I'll tell you what it will accomplish. It will, in theory, get all the annoying fucks who say that she still has (or had) enough brain function to survive to shut the fuck up. I mean, it's pretty damn obvious to all but the fundie fuckwits that she's got less active grey matter then a supply-side Democrat, but the autopsy will prove it.
The purposed purpose of an autopsy would be to determine the reason she went into a coma in the first place, and the underlying reasoning behind the MI that started this whole mess.
There are allegations that need to be cleared up.
But thanks for shunting me into some convenient "fundie-fuckwit" category. It'll also be nice to tell all those children born with hyper-hydroencephalitis that they're all obviously in a persistant vegetative state, and that the state can rely on heresay to determine the "quality" of their life, and mercifully put them to death.
I didn't intend to shunt in the fundie category (and I doubt anyone would consider you one after say, a mere five minutes in your presence).
However, I tend to give more credit to the doctors who have supported the determination that she is in a persistant vegitative state. I mean, she went into a coma as a result of lack of oxygen to her brain in February of 1990. That coma lasted two and half months, ending in May of 1990. I'm not sure that an autopsy would reveal the cause of a coma that ended almost 15 years ago. Since the end of the coma, she has exhibited no higher cortical function.
At one point in the proceedings between Schiavo's husband and her parents, they videotaped her for four and a half hours, and utilized four minutes and twenty seconds of that videotape (approximate 1.6% of the total videotape) as "proof" of Schiavo not being in a persistant vegitative state. They got thirty-three physicians and therapists to agree with them, but only two of them had full access to her medical history and records and/or examined her in person. None of them saw anything other then the four minutes and twenty seconds of the tape.
Her cerebral cortex has been completely destroyed. 80% of her upper brain has been destroyed, and there is damage to her lower brain. The only part of her brain that is functioning normally is the brain stem.
Now that those facts have been mentioned.... I'm not really mad at the fundies. They're doing exactly what I expect them to be doing, and it's not that surprising. What upsets me over this whole thing is the government's involvment. If the Florida legislature or Congress actually gave a shit about anything other then a sound bite or sucking up to the Christian voting demographic, then they would not have passed legislation that specifically only applied to Terry Schiavo. But they don't want to make those kind of decisions, because that could bite them in the ass in the long run. It's much easier to look compassionate and not mean it by passing legislation that affects one person. It's not the fucking government's business.
No offense, Nono, still rational. You'll know you've pissed me off the moment I let out a "Look here you Jesus-looking Copy-Shop Freak!". Ask your brother.
The only problem I have with the doctors testimony is my fundamental distrust of doctors. I NEVER take doctors at their word. They are usually dabbling in a science not fully explored, yet. We could fit what we know about the brain's function and topography in a thimble. But I keep running into this assumption that these doctors speak the WORD, and you're a fool for questioning them. I question a doctors word almost as fast as I question a politician, lawyer or school administrator.
I would be more likely to accept that 80% of her brain is swiss cheese and their's no hope, except for the fact we only use 5-8% of our brains capacity for rational thought, and the cases (in particular hyper hydroencephalitis, which newborns have a HUGE fluid sack where their brain should be, and their documented chances of "normal" brain function is in the 30-45% range)
I get this "The hospital doesn't want to keep paying and using up resources we could be using on more profitible patients" feeling every time I hear some expert doc talk about Terri.
But, as always this is just my opinion, so take that for what it's worth.
The 10% brain myth: http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/tenper.html
Additionally, the CT scan shows that there is little to no functioning cortical tissue. The connective material (which holds the brain together) has unraveled.
To use an analogy, imagine rubberbanding together 100 pieces of popcorn. Now leave it outside where ants can get to it. After they eat all the popcorn, all you've got is a bunch of loosely jumbled rubber bands.
The gigantic ventricles, expanded white matter, and undifferentiated blue space in that scan all point to the same thing: massive loss of grey matter in the cerebral cortex.
The reason an MRI hasn't been done is simple: While it could provide more detail, a sizable number of cranial implants would have to be removed first. Additionally, the MRI wouldn't add anything of signifigance to what the CT or x-rays have shown. Her brain is gone.
As for the PET scan, that works by injecting radioactive substances into the body, then mapping their locations. For brain scans, this is normally done through glucose injections. The way it works is tumors, because they grow faster than surrounding tissue, absorb more of the glucose, and thus, are 'greater' radioactive hot spots.
