Houston Mother Loses Fight To Keep Baby On Life Support

WRAL-TV ^ | March 15, 2005 | Associated Press

[Tax-chick]

Did you go on national television and say that your child had been conceived by the sun in the sky?

I'm terribly sorry about the loss of your son, and about this young boy's death, but I don't think the situations are precisely congruent.

[texasflower]

I have read through this entire thread and I get the feeling that you are simply sticking with your first post.

It is beginning to sound like you are arguing just for the sake of argument.

This mom was really not capable of making an informed decision. Yes, they told her everything, but this is not a competent woman. Her own attorney admits this.

She wasn't legally able to give an informed consent or refusal for treatment.

This is what the hospital was dealing with....

Quoted from this article...

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/020905dntexbaby.58503.html

Also, you should keep in mind the fact that this has been going on since the baby was born in September of last year. This wasn't a hasty decision by any means. This baby has been on a ventilator since birth.

"But, Wanda Hudson believes her son will recover. Although she hasn't seen the baby for a month, she said she communicates with him telepathically."

"The Hudson case is in court partly because the hospital lacks confidence in the mother's mental competence. She says her son was fathered not by a man but by "the sun that shines in the sky," who will decide whether he lives."

"I didn't receive prenatal care because I trusted in the sun," she said. "I also said, 'Sun if you are who you say you are, which is creator of the sun and the Earth, then let me have Sun with no pain.' So I had my son with no pain."

When doctors suggested to Ms. Hudson that Sun should be allowed to die peacefully, she said they wanted to "murder" him because they didn't understand he's special.

Someone had to intervene. Mom wasn't capable. She hadn't even seen the baby in about a month or so.

This hospital is one of the most highly ranked children's hospitals in the nation. In 2004 the hospital was ranked FOURTH BEST PEDIATRIC HOSPITAL IN AMERICA.

This decision was made by one of the very best of the best medical facilities in the world.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=10255

In addition, this baby was born at St. Luke's in Houston. St Luke's and Texas Children's Hospital are physically and medically connected facilities.

St. Luke's is one of the top ten cardiovascular facilities in the nation.

It's leading surgeon is Denton Cooley.

The heart lung machine was first used by Denton Cooley. He performed the first successful heart transplant in the nation. He was also the first surgeon to remove pulmonary embolisms from INFANTS. He also developed and used the first artificial heart in the world.

Dr. Cooley heads the Texas Heart Institute. He is chief of Cardiovascular Surgery at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital, and is a consultant in Cardiovascular Surgery at Texas Children's Hospital and a clinical professor of Surgery at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston.

He has been called "the most valuable surgeon of the heart and blood vessels anywhere in the WORLD.

I have no doubt that Cooley was consulted in this case. I worked in the Houston Medical Center, specifically with hospital capabilities and consults. I can't envision a scenario where he wouldn't have been consulted.

Cooley still practices and in fact, performed my sister's bypass operation a couple of years ago. He does up to 25 bypass operation a DAY. So far, he has done something like 100,000 bypass surgeries. He is also a recipient of the Medal of Freedom.

Can you think of a better person to consult on this particular case? I can't.

I can't tell you much about who was the primary doctor at TCH, only because I haven't seen the doctor's name yet. Rest assured, he or she is eminently qualified.

This baby was cared for by one of the very best teams we have ever seen.

If you aren't convinced yet that this baby's case was well thought out, then there is no hope for you.

[texasflower]

You have been giving very good responses to tallhappy. Your comments kept me reading this thread long after I was tired of him.

You may already know the information I posted in post 202, but I thought I would ping you to it anyway just in case.

As you have indicated, this baby had excellent and responsible medical care.

I doubt tallhappy is convinced though.

[republicofdavis]

"Inured is such a wonderful word. Ancient, short, sedate. Language is fantastic in that words, 6 letters, two sounds, can mean so much, describe in those sounds something we all know deeply, we all can be and are inured of something at some time."

Have you slept it off yet?

[mcg1969]

I don't think he was suggesting that the child's defects were due to the mother's use of drugs. I think he was searching for an explanation for why her behavior during and after the pregnancy was so odd.

[mcg1969]

Thanks for the kind words texasflower, and for the additional info regarding the hospital. I knew they were top-notch but not to that specific detail.

[texasflower]

not to that specific detail

I get annoyingly wordy sometimes. :-).

Drives my kids crazy!

[andysandmikesmom]

Thank you for your kind words...and your kind words for nurses aides all over...there are always 'bad' nurses aides, and along with nursing homes, the aides always seem to be the butt of someones joke...yet all the aides I have known over the years, loved the work, even tho is was so very diffult, and the pay was so dang lousy, for what we do...

