Posted on 06/19/2005 6:35:16 PM PDT by Tumbleweed_Connection
Refuting the findings of the county medical examiner, a neurosurgeon who examined Terri Schiavo before her death says the autopsy report confirms she was aware of what was going on around her.
Dr. William Hammesfahr, nominated for a Nobel Prize for his work in medicine and known as a pioneer in approaches to helping the brain injured, said to ignore the facts would "allow future Terri Schiavos to die needlessly."
"The record must be set straight," he said. "As we noted in the press, there was no heart attack, or evident reason for this to have happened (and certainly not of Terri's making). Unlike the constant drumbeat from the husband, his attorneys, and his doctors, the brain tissue was not dissolved, with a head of just spinal fluid. In fact, large areas were 'relatively preserved.'"
He said the autopsy results confirmed his opinion that the frontal areas of the brains, the areas that deal with awareness and cognition were relatively intact.
"In fact, the relay areas from the frontal and front temporal regions of the brain, to the spinal cord and the brain stem, by way of the basal ganglia, were preserved, thus the evident responses which she was able to express to her family and to the clinicians seeing her or viewing her videotape," he said. "The Spect scan confirmed these areas were functional and not scar tissue, and that was apparently also confirmed on Dr. (Stephen) Nelson's review of the slides."
Dr. Hammesfahr describes Terri as "a woman trapped in her body, similar to a child with cerebral palsy, and that was born out by the autopsy, showing greater injury in the motor and visual centers of the brain. Obviously, the pathologists comments that she could not see were not borne out by reality, and thus his assessment must represent sampling error. The videotapes clearly showed her seeing."
He was critical of the findings that she was not capable of swallowing on her own. He cited her ability to swallow up to about 1.5 liters per day of liquid, confirmed, he said, by two other physicians.
"With respect to the issue of trauma, that certainly does not appear to be answered adequately," he added. "Some of the types of trauma that are suspected were not adequately evaluated in this assessment. Interestingly, both myself and at least one neurologist for the husband testified to the presence of neck injuries."
Hammesfahr concluded: "Ultimately, based on the clinical evidence and the autopsy results, an aware woman was killed."
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His statements concur with others who have conducted analyses of the autopsy results. Last week, an attorney specializing in medical ethics cases, Jerri Lynn Ward of Austin, Texas, made similar observations. She particularly took note of this autopsy finding: "The frontal temporal and temporal poles and insular-cortex demonstrated relative preservation."
"What this tells us is that her cortex retained function and that her brain was more normal in the area that controls higher-level thinking," said Ward, who has weighed in on the case in her weblog and in an interview with "Joseph Farah's WorldNetDaily RadioActive" show.
Schiavo died March 31, nearly two weeks after the feeding tube that had kept her alive was removed under a court order obtained by her husband, Michael Schiavo. Her parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, said they were willing to care for their daughter, insisting she had a strong will to live.
Experts supporting Michael Schiavo – contending Terri Schiavo's brain cortex essentially was missing and filled with fluid – concluded she was in a persistent vegetative state. The Schindlers, arguing that their daughter recognized and responded to family members, produced neurologists who diagnosed her as "minimally conscious."
Pinellas-Pasco medical examiner Jon Thogmartin, speaking at a news conference Wednesday, said the damage to Terri Schiavo's brain was "irreversible, and no amount of therapy or treatment would have regenerated the massive loss of neurons."
But Ward, pointing to the autopsy report, noted the brain's frontal lobe plays a part in impulse control, judgment, language, memory, motor function, problem solving, sexual behavior, socialization and spontaneity.
"It is very possible that she remained cognizant of sounds and other things without being able to communicate," Ward said. "It's possible Terri was aware of everything being done to her – yet could do little to make people aware that she was there."
Ward pointed out that major damage to Schiavo's brain was shown to be toward the back – the areas that affect motor skills.
So the question remains, says Ward, was Terri Schiavo still a thinking, aware human being?
In fact, neuropathologist Nelson, whose assessment is included in the report, conceded there is no way of determining through an autopsy whether a person was in a persistent vegetative state.
I agree with that. Where I disagree with you is you are just as guilty as Hammersfahr in relating the facts. There is no evidence that she was bulemic and no evidence that low potassium contributed to her cardiac arrest. This is as reported by the ME who conducted the autopsy. In point of fact, the ME stated conclusively that the cause of her cardiac arrest is inconclusive. Nobody knows, not him, not you and not me.