In the Schiavo case, all this will show is an extremely low absorbtion rate, because there is very little grey matter left to need glucose.
Oh, and for what it's worth, I seem to be pretty good at unintentionally pissing people off on LJ this week. No offense is intended. My contempt for most of humanity does not extend to you.
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What it's supposed to really accomplish, I don't know.
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Not quite...
There are allegations that need to be cleared up.
But thanks for shunting me into some convenient "fundie-fuckwit" category. It'll also be nice to tell all those children born with hyper-hydroencephalitis that they're all obviously in a persistant vegetative state, and that the state can rely on heresay to determine the "quality" of their life, and mercifully put them to death.
Re: Not quite...
However, I tend to give more credit to the doctors who have supported the determination that she is in a persistant vegitative state. I mean, she went into a coma as a result of lack of oxygen to her brain in February of 1990. That coma lasted two and half months, ending in May of 1990. I'm not sure that an autopsy would reveal the cause of a coma that ended almost 15 years ago. Since the end of the coma, she has exhibited no higher cortical function.
At one point in the proceedings between Schiavo's husband and her parents, they videotaped her for four and a half hours, and utilized four minutes and twenty seconds of that videotape (approximate 1.6% of the total videotape) as "proof" of Schiavo not being in a persistant vegitative state. They got thirty-three physicians and therapists to agree with them, but only two of them had full access to her medical history and records and/or examined her in person. None of them saw anything other then the four minutes and twenty seconds of the tape.
Her cerebral cortex has been completely destroyed. 80% of her upper brain has been destroyed, and there is damage to her lower brain. The only part of her brain that is functioning normally is the brain stem.
Now that those facts have been mentioned.... I'm not really mad at the fundies. They're doing exactly what I expect them to be doing, and it's not that surprising. What upsets me over this whole thing is the government's involvment. If the Florida legislature or Congress actually gave a shit about anything other then a sound bite or sucking up to the Christian voting demographic, then they would not have passed legislation that specifically only applied to Terry Schiavo. But they don't want to make those kind of decisions, because that could bite them in the ass in the long run. It's much easier to look compassionate and not mean it by passing legislation that affects one person. It's not the fucking government's business.
Re: Not quite...
The only problem I have with the doctors testimony is my fundamental distrust of doctors. I NEVER take doctors at their word. They are usually dabbling in a science not fully explored, yet. We could fit what we know about the brain's function and topography in a thimble. But I keep running into this assumption that these doctors speak the WORD, and you're a fool for questioning them. I question a doctors word almost as fast as I question a politician, lawyer or school administrator.
I would be more likely to accept that 80% of her brain is swiss cheese and their's no hope, except for the fact we only use 5-8% of our brains capacity for rational thought, and the cases (in particular hyper hydroencephalitis, which newborns have a HUGE fluid sack where their brain should be, and their documented chances of "normal" brain function is in the 30-45% range)
I get this "The hospital doesn't want to keep paying and using up resources we could be using on more profitible patients" feeling every time I hear some expert doc talk about Terri.
But, as always this is just my opinion, so take that for what it's worth.
Re: Not quite...
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/tenper.html
Additionally, the CT scan shows that there is little to no functioning cortical tissue. The connective material (which holds the brain together) has unraveled.
To use an analogy, imagine rubberbanding together 100 pieces of popcorn. Now leave it outside where ants can get to it. After they eat all the popcorn, all you've got is a bunch of loosely jumbled rubber bands.
The gigantic ventricles, expanded white matter, and undifferentiated blue space in that scan all point to the same thing: massive loss of grey matter in the cerebral cortex.
The reason an MRI hasn't been done is simple: While it could provide more detail, a sizable number of cranial implants would have to be removed first. Additionally, the MRI wouldn't add anything of signifigance to what the CT or x-rays have shown. Her brain is gone.
As for the PET scan, that works by injecting radioactive substances into the body, then mapping their locations. For brain scans, this is normally done through glucose injections. The way it works is tumors, because they grow faster than surrounding tissue, absorb more of the glucose, and thus, are 'greater' radioactive hot spots.
In the Schiavo case, all this will show is an extremely low absorbtion rate, because there is very little grey matter left to need glucose.
Re: Not quite...
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