13 Year old gir declared brain dead has now officially died

[DisneyJamieCA]

Look everyone! She's doing much better now!! http://www.aol.com/article/2014/02/20/mom-hopeful-signs-seen-in-teen-deemed-brain-dead/20834539/?icid=maing-grid7%7Chtmlws-main-bb%7Cdl4%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D445330

Thanks for the update. It breaks my heart that they still have this poor girl hooked up to machines.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

Her body can not be in good shape.

 

[nicolita3]

Her body can not be in good shape.

I can't even imagine. As a nurse I have seen pressure ulcers and other things on live patients and some are bad, but I can't imagine how it must be for her, surely her skin must be breaking down. Also if she has a trach, her sections must be bad, she must have to be suctioned a lot since I doubt she can cough. Poor girl I wish her mom would let her rest in peace.

 

[DisReno]

Okay, I have a question that I have wondered about since reading this thread...The girl is medically dead, brain dead. But if a machine is keeping her body alive, does her body start to decay as some have indicated? I understand bed sores, etc. But does her body really start to decay like it would if she were dead, dead, as in a machine were not supplying oxygen and food?

 

[skylizard]

Okay, I have a question that I have wondered about since reading this thread...The girl is medically dead, brain dead. But if a machine is keeping her body alive, does her body start to decay as some have indicated? I understand bed sores, etc. But does her body really start to decay like it would if she were dead, dead, as in a machine were not supplying oxygen and food?

Yes, it'll just decay at a slower pace since they are artificially supporting it. But at some point the heart will give out and they won't be able to restart it. I think the longest a brain dead body has lasted was about 160 days. There is so much involved in keeping a brain dead body going, not just pumping air into the lungs and keeping the heart beating. Different a kinds of meds need to be pumped into the body to keep blood pressure stable, antibiotics to fight infections that develops as a result of decay, and all sorts of other meds. It's not a pretty picture and I feel bad for the nurses who have to take care of her body.

 

[NaLisa]

Heartbreaking that her mother cannot see what is happening to this poor girl's body and let go, difficult as it may be.

 

[LisaR]

Yes, it'll just decay at a slower pace since they are artificially supporting it. But at some point the heart will give out and they won't be able to restart it. I think the longest a brain dead body has lasted was about 160 days. There is so much involved in keeping a brain dead body going, not just pumping air into the lungs and keeping the heart beating. Different a kinds of meds need to be pumped into the body to keep blood pressure stable, antibiotics to fight infections that develops as a result of decay, and all sorts of other meds. It's not a pretty picture and I feel bad for the nurses who have to take care of her body.

I absolutely believe everything you have said and I am not arguing with you; I am just trying to figure this out as I have no experience. If a brain dead person deteriorates rather quickly (the article says weeks in most cases, months in a few) and Jahi spent a month in the hospital WITHOUT all of the support/medication you mentioned above, how is there anything even left of her?? Or did I misunderstand and the CA hospital was giving her all of those medications to keep her going? I thought that was part of the whole fight in that they wouldn't do a feeding tube, antibiotics or other medication? If it takes so much effort to keep a brain dead person going, I don't understand how this girl is still "here" if she is brain dead and nothing overly extreme was being done during the first month?

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

I absolutely believe everything you have said and I am not arguing with you; I am just trying to figure this out as I have no experience. If a brain dead person deteriorates rather quickly (the article says weeks in most cases, months in a few) and Jahi spent a month in the hospital WITHOUT all of the support/medication you mentioned above, how is there anything even left of her?? Or did I misunderstand and the CA hospital was giving her all of those medications to keep her going? I thought that was part of the whole fight in that they wouldn't do a feeding tube, antibiotics or other medication? If it takes so much effort to keep a brain dead person going, I don't understand how this girl is still "here" if she is brain dead and nothing overly extreme was being done during the first month?

I don't know about the medications, but the family claims they did get somebody (not CHO) to put in a feeding tube and put her on a vent.

 

[LisaR]

I don't know about the medications, but the family claims they did get somebody (not CHO) to put in a feeding tube and put her on a vent.

But that was a full month AFTER being declared brain dead.

 

[nicolita3]

I absolutely believe everything you have said and I am not arguing with you; I am just trying to figure this out as I have no experience. If a brain dead person deteriorates rather quickly (the article says weeks in most cases, months in a few) and Jahi spent a month in the hospital WITHOUT all of the support/medication you mentioned above, how is there anything even left of her?? Or did I misunderstand and the CA hospital was giving her all of those medications to keep her going? I thought that was part of the whole fight in that they wouldn't do a feeding tube, antibiotics or other medication? If it takes so much effort to keep a brain dead person going, I don't understand how this girl is still "here" if she is brain dead and nothing overly extreme was being done during the first month?

They probably did all of her nutrition through iv such as TPN, I'm sure they gave her meds through her iv. She was probably vented through her mouth not via trach. I'm guessing she probably still has ivs. She probably now has a feeding tube which is a tube that is inserted through the abdomen and her vent is most likely a trach now.

