[KosmicKitty]

No matter where one stands one the Terri Shiavo case, I found this article to be compelling evidence that she may have much more brain function than many of the "experts" have stated. I feel that we have no choice than to err to the side of life because none of us really know what she would have preferred or what she really understands at this point.

Please go easy on me if this has been posted before, (I did search and didn't find it), or if I have in someway posted incorrectly. This is only my 3rd time!

[Steelerfan]

Outstanding (first) post. I hope Ms. Shiavo's parents are aware of this research, it sounds like some of the techniques they describe could benefit her.

[Softballmom]

Mike Siegal, a local talk show host here in the Seattle area, discussed Terri's case this morning. One caller made this same point. What if she's normal on the "inside" but just can't communicate it to anyone? We may never know, but there are enough facts to err on the side of caution. Thank God for Jeb Bush and the Florida Legislature!

[Steelerfan]

I know you have been following this closely, will Ms. Shiavo's parents or guardian be able to overule her husband and get her access to the types of tratments discussed in this article?

[slimer]

Good job!

[Miss Marple]

What an interesting article! Thank you so much for posting it!

I am glad someone is doing studies like this, rather than giving up on these people.

[GovernmentShrinker]

Why is this excerpted? Has the NYT been added to the must-excerpt list? This is fascinating, and worth saving in its entirety.

[cgk]

Bump! Fascinating read! From NYT, no less.

[cgk]

The final quote of the article says it all:

''He was pushing us to go to a higher level,'' Fins said. ''He's aware of himself, he's happy, but it took a lot of skill to see it. If he ended up in a nursing home and started doing things like this, no one would have noticed.''

[tazman3]

Good Article PING!

[MainFrame65]

Nearly as evil as Michael Shiavo's so far unsuccessful attempts to murder his wife has been his largely successful quest to deprive her of contact and stimulation from her loving, caring family. He has imprisoned and tortured her in a private, internal solitary confinement, and he deserves a special kind of hell for what he has done to her.

[NYer]

I feel that we have no choice than to err to the side of life because none of us really know what she would have preferred or what she really understands at this point.

One of the FL state legislators who lobbied for passage of Terri's Law, spoke of her grandmother. The doctors told the family that granny was in a 'vegetative state'and would never recover. They recommended disconnecting the feeding tube. The family agreed. Ten days later, they changed their minds and had the tube reinserted. Three years later, granny 'woke up' from her vegetative state and shared so many stories with the legislator.

OR ... how about this true story?

Mother wakes up after 16 year coma

by Tim Cornwell
THE dramatic revival of a mother of four after 16 years in a catatonic state has left US medical experts groping for an explanation.
Patti White Bull, 42, a New Mexican woman who fell into a coma during childbirth, sat up dressed herself and asked to go to the mall this Christmas, according to her family and nursing staff.
“I’ve never seen anything like this” said Elliot Marcus an anaesthesiologist and long term care specialist who has monitored her condition at an Albuquerque nursing home. “I can’t come up with a medical explanation.”
Mrs White Bull’s first words in more than 16 years, spoken while staff at the Las Palomas Nursing and Rehabilitation Centre were arranging her bed, were “Don’t do that” Marcus told the local Albuquerque Journal newspaper.
Mrs White Bull fell into a semi vegetative state after complications during a caesarean section when her son Mark, now 16, was born.
A blood clot lodged in her lung, she stopped breathing and her heart stopped beating.
While she was resuscitated she apparently suffered brain damage from lack of oxygen, and for the next 16 years lay in bed fed through a tube.
Mrs White Bull has begun to swallow solid food, including chicken and pizza and her speech is clear but limited while her hands have also loosened.
A brain stem blockage was offered as one reason for the recovery.
Another view was she had been interacting for some time in ways that people had not noticed .

[reflecting]

Thanks, great read! Bump

[walford]

Given that you're new, I need to warn you about the trolls who will pop in. Definition:

http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/troll

Ill informed, they jump in and feign ignorance and try to slow down the discussion by making it necessary to have to explain what has been gone over again and again. I have a standard reply:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1003808/posts?page=42#42

I even tried to forstall it by posting this:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1004572/posts?page=45#45

Then there is the long review of the particulars:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1003606/posts?page=41#41

I apologize for wasting everyone else's time with this - just trying to avoid going over covered ground ad infinitum, ad nauseum.

[TASMANIANRED]

Good Job. After working 20+ years in just about every area of nursing, I know the human mind and the body are still largely a sacred mystery. I have seen people live though things that had 99% probablity of death. I've seen people die in 4 days from a stumped toe.

The medical profession's job is to care, tend and nurture within the limits of human knowledge. They are not all knowing and any pretense of this is just arrogance.

[helen crump]

I loved the article you posted.
Here is a copy of the letter I sent to all the senators in Florida earlier this week. I don't kid myself into thinking it made a difference to them but it made me feel better to send it:

I have just learned that the Florida senate plans to meet in the morning about Terri Schiavo. If you believe there is any chance that extensive physical, speech, and occupational therapy could help this woman please vote to have her feeding tube replaced and do whatever possible to get her the help she needs. I've only recently become aware of this case. Eight years ago after my son's birth we were told to put him in an institution because he would never walk, talk, play or smile. We brought him home from the hospital and started therapy immediately. He is now is the second grade and just made the Principal's honor roll. He does all the things we were told he wouldn't and so much more. I know that not every case turns out like ours but I do know that doctors can be wrong and that therapy can make a huge difference.
Thank you

[shhrubbery!]

This is an INCREDIBLE article. Am copying and saving -- it will be valuable. Thanks for posting!

[Salvation]

Choosing life not euthenasia bump!

[Ohioan from Florida]

I am so excited that you were able to get your hands on this article! I bumped into it the day after it was published, and had it sent to the Schindlers via Pamela Hennessey (she's the person on their website to contact). So they do know about this research. I tried to post it on one of the threads recently, but then I couldn't access it. I'm glad someone else was able to get the link to work. Good job!

[Alouette]

About ten years ago, a teenage young man, a friend of my son, was shot in the head in a terrorist attack. He was in a coma and vegetative condition for over a year, during which time his family never left his side and his friends took turns sitting with him, singing and chatting as though he was just his normal self.

This boy did eventually have a full recovery, although it took many months of intensive therapy and the heartfelt prayers of his family and many friends. Much later, he confided to my son that he had "dreams" of his friends sitting by his bedside and singing, and he wanted to sing along but couldn't.

Happy ending: today this young man is completely recovered, is married and the father of a lovely family.

[stainlessbanner]

Many ppl in comas (or stroke victims) who appear to communicate little, can actually hear and comprehend their surroundings. Any hospice service will tell you to talk as you normally would around a patient - b/c they often hear and process conversations, but may not show any signs of comprehension.