Furthermore, an autopsy can neither confirm nor deny the existence of PVS and the ME should never have gone there because he damn well knows it. I can post scans of people with half of a brain who walk and talk as well as you or I. I can post case histories of people with minmal cortical tissue testing 115 on Stanford Binet.
Here's what we do know. The State of Florida ordered the death by dehydration of a citizen, guilty of no crime, without knowing with certainty either of the two issues above. Some support that and some don't. I don't.
Just keeping it real.
What you are missing is that Terri's discharge summary from the hospital detailed her potassium level.
She had cardiac arrest, severely low potassium (3.7 is low enough to make you 2x more likely to have cardiac arrest (which is not a heart attack) hers was a 2.0,
- she was malnourished and low in calcium
- Classic profile of a bulimic, especially added to the fact that she faught a life-long weight problem, going from ~250 lbs at age 18 to 110-120 in '90, and was seeing and infertility doc, and missing her periods. (the major malpractice suit of the 2 was for his not noticing the signs - he hadn't taken a blood chemisty)
Also note that bulimics lose up to 30% of their bone mass in a single year.
http://www.terrisfight.org/documents/Humana%20Discharge%20Summary%20050990.pdf
And what you are missing is the ME's report and a knowledge of the effects of emergent care on K levels and the fact that her K levels returned to normal immediately after the cessation of that emergent care indicating no systemical problem with her potaassium and thus no diagnosis of bulemia can be taken seriously. Just the facts Peach. If we all stick to them things would go a lot smoother.
I wouldn't know where to start.
When Terri was admitted to the hospital, her potassium levels (as you can see in the link of the discharge summary I provided) were severely depleted.
A lawsuit was lost based on this fact.
The ME stated quite clearly that your claims are bogus and unprovable yet you keep repeating them. Why?
But don't take my word for it, read the autopsy report.
I have read the autopsy report. And I'm pointing out what Terri's Discharge Summary said when she was released from the hospital, as well as the doctors who were sued said about neglecting to run blood tests on her and catching her very low potassium levels which likely resulted in her cardiac arrest.
Whether 15 years later a pathologist can tell whether someone had cardiac arrest, I don't know.
But I do think that it's quite interesting that her Discharge Summary and doctors who testified under oath at multiple trials are discounted, while every conspiracy theory to come down the pike but can't be proven, are taken at face value.
A pathologist can't tell if there had been a cardiac arrest - he can only go by the medical records for such an event. No scarring of the cardiac muscle, as would have occured in a heart attack.
Thanks for that information. Since Terri never had a heart attack, which is entirely different from cardiac arrest, which she DID have, now I understand about the scarring which was absent.
Peach, the discharge summary has been removed from terrisfight.org. I was looking for it yesterday. I had printed out a copy, but not sure if I still have it.
"But don't take my word for it, read the autopsy report."
Actually, the coroner describes the Bulemia as being "unlikely."
He further noted that her two prescribed medications were NOT described in the police report, the screenings for drugs would not have detected other potassium depleting substances, caffiene was not tested for - but caffiene toxicity was unlikely UNLESS some sort of suppliment or pill containing caffiene was consumed.
While I appreciate your concern for accuracy, it's not an absolute that she was OR wasn't Bulemic.
Well said, Peach.
It's amazing to me that this person still gets any ink.
I just realized that about the discharge summary the other day.
It's summarized in the Wolfson report as well:
http://home.comcast.net/~trinity_tx/wolfson.htm
Well, I think we should just pretend we're Princess Grace. Just because we said so. LOL
Proof? Who needs proof these day :-)
Also, the Wolfson report and family and friends testified under oath that Terri drank 10-15 glasses of iced tea a day. That much caffeine depletes the potassium to seriously unhealthy levels.
That's certainly true in this case. Among many others.
Good morning. Good to see you again.
Here ya go. :) Terri's discharge summary:
http://home.comcast.net/~trinity_tx/terrischiavo/Humana_Discharge_Summary_050990.pdf
Thank you, ma'am. :)
interesting, thanks. Wonder if Hammesfahr ever commented on this.
Sad too, that you do not let the facts of this case stand in your way.
Your position has been refuted by the facts. The facts of the autopsy and the facts about the paid quack you used to support them. Kindly address that refutation before your change the subject.
He said, "Was Terri dying? The answer is NO she wasn't, so she was killed."
Leave it to Brit Hume to put it in perspective......
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