Posted on 02/01/2006 9:23:30 PM PST by nhoward14
Doctors inserted a feeding tube in Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's stomach on Wednesday, according to Jerusalem's Hadassah Hospital, where he is being treated for a massive stroke.
Sharon, 77, has been in a coma since he suffered a stroke on Jan. 4 and the stomach procedure was further evidence that he is likely to be incapacitated for a long time.
Long-term care specialists and a U.S. authority on comatose patients have examined Sharon in recent days. Experts say his chances of regaining consciousness or a meaningful level of activity are slim.
"Tonight Prime Minister Ariel Sharon underwent a gastrostomy, a process in which a tube is inserted into the stomach for feeding," the statement said. "The procedure was carried out under anesthetic and was successful. The prime minister's condition continues to be critical and stable."
According to an extensive study on strokes and stoke care by Dr. Jose Biller Dr. Ernesto Fernandez-Beer, quoted in "Best Practice of Medicine, 2004," gastrostomy is indicated for patients "in whom a prolonged phase of recovery is anticipated."
"This basically tells me that they've made a commitment to preserving him as long they can in this very debilitated state," said Dr. Keith A. Siller, medical director of New York University's Comprehensive Stroke Care Center. "The patient has in fact surived but without the likelihood of any significant functional recovery ... The prognosis is terrible."
Sharon suffered what was described as a "massive stroke" with "significant" bleeding in his brain on Jan. 4, a day before he was to check into Hadassah Hospital for a procedure to correct a tiny defect in his heart that was said to have contributed to a mild stroke he suffered two weeks earlier.
Doctors have come under fire from critics who questioned whether Sharon should have been treated with massive doses of anticoagulants after his first stroke, which was caused by a small blood clot in a cranial artery. Doctors admitted that the anticoagulants made it more difficult for them to stop the bleeding from the later hemorrhagic stroke.
The extensive bleeding and the lengthy operations Sharon underwent to stop it have led experts to conclude that he must have suffered severe brain damage and was unlikely to regain consciousness. If he does awaken, most say, the chances of his regaining meaningful cognition or activity are slim.
Sharon had set up a new political party, Kadima, just weeks before his strokes, and was planning to lead it in a drive for re-election in March 28 general elections. Polls showed that he was a strong favorite to win.
His close political ally, Ehud Olmert, was named acting prime minister after Sharon's second stroke and is Kadima's candidate for prime minister. Polls have shown the party maintaining its wide lead under Olmert.
Prayers....
Good thing he's not in Florida....
Prayers for he and his family!
I was thinking the very same thing! Don't you just love the way the NY doctor described his condition?
Continued prayers for Sharon!
Or his wife is having an affair and wants him out of the way once she cashes in by suing the doctors for mistreating him.
The words you've chosen are just fine. I will admit I am sensitive on this issue. I read between the lines. Here's my interpretation of what the doctor said, with my interpreted thoughts in parentheses:
"This basically tells me that they've made a commitment to preserving him (as opposed to allowing him to pass on) as long they can in this very debilitated (no quality of life) state. The patient has in fact survived (barely) but without the likelihood of any significant functional recovery (he'll never be the same again, so what are they gaining)... The prognosis is terrible (why aren't they putting him out of his misery)."
I'm sorry if that offends you or anyone else. I have become very cynical of doctors in general. I've always felt that good doctors are a dime a dozen, but the truly great ones are so very rare that they are indeed priceless.
Keep him alive for 15 years!!!!
Good thing he's not in Florida....
As I was reading this I said the same thing. STAY OUT OF FLORIDA.
My problem with the Terri Schiavo case was that she never executed a living will and, instead, the judge admitted evidence of one or two oral statements she made while young and healthy and without any adequate counseling as evidence of her allegedly wanting to die in her situation. In other words, her life was taken on the basis of "evidence" so flimsy that it wouldn't even be allowed in court to determine how she would dispose of a $10.00 piece of costume jewelery.
It's a lot different if somebody actually executes a living will and advertently states his or her determination to be allowed to pass on in a situation like Sharon's. Then there's no possibility of a judicial murder being committed by a spouse with a massive conflict of interest who may have been responsible for the patient's condition. I personally think I would want extreme measures taken to keep me alive similar to those takes for Sharon but would want to be allowed to pass on once I reached a condition like the one he's in now.
Fox News Alert. Sharon's condition is getting worse. He's undergoing surgery now for major problems with his digestive system.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.