Pull the plug?

Gonz

Gonz

molṑn labé
Staff member
Not on this guy. Kinda makes the argument for euthanasia just a little trickier.

(07-08) 20:08 PDT MOUNTAIN VIEW, Ark. (AP) --

A man regained consciousness after spending 19 years in a coma as the result of a car crash, greeting his mother who was waiting at his bedside.

"He started out with 'Mom' and surprised her and then it was 'Pepsi' and then it was 'milk.' And now it's anything he wants to say," Stone County Nursing and Rehabilitation Center social director Alesha Badgley said Tuesday.

Terry Wallis, 39, had been at the center since the July 1984 crash.

His father, Jerry Wallis, said his son uttered his first word June 12, was able to talk a little a day later and has improved ever since.

Terry Wallis' wife, Sandi, said her husband was riding with a friend when their car left the road and plunged into a creek. Wallis and his friend were found the next day underneath a bridge. The friend was dead and Wallis was comatose.

"It's been hard dealing with it, it's been hard realizing the man I married can't be there," Sandi Wallis said. "We all, the whole family, missed out on his company."

Wallis' daughter, Amber, was born shortly before the accident. She is now 19 and Wallis has said he wants to walk again, for her. He is a quadriplegic as a result of the crash.

His mother, Angilee Wallis, called her son's return to consciousness a miracle.

"I couldn't tell you my first thought, I just fell over on the floor," she said.

While in a coma, Wallis spent most of his time at the rehabilitation center, but his family took him out for weekends and special occasions.

"The doctor said that's why he remembers things; we might have kept his mind going," Sandi Wallis said.
Click to expand...
 
good to see he has recovered. I do support euthanasia myself but it should be decided by the person who is suffering. but this does show people can come back from a coma.
 
Put them in a special wheelchair that supports them in a semi-recumbant position....

I realise not too many of the general public are used to dealing with people in this state but one of the last and first senses to return is hearing, so talking to them and telling them what's happening is important... :)
 
I would think someone who is comatose would need some kinda feeding tube or something....I guess those things can be portable too huh?
 
They can be fed by naso-gastirc tube or gastroscopy (tube directly into the stomach).

They also need total nursing care including, regular physio, chest physio, artificial tears as they can't blink, mouth care, pressure area care inc regular turning, etc, etc, etc... it's a hell of a job keeping a comatose patient healthy. Long term, depending on their condition, they get up every day just like anyone else, spend time in the garden, go on short trips. It's all in the hope that they will one day recover.

As it says in the report, he does remember events that occurred while he was supposedly in the coma.
 
I do support euthanasia myself and assisted suicide and if I was suffering with no hope of recovery I know I would rather end the suffering than let it continue.

BUT I dont think that the plug should be pulled on Comatose patients. I believe that the above example shows that comas may just be the human bodies way of 'rebooting' after a serious shock to the system and as such the patient should be allowed to see it through. Euthanasia should be a personal descision on the part if the suffering party and no-one else.
 
Unless a comatose patient is only kept alive by machines and is too brain damaged to recover I don't advocate pulling the plug either.

As for patients with terminal conditions or who feel their that lives are too difficult to continue... it must be a personal choice.
 
Unless a comatose patient is only kept alive by machines and is too brain damaged to recover I don't advocate pulling the plug either.

As for patients with terminal conditions or who feel their that lives are too difficult to continue... it must be a personal choice.
Click to expand...

Exactly!!! :)
 
Aunty Em said:
As it says in the report, he does remember events that occurred while he was supposedly in the coma.
Click to expand...


Wait a minute, was he comatose or in a vegatative state? I believe those are two different things
 
I thought comatose was an unconscious state and a vegetable was a conscious state, both without any apparent response to outside stimulous. It clearly says twice in the story that he was unconscious. How can he remember things if he was unconscious?
 
Yes, but I believe the brain stem were all the autonomic functions occur still works though. I believe there is response in coma.

PVS Clinical features:
  • Spontaneous respiration and heartbeat
  • No life support machinery
  • Body functions normally
  • Sleep/wake cycles
  • Swallowing, but not safely or sufficiently (hence tube feeding)
  • No intellectual activity
  • No rational responses
  • No sentience
  • No cognitive function
I'll look up a definition of coma...
 
Coma and Persistent Vegetative State

A coma is a profound or deep state of unconsciousness. The affected individual is alive but is not able to react or respond to life around him/her. Coma may occur as an expected progression or complication of an underlying illness, or as a result of an event such as head trauma. A persistent vegetative state, which sometimes follows a coma, refers to a condition in which individuals have lost cognitive neurological function and awareness of the environment but retain noncognitive function and a perserved sleep-wake cycle. It is sometimes described as when a person is technically alive, but his/her brain is dead. However, that description is not completely accurate. In persistent vegetative state the individual loses the higher cerebral powers of the brain, but the functions of the brainstem, such as respiration (breathing) and circulation, remain relatively intact. Spontaneous movements may occur and the eyes may open in response to external stimuli, but the patient does not speak or obey commands. Patients in a vegetative state may appear somewhat normal. They may occasionally grimace, cry, or laugh.

Is there any treatment?

Once the patient is out of immediate danger, although still in coma or vegetative state, the medical care team will concentrate on preventing infections and maintaining the patient's physical state as much as possible. Such maintenance includes preventing pneumonia and bed sores and providing balanced nutrition. Physical therapy may also be used to prevent contractures (permanent muscular contractions) and orthopedic deformities that would limit recovery for the patients who emerge from coma.

What is the prognosis?

The outcome for coma and vegetative state depends on the cause and on the location, severity, and extent of neurological damage: outcomes range from recovery to death. People may emerge from a coma with a combination of physical, intellectual, and psychological difficulties that need special attention. Recovery usually occurs gradually, with patients acquiring more and more ability to respond. Some patients never progress beyond very basic responses, but many recover full awareness. Patients recovering from coma require close medical supervision. A coma rarely lasts more than 2 to 4 weeks. Some patients may regain a degree of awareness after vegetative state. Others may remain in a vegetative state for years or even decades. The most common cause of death for a person in a vegetative state is infection such as pneumonia.
Click to expand...




From what I have read a true coma is a state where the patient is unconscious, there is no response and the normal reflexes are absent. In PVS there in no intellectual response but the normal reflexes are present and there is a normal wake/sleep cycle. Unfortunately many people seem to interchange and confuse the two states... I would suggest that he was probably in PVS, as in a true coma it is unlikely that he would remember anything.
 
Aunty Em said:
They can be fed by naso-gastirc tube or gastroscopy (tube directly into the stomach).

They also need total nursing care including, regular physio, chest physio, artificial tears as they can't blink, mouth care, pressure area care inc regular turning, etc, etc, etc... it's a hell of a job keeping a comatose patient healthy. Long term, depending on their condition, they get up every day just like anyone else, spend time in the garden, go on short trips. It's all in the hope that they will one day recover.

As it says in the report, he does remember events that occurred while he was supposedly in the coma.
Click to expand...



not everyone in a coma or in an accident gets amnesia aunty. and on top of that there are more than one types of amnesia. there is retrograde(cant remeber before accident) and antrograde(cant remember after the accident)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top