Posted on 10/10/2006 4:04:27 PM PDT by wagglebee
GRESHAM, Oregon October 10, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A young boy, who had previously been diagnosed as being in a “permanent vegetative state,” has awakened from a 22 month-long coma and is breathing on his own.
Devon Rivers collapsed in a seizure during a phys-ed class in 2004 and his condition was never explained, though some doctors suggested it was caused by an unknown viral infection. Doctors agreed, however, that he had little hope of recovery.
His mother, Carla Rivers, visited him regularly and, in addition to physical therapy by his paediatric nursing home to keep his limbs supple, she talked to him in the belief that coma patients can retain their hearing and some understanding.
"For two years the doctors said there was no hope," said Carla Rivers. "Everything that happens in Devon's life is a gain. There's no losses."
Despite the doctors’ gloomy prognosis, eleven year-old Devon is now being prepared for occupational therapy to help him re-learn motor skills and is able to play with his siblings. Doctors cannot explain the reason either for his unexpected awakening or for his steady recovery.
In August of this year his mother, Carla Rivers, noticed that he began turning his head to follow movement; instead of a blank stare, he was reacting to his environment. Days later Devon was breathing without a respirator.
Carla Rivers said, “Devon may make a full recovery or what we see today may be what we get…God's plan is greater than ours. There's nothing we can do to force it any sooner or hold it back,” she said.
Coma patients and others with severe cognitive disabilities have been labelled “hopeless” only to recover frequently enough that some doctors and ethicists are questioning the accuracy of the diagnosis of “persistent vegetative state” (PVS).
The diagnosis is ambiguous in that symptoms of patients can vary greatly and still be called “vegetative.” A 1996 study published in the British Medical Journal showed that 43% of patients diagnosed with PVS do not qualify for the diagnosis.
In 2003, Kate Adamson, a former coma patient who had been diagnosed PVS, appeared on the television talk show the O'Reilly Factor. She said that, like Terri Schiavo, the hospital had removed her feeding tube that was only reinserted after eight days when her lawyer-husband threatened to sue the hospital.
Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Diagnosis of Persistent Vegetative State Questioned as Former Patient Speaks Out
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2003/nov/03111207.html
He certainly was not. I've read the autopsy report three times now, plus browsing. It says nothing of the sort. Drs. Thogmartin and Nelson were at pains to say, in the report and in press conferences, that an autopsy CANNOT determine PVS status. That can only be done with a living patient, and only with repeated examinations over time.
I also liked the one who sneered that a radiologist doesn't know anything because he isn't a doctor. Polybius probably spewed coffee all over his monitor laughing at that one :-)
AFTER dehydration, which destroys body organs, including brain tissue. She was badly vision-impaired while alive, but not blind.
>> Cheshire's comments are almost all due to watching the parents videos.
Dr. Cheshire observed Terri first-hand, in her room, for as long as BOTH of Michael's hired doctors put together.
None? No one out of fifty neurologists, therapists and medical specialists? If experienced neurologists aren't competent to make the diagnosis, who is?
I hope Polybius isn't listening in. He'd spew another cup of coffee on his monitor.
Since the poster only believes what "his" doctors say, do you have the Cranford Video available for evidence?
No, not at this desk :-), but it shouldn't be hard to come by. Anyone?
The autopsy proved she was blind for a long time. That kind of atrophy doesn't happen in the time span of a week and it's never as localized. She was blind and the testimony by docs, claiming she followed objects, is a flat out lie.
Odn't exaggerate the number of neurologists by tossing in nurses and phlebotomists. The number of docs was on the order of 2! The others, such as Cheshire were speaking mostly of the bogus film put out by the parents, that contained less than 2 min out of about 45 of some coincidental and misleading evidence.
With all the science out there, there's still so much doctors don't know about the brain. Just because 99% of people with that same injury would not make it, doesn't mean that 1% are fake, wrong, or any less severe. It just means that there are many things our doctors and scientists are far from mastering. When an educated, practicing professional uses all the intellectual power he has and makes a statement he can back with decades of research, only to be proven wrong by a "miracle", what then? Things like this, although rare, do occur. I don't need to be a doctor to know that some things have stumped them. That is why the word "miracle" exists. It is the explanation when there isn't one.
He certainly was not. I've read the autopsy report three times now, plus browsing. It says nothing of the sort. Drs. Thogmartin and Nelson were at pains to say, in the report and in press conferences, that an autopsy CANNOT determine PVS status. That can only be done with a living patient, and only with repeated examinations over time.
The autopsy report supported PVS. The diagnosis of PVS was made by other docs over many years. Terri never changed. The autopsy report determined that she was blind for a long time and if you say Cheshire examined her and he said she follows objects, then he's either a liar, or totally incompetent.
How long? What did the autopsy say?
It means that particular person didn't know what he was doing, or talking about. The word miracle has no place in science, because it is a completely arbitrary word.
Many years. The autopsy mentioned atrophy and that's how long it takes to get what was described.
Is that what it said? Post it.
I'm not a doc and my observation from personal and professional experience is that they are quite often stumped, when I'm not. In this case of the description given Oprah's presentation, I know it was in reality nothing close to what you described and any docs that played along with it were putting on a show.
What is your opinion of Dr. Cranford? Straight shooter?
Go look it up. Post 159 says you read and understood it.
Never met him. His diagnosis of PVS was backed by Dr Bambakidis(sp) from Ohio and all the other docs, but 2, or 3. Hammersfar was one of those few and he was simply hawking a bogus hyperbaric oxygen treatment.
It looks like I am responding to facts based on emotion here. I won't bother you anymore.
My daughter has tons of brain damage. On a scale of 0-10, 0 meaning no brain damage, and 10 meaning dead, my daughter is a 5.
You would not tell by looking at her that anything is wrong with her. She still has a speech problem, but she is only 10. I am sure that when she is an adult most people will not know she has a problem.
She is extremely good (to 95%) in math for her age.
She does have some auditory memory problems, and her reading is a little below grade level.
However, she is not in a wheelchair. She can run, jump, ride a bike, swim, eat, and think like a regular 9 year old.
The brain is amazing, and we don't know that much about it.
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.