Posted on 12/23/2013 6:09:20 PM PST by plain talk
Erick Munoz wants to see his wife's wish fulfilled this holiday season, but it's one that carries ethical and legal challenges: To be taken off of life support. Marlise Munoz, 33, is in serious condition in the intensive care unit at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas, hospital officials said. She is unconscious and on a ventilator, her husband told CNN affiliate WFAA, but she wouldn't have wanted her life sustained by a machine. "We talked about it. We're both paramedics," he told WFAA. "We've seen things out in the field. We both knew that we both didn't want to be on life support." Complicating an already difficult situation is that Munoz is also pregnant, about 18 weeks along, WFAA reported. Texas state law prohibits withdrawing or withholding life-sustaining treatment from a pregnant patient, regardless of her wishes.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Yup. Access to lots of stuff.
what they don’t see is that the brain can rewire itself to recover. they younger ou are the better chance you can get most or all of it back. of course it depends on what it’s damaged, but only time and therapy can tell what you can get back.
story says he did find her at 2am unconscious.
story also indicates they have a 14 month old child.
paramedics can work weird and long shifts.
True. Still seems kinda fishy to me.
Amen
Warning: don’t go to the comments at the link unless you are prepared to see rampant insane death-loving leftism in full display!
The question that should be asked: Is there insurance?
I think it’s very UNCOMPLICATED.
She lives, the Baby thrives. She dies, they both die.
When the Child reaches full term, do the C Section, then let her go. The guys Wife lives through their Child.
Makes me wonder why the guy decided to be a Paramedic.
I agree. If she’d been on life support for years, with no sign of improvement, that would be one thing, but we’re talking about less than three months here.
**********************************************
Child is currently 18 weeks and appears healthy , at the time the mother had the pulmonary embolism the child was 6-8 weeks and unlikely to have been harmed as the brain was not highly developed at that point ... He is fighting Texas law which is designed to ensure that mothers and their children get medical care DESPITE any outside attempts to limit it ,, let him file a suit and wait a year or two for his turn in front of the judge.
let him file a suit and wait a year or two for his turn in front of the judge.
that soon? I think he can wait longer.
i am sure police have not dropped him as a potential suspect.
“You would think this man would want to give his child a chance...”
Yes, you would think that. I understand this is a horrible situation for him. Also, her pregnancy is not very far along, perhaps he didn’t even know she was pregnant (they have a very young child already).
I’m pretty sure the guy is just feeling completely overwhelmed, but ending the life of his child is not a good idea.
I’m glad Texas has this law.
He’s just going to have to hang in there, may God give him strength.
“Because you can’t know what just another day of living means to a person who lives, likes sunlight on his bare shoulder or gets a kick out of strawberry jelly toast, loves his dada, and drools.”
That is beautiful, Mrs. Don-O, so well said!
Just wow! At least if she was kept on life support until the end of the pregnancy there is a snowball’s chance in hell she may wake up. Stranger things have happened. He is not even giving her those months. My bet is not only does he not only does not want the baby but he is now rid of both if this goes through.
That crossed my mind.
It’s a lot trickier than that as well. Several years ago, in South Africa, a man in a “persistent coma”, in a coma ward, had a “restless arm” that tended to bounce around. His doctor, in an effort to control the arm, counter-intuitively decided to give him a sleeping pill, known in the US by its brand name of Ambien.
And a few hours later, he woke up for an hour or two. They then kept administering Ambien to him, and gradually extended his wakeful hours to a normal length of time.
Several other patients in the coma ward had similar results, and were eventually brought out of the coma.
The theory was that when part of the brain is damaged, the brain gives off a chemical called GABA, which tells that part of the brain to shut down so it can heal. However, with this burst of GABA, some people become sensitized to it, so when the brain returns to its normal levels of the production of GABA, they stay unconscious.
Ambien is a GABA blocker.
What makes things trickier is that normal consciousness is very close to sleeping consciousness, so the transition between the two is easy.
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.