schiavo, the Florida woman who died last year after a fierce right-to-die court battle. Nor do they know how to make others with less serious damage, like Wallis, recover.

[CindyDawg]

I think he's the guy that the "real" doctors need to interpret the scans:')

[Polybius]

Thanks for the info and based on your comments my earlier remarks were off-base. I haven't seen those scans explained that way before fwiw. Anyhow, sorry if my comments were misleading! I'm gonna go back to my policy of never touching this subject again. :)

I don't blame you at all. I blame the media because I remember seeing that "apples and oranges" comparison in Time or Newsweek.

The news media today has ceased to be an institution dedicated to the education of the public and has assumed the role of cynical manipulators of the public mind.

I have no clue if Schiavo was salvageable or not. I have no access to her medical record. However, once the news media feels it must resort to comparing axial CT levels that normally have a dramatic difference in visible CSF fluid, I begin to wonder if something is not rotten in Denmark.

[Polybius]

Schiavo may have had other issues that would have made her a lost cause but, if I showed a layman third ventricle level CT images of a "normal brain" and then showed the layman lateral ventricle level images of any of your brains, I could very easily convince that layman that a significant chunk of your brain was gone..........Polybius

So the MDs and neuroscientists lied on the stand? And the coroners?........freedumb2003

The topic under discussion is comparing CT slice levels that are normally drastically different from each other and then saying, "Aha!! See the difference!"

As I said, "Schiavo may have had other issues that would have made her a lost cause ....."

However, to use those two CT images at different anatomical levels as comparison is total Bravo Sierra on the part of the news media.

Is there are reason you are a radiologist and not an MD? No offense, but is there some chance the MDs and PhDs might have some information you don't? Or do you know more than them and decided to just stop?

Ummmm...... I believe you may have "Radiologists" confused with "Radiographers".

Radiographers are not M.D.'s. They take radiographic images but do not interpret them.

Radiologists ARE M.D.'s and it is our specialty to interpret CT's and other imaging modalities. Our specialty entails five years of specialty training beyond medical school and internship. The level of our expertise is such that we are among the highest paid M.D.'s.

[Auntie Mame]

Thank you for all the info you've posted on this thread. Very interesting.

[Moonman62]

There was nothing left of her brain to rewire. This is a disingenuous comparison.

Probably so, but within her lifetime there could have been technology developed to grow back parts or all of her brain. Such technology has already been accomplished in the lab.

[William Tell]

Polybius said: "Radiologists ARE M.D.'s and it is our specialty ..."

Life is so different with FreeRepublic. Thanks for exposing this media lie.

I would be quite sure that the comparison of non-comparable brain scans was an MSM attempt to be "fake but accurate". Once the media had decided whether Terri should live or die, it was essential to justify that decision to the public.

[STARWISE]

BTTT ... and maybe someday the cynics will finally accept that medical science is not omniscient and miracles do happen, thank you God.

[STARWISE]

They seem to be "protesting too much"...

They sure do ...

[HiTech RedNeck]

You promised a goodbye, so keep your promise already.

[HiTech RedNeck]

I.e. you're a rich doctor, rather than a witch doctor.

[Puddleglum]

Thanks for the info. My wife has had many, many MRIs done of her brain due to MS and the detection of lesions (and their expansion), so I have seen the slices at different levels. The brain's an amazing thing. Though there are some largish ones, no lesion has eaten away her power to outwit me in most circumstances.

[ClaireSolt]

Having been through something like this before in my own life, I watched the dynamics of the family and other forces in the drama. I imagine you would agree that the physical diagnosis you have discussed here was only a part of what we saw. Different people react to the information in different ways and have their own ideas about what they should do. Fortunately, I did not have to factor in the government. The court, the judge, the outside ethicists must leave the doc feeling like an outsider looking in sometimes.

[robertpaulsen]

"Me: Ok, so since Terri was in a minimally conscious state,"

She was? The article says she was PVS. Did the author make a mistake?

[mt tom]

no he's not a doctor but he slept a holiday inn express once

[srmorton]

The brain does not have sinuses, the skull does. The anatomical definition of a sinus is a cavity which is completely surrounded by bone. The spaces in the brain are called ventricles through which the cerebral spinal fluid circulates.

[freedumb2003]

310K a year -- not bad!

I stand corrected.

I guess we need another radiologist to regard your work. At least I didn't debate your conclusion (/wimp out)

But all the testimony I saw said that her brain was pretty much non-existent -- I would have to go back and look at the rest of the testimony and evidence to see when and where your brain shots were taken and why they came to a different conclusion.

[robertpaulsen]

"but she showed clear signs of recognition in those videos"

She was blind. The tapes were edited to show what her parents wanted you to see.

[CindyDawg]

Not bad :')

[robertpaulsen]

"However the sanest view is that current consent be needed and no forward contract for suicide be legal."

So you would force the family to suffer the emotional and financial burden of caring for the brain-damaged/brain-dead body of a loved one as long as medically possible, even though the loved one had a Living Will.

You call that sane? I call it stick-your-nose-in-other's-business right-to-life fanaticism.

[freedumb2003]

The tapes were edited to show what her parents wanted you to see.

It was a bit crude, but Bill Handel (KFI) likened it to the frog in that famous WB cartoon -- whenever everyone left the room she would jump out of bed singing "hello my baby!"

The "balloon" video showed someone with no cognitive ability whatsoever.