Frankly, I loved being a nurses aide...we are the ones who have the most, and the closest contact with the residents in the nursing homes...we tend to their every need, for their daily living, we often become surrogate children to these elderly, because often their own children and grandchildren dont visit very often...we aides, listen to the stories our elderly residents tell, we are a shoulder for them to cry on, when they are sad or lonely, or are scared of dying...and we hold their hands while they are dying, for so many of them do not have family with them when they are dying...

I have been peed on, pooped on, bled on, spit on...I have been sworn at by confused residents, I have been hit, kicked, punched, knocked down, and often groped by male
residents who are feeling 'frisky'...and its all part of the job, and its something most aides have also experienced...but we fully understand, that these elderly nursing home residents, are often scared, confused, often bitter at their families for having 'dumped' them, and often they are just plain frustrated...

And yet, in spite of the abuse aides often have to endure, in spite of changing diapers, and doing all the grungy work, still most aides love their jobs, love being with the elderly, and find the job to be fullfilling...

Lots of aides, go on to get more education, to become LPNs or RNs...simply because aides are at the bottom of the pay scale...but I was lucky...I had a hubby who made a good enough living, that I could indulge myself, and work at a low paying job that I just loved...

I love caring for the sick and the elderly...especially the elderly...those who are in their right minds, can tell you the most wonderful stores...I remember a woman who lived in China during the Boxer Rebellion...her parents were missionaries, and she was a little girl during that time...another senior woman that I cared for, was 105 yrs old, when I cared for her, and she came here to Washington State, in a covered wagon, as a very small girl...what tales she told...I have taken care of the very poor, the very wealthy, I have taken care of doctors, engineers, teachers, a couple of politicians, one concert pianist, one judge, one gal who was actually a clown with Barnum and Bailey Circus...I have taken care of farmers, ranchers, professors, scientific researchers, ministers, and women who all their lives did the hardest job...women who were homemakers and mothers...I have also taken care of the so called 'dregs'...I have cared for wife beaters, thieves, and one actual murderer...where else but a nursing home, could a person come across such a cross section of society?

And yet, when they are in a nursing home, regardless of their past, regardless of what they were in the 'outside of the nursing home environment', aides treat them all the same...with love, respect, and a desire to keep them happy and comfy for the rest of their lives...

Sorry for such a very long post, which probably seemed like a rant, but so seldom do nurses aides receive praise..rather we often see ourselves portrayed as the butt of someones joke...yeah, there are lousy nurses aides...but there are always lousy people in every occupation...

Again, thanks for your kind remarks...

[andysandmikesmom]

Looked at your profile page, and saw your dad...what a grand inspiration...to be so ill, and yet still wanted to get out and vote...thanks for sharing that with me...

[texasflower]

Thank you for the kind words about my dad and taking the time to read about his last days. We were very proud of him.

That poor lady with the voting machine in the picture nearly didn't make it through helping him vote. It was pretty hard on her.

I am grateful to a fellow freeper who responded to a prayer thread where I mentioned Dad wanted to vote but was to going to be strong enough to go inside and we knew he didn't have the time left to get an absentee voting form mailed to him.

That freeper immediately posted a link to the Texas SOS website with information about "curbside voting".

We had no idea that could be done. Dad was so happy when I told him he could vote after all.

I guess it's safe to say that no one in my family will ever try to skip voting EVER.

I was very touched by your story about your Mom and Dad. It's awfully hard to let a parent go, my mother is still in good health and she's only 64, so we know what she will (not) want done when the time comes, but we'll probably have her for a long time to come.

I just can't imagine losing them both like you have.

[andysandmikesmom]

Yes, losing ones parents is difficult, and yet its to be expected, its just in the natural course of the events of life...My mom died about 3 yrs after my dad, so we had her for some time after losing dad...after I had lost them both, ,and my brother was also gone(he died many years before my parents), I felt almost like an orphan...my whole nuclear family that I was born into was gone...it was a very strange feeling...thank goodness, I had a wonderful husband and son to help me through it all...

I guess when we lost our older son to leukemia, it was just so very difficult, because that event is not natural, you never expect that you may have to bury your child...and yet it happened to me, and it happens to thousands of parents every year...

Life is so very short, for some its much shorter than for others...thats why we need to appreciate our loved ones, ,each and every day...we never know when they are going to leave us...

[texasflower]

I don't even know what to say. My dad was the first person in our family to pass away in almost 16 years. That includes grandparents,etc.

I just can't imagine going through all that. God bless you.