PVS—Death by Starvation

This is my opinion of what happens with the diagnosis of PVS with the insistence of death by starvation. I do not expect most doctors to agree with me. I was with Brenna. I know what I saw. I know what she experienced. I was with her over 6000 hours in 16 months.

The second anniversary of my precious Brenna’s anoxic brain injury (AKA, acquired brain injury, ABI) is quickly approaching. My heart grieves for the state our medical profession has become. You know: The state where in ERs, ICUs, and CCUs, where a patient with a brain injury quickly becomes a budget issue? Heart and conscious goes out the window.

Those who SHOULD know better strongly promote death by starvation. They don’t call it that. They call it letting go. When the brain is not dead, I have another word for what they encourage…MURDER.

Take a look at this article. The “specialists” call the experience “serene”. Are they kidding??? No, they are very serious.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Schiavo/story?id=531907&page=1

If starvation is such a wonderful experience, then please explain why society isn’t rejoicing over the thousands of people starving across the land. Why do we seek to feed the hungry? The answer: because starvation is NOT serene. Letting people die by starvation is NOT humane. Not in Third world countries, not among American poor, and not in American hospitals. What a horror these doctors put into the minds of the survivors of patients with an ABI!

“Family members and friends are often surprised to find that a terminal patient's eyes will open and they will appear to glance around the room.” My daughter opened her eyes. My daughter looked around. Surprised? I wasn’t. Brenna knew her mother was present and she knew the professionals wanted her to die. SHE WASN’T DEAD. The expression of abject terror showed on her face.

PVS—Permanent Vegetative State—poorly and inadequately diagnosed by professionals who believe MD stands for Medical Divinity. The British Journal of Medicine published a study in 1996 that says at least 40% of patients diagnosed with PVS are MISDIAGNOSED and can be rehabilitated. Why has the USA ignored this study? Why are there NO NEW studies on brain rehabilitation for patients suffering with acquired brain injury?

I carried in my purse the DX of PVS for Brenna for a long time. A PVS by a pulmonologist who NEVER saw Brenna, and one who when called by the hospital ER doctor about Brenna’s skin condition and infections around the PEG and trach, said, “I didn’t know it was that bad.” He didn’t know because he had never seen her and his diagnoses of her daily condition was based solely on LPNs who certainly have no training in brain injuries and the only answer they had for anything else was an antibiotic.

Who are these experts making these end-of-life decisions? Pulmonologists and general surgeons in Brenna’s case. The first neurologist assured me she was NOT brain dead. The second said it was too early to make a determination of the extent of brain damage.

Here is how I observed diagnosing of PVS.

     Pinch the finger. Pinch the toes. Scream in the face. No  
     reaction? Out they go. Next patient please.