 

[ronandannette]

They probably did all of her nutrition through iv such as TPN, I'm sure they gave her meds through her iv. She was probably vented through her mouth not via trach. I'm guessing she probably still has ivs. She probably now has a feeding tube which is a tube that is inserted through the abdomen and her vent is most likely a trach now.

I had been following along on an excellent thread on allnurses.com that pointed out that there is NO WAY her body could be absorbing nutrition through her stomach. Any food put in could not be digested and would pool and well, basically rot.

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

I had been following along on an excellent thread on allnurses.com that pointed out that there is NO WAY her body could be absorbing nutrition through her stomach. Any food put in could not be digested and would pool and well, basically rot.

Interesting. So why the fight for the feeding tube? And what is the belief of what is/has been done in regards to a feeding tube.

 

[nicolita3]

I had been following along on an excellent thread on allnurses.com that pointed out that there is NO WAY her body could be absorbing nutrition through her stomach. Any food put in could not be digested and would pool and well, basically rot.

I agree. I was just going by what the family is saying that they have done. If they are who knows what her abdominal cavity looks like since that court report posted earlier says she was expelling chunks of her intestines.

 

[ronandannette]

Interesting. So why the fight for the feeding tube? And what is the belief of what is/has been done in regards to a feeding tube.

According to the nurses on the other message board their only guesses were that it was part of the delusion the family seemed to be under, encouraged by the anti-transplant Doctor (Paul Byrne).

I agree. I was just going by what the family is saying that they have done. If they are who knows what her abdominal cavity looks like since that court report posted earlier says she was expelling chunks of her intestines.

I read through the on-line version of the court report and the doctor who wrote it definitely said that. She called it "sloughing of the gut" and many of the RN's on the other site sounded like they were quite familiar with it.

 

[Lisa_C]

Has anyone read the recent press about how Jahi is "turning on her side" and "turns to packnowledge people in the room"? When will these people understand that these are involuntary movements (I don't believe for SECOND that they are anywhere near as strong as they say either) and not because she is alive??
If these people truly believe open a deity, don't they realise she'll be looking down on her family telling them to let go by now - it just gets worse. And goodness knows what damage the feeding tube is going now, and I really don't understand they can say her skin is full of colour and in better shape then themselves. How much longer can this go on for?!!!

 

[Disneychick75]

Has anyone read the recent press about how Jahi is "turning on her side" and "turns to packnowledge people in the room"? When will these people understand that these are involuntary movements (I don't believe for SECOND that they are anywhere near as strong as they say either) and not because she is alive??
If these people truly believe open a deity, don't they realise she'll be looking down on her family telling them to let go by now - it just gets worse. And goodness knows what damage the feeding tube is going now, and I really don't understand they can say her skin is full of colour and in better shape then themselves. How much longer can this go on for?!!!

The family has facebook, twitter, and a website for donations for their brain dead daughter. Hate to be a skeptic but....

 

[carissa1970]

The family has facebook, twitter, and a website for donations for their brain dead daughter. Hate to be a skeptic but....

Still? I was just discussing this with friends yesterday. They didn't know anything about this story. I cannot believe this is still going on.

 

[hops&dreams]

My sister is a transplant coordinator, and we both have daughter's around this girl's age. We have discussed the case rather deeply, both from the mother's standpoint, and from a clinical standpoint.

While I feel for the family, I feel that they are being taken advantage of/manipulated to believe things that simply aren't true. No reputable medical professional would advise them to hold out hope that they will ever get their daughter "back." She is brain dead. She will never be anywhere close to the daughter they knew again. Sad, yes. True, yes.

I hate that there are people out there stringing them along, giving them hope. Because there is no hope. She is brain dead.

 

[cabanafrau]

My sister is a transplant coordinator, and we both have daughter's around this girl's age. We have discussed the case rather deeply, both from the mother's standpoint, and from a clinical standpoint.

While I feel for the family, I feel that they are being taken advantage of/manipulated to believe things that simply aren't true. No reputable medical professional would advise them to hold out hope that they will ever get their daughter "back." She is brain dead. She will never be anywhere close to the daughter they knew again. Sad, yes. True, yes.

I hate that there are people out there stringing them along, giving them hope. Because there is no hope. She is brain dead.

I'm not up on this case at all, but I thought the family was the one insisting she's improving, recovering, etc. and the hospital and other medical professionals said she's gone?

As far as the donation seeking, I'd imagine anything would be used to pay the bills they are accumulating now, not be able to be used by the family. Not to say they couldn't be taking any funds and spending them, leaving the bills unpaid.

 

[Disneychick75]

Still? I was just discussing this with friends yesterday. They didn't know anything about this story. I cannot believe this is still going on.

The Twitter and website donations pages are still open. I didn't see a link on the FB page.