<p>The ‘settlement’ conference has been going on now for over four hours.</p>
<p>jym, actually the only family member that was alleged to have a nursing license on the nursing forum was the grandmother, whose license someone allegedly verified as that of an LPN. Don’t know about the aunt.</p>
<p>Given the family’s posture and threat of litigation, I’m actually surprised the hospital didn’t have the child on TPN, even though it would normally be highly irregular to start that on a brain dead patient.</p>
<p>[url=<a href=“Life After Brain Death: Is the Body Still 'Alive'?”>Life After Brain Death: Is the Body Still 'Alive'?]Yahoo![/url</a>]</p>
<p>^Life After Brain Death: Is the Body Still ‘Alive’?</p>
<p>“…However, the heart’s intrinsic electrical system can keep the organ beating for a short time after a person becomes brain-dead — in fact, the heart can even beat outside the body, Greene-Chandos said. But without a ventilator to keep blood and oxygen moving, this beating would stop very quickly, usually in less than an hour, Greene-Chandos said.”</p>
<p>“With just a ventilator, some biological processes — including kidney and gastric functions — can continue for about a week, Greene-Chandos said. It is also well-known that hair and nails can grow after a person is dead.”</p>
<p>“Kenneth Goodman, director of the Bioethics Program at the University of Miami, stressed that such functions do not mean the person is alive. “If you’re brain-dead, you’re dead, but [with technology], we can make the body do some of the things it used to do when you were alive,” Goodman said.”</p>
<p>“Without the brain, the body does not secrete important hormones needed to keep biological processes — including gastric, kidney and immune functions — running for periods longer than about a week. For example, thyroid hormone is important for regulating body metabolism, and vasopressin is needed for the kidneys to retain water.”</p>
<p>“Normal blood pressure, which is also critical for bodily functions, often cannot be maintained without blood-pressure medications in a brain-dead person, Greene-Chandos said.”</p>
<p>“A brain-dead person also cannot maintain his or her own body temperature, so the body is kept warm with blankets, a high room temperature and, sometimes, warm IV fluids, Greene-Chandos said.”</p>
<hr>
<p>This case has gotten so out of hand. Denial runs deep, but for this family to continue to believe that their daughter is not dead goes beyond the boundaries of normal. Whether it’s out of anger, denial, spite, or a combination of many factors, this family has been indulged long enough. IMO–their desire to continue to keep their daughter’s body hooked up to machines is morbid (to say the least). IMO–it’s right up there with bringing your beloved pet’s dead body to the taxidermist so you can continue to stare at and admire its physical form even though it’s dead. Of course, CC members are going to blast me saying that I’m comparing a pet to a child, but you know I’m just using this comparison as an example. Nothing can compare to losing a child, but death happens and it must be acknowledged and accepted. We may not like it, but we live and we die and these are the only two guarantees in life.</p>
<p>Of course it’s gone on too long. But keep in mind that the only voices the mother is hearing are the ones she wants to hear, and those voices are telling her that her child is not dead. How is she supposed to get past that?</p>
<p>It’s so hard to believe that there isn’t one rational person in the family’s life that is able to help her accept the reality that her daughter is gone.</p>
<p>Sorry I misread this [Oakland</a> 8th Grader “Brain Dead” After Tonsillectomy | NBC Bay Area](<a href=“Oakland 8th Grader “Brain Dead” After Tonsillectomy – NBC Bay Area”>Oakland 8th Grader “Brain Dead” After Tonsillectomy – NBC Bay Area) seems the aunt was speaking at the press conference. But their recount of the events is troublesome</p>
<p>Oh this is brilliant. Lets just tell everyone they are going out the back door, why dontcha??
</p>
<p><a href=“Jahi McMath: Mom can remove brain-dead daughter from hospital, judge rules – The Mercury News”>Jahi McMath: Mom can remove brain-dead daughter from hospital, judge rules – The Mercury News;
<p>Chris Dolan just sent out a statement. No major developments expected. Still talking.</p>
<p>I can’t understand the expectation that this mother and many of her friends and family are suddenly going to start thinking rationally. The idea that her daughter can recover is likely not the only irrational thing that she believes. Lots of people passionately believe irrational things - things that defy science and nature and reason. They will die for those beliefs. She may be forced to do the thing that she cannot imagine doing, but she will never believe that giving up is the right thing.</p>
<p>If the parents want the body to be taken to their home, let them take it to their home (or, indeed, anywhere else) today–as long as they don’t ask for one red cent of public money in support, either directly or indirectly.</p>
<p>"I can’t understand the expectation that this mother and many of her friends and family are suddenly going to start thinking rationally. "</p>
<p>She isn’t. This poor girl is going to literally rot at home. It’s the antithesis of treating someone with dignity.</p>
<p>At some point, the heart will stop beating no matter the efforts. I think she is connected to the heartbeat and when the heartbeat stops, she’ll recognize it as death.</p>
<p>I don’t think that will happen PG. Unless I’m missing something, not much has changed today. The hospital was always willing to release her if they had a doctor to do the needed procedures and could arrange for transport to a new facility. So far, that’s still where this is.</p>
<p>They don’t have a doctor or a qualified facility. The home stuff was iffy breaking news.</p>
<p>Of course, they are still holed up in that conference. We’ll see.</p>
<p>So, Christopher Dolan tweets that they are hoping to get obstacles cleared so that she can be “extracted” from the hospital. He claims they have found surgeons that will put the feeding tube in but he hasn’t named them. If they really think Jahi is “alive”, why weren’t these surgeons and the transport ready and waiting to go and get involved as soon as they got a ruling today. None of this makes sense.</p>
<p>I must be reading older stuff - I thought they agreed the mother could take the body home as long as she was responsible for consequences (since obviously there is no real facility that will take her). What did I miss?</p>
<p>Yeah, tweeting lawyers. I don’t know. It’s weird. He works the press.</p>
<p>Refresh my recollection. Since the hospital thinks they have a dead body, how can they insist upon certain procedures being done before release? This will show my ignorance in the medical aspects, buy why can’t she be moved with the apparatus that she is connected to now?</p>
<p>PG - They agreed to release her with conditions. Both sides came out claiming victory. They were never opposed to releasing her with conditions but the conditions have not been met, yet. Mainly they are physician and facility.</p>
<p>If she’s alive she needs a feeding tube and a tracheotomy. However, she has been declared dead as of 12/12. No it makes no sense. None of it. It never did. IMHO.</p>
<p>Another condition stressed was that the mother must take full responsibility. Not sure what that means since who else would have responsibility for a child released from the hospital.</p>
<p>What does full responsibility mean? They are never responsible for a released patient.</p>
<p>I believe in some situations a hospital is responsible if a patient becomes ill with same illness very soon after discharge. I can certainly imagine the family trying to bring her back to the hospital, or some other ER. I can imagine them calling doctors and nurses for help, supplies, etc.</p>