Half her brain removed from a 6 year old - what will her life become?!
Question: For any Health Care Professionals:
After reading this report:
"A 6-year-old girl from Aledo, Texas, is set to have half (right side) of her brain removed, called a hemispherectomy, to combat a life-threatening disorder."
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,3472...
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/...
...certainly prompts one to theorize what this young girl and her parents might expect as anything closely resembling a quality of life.
How cognizant will she be of things going on around her?
How responsive will she be to stimuli?
Will everything need to be done for her?
Just what would her prognosis be?
Answers: For any Health Care Professionals:
After reading this report:
"A 6-year-old girl from Aledo, Texas, is set to have half (right side) of her brain removed, called a hemispherectomy, to combat a life-threatening disorder."
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,3472...
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/...
...certainly prompts one to theorize what this young girl and her parents might expect as anything closely resembling a quality of life.
How cognizant will she be of things going on around her?
How responsive will she be to stimuli?
Will everything need to be done for her?
Just what would her prognosis be?
I had heard of this procedure before, and just wanted to confirm what I remembered learning about it in nursing school. But, apparently, according to studies children are entirely functional after having this surgery. They also do this surgery to treat severe epilepsy. It seems as if neither function, or intelligence is adversely effected in most patients. Very interesting, and I'm not entirely sure how it's possible... but I have included a link below for you to read about the studies.
Poor little baby...
wow. do we really have the right to take away the quality of someones life, forever? would death be better? i pray for this poor girl.
depends which parts are removed.
There are instances of brain injury up to 50% where the personal have lived a normal healthy life.
The brain is quite resilient in young people. Other parts of the brain have the ability to take over for the missing parts.
Well, there will be definate deficits for this girl. Her being young is a benefit, as she can teach her body to do things without that part of her brain. Neurologists are finding more and more out about the brain and nerves, they find a way to cope.
I hope and pray that this girl recovers and can resume a life without regrets from her parents.
Memory will be reduced, speech and hearing will be affected, and she will need some intense physical therapy.
A Life is better than No Life, even if it is less than what it may be expected. This is delving into the realm of euthanasia, a very tricky subject. How do determine who should live or die, because living may cause them more pain and trouble than in death. This can be diffucult enough to decide for someone who has become comatose for a prolonged period of time. But what about someone who is still alive, this is something someone else cannot decide for them. The individual will have to choose for themselves whether to live or die, ultimately this will be their choice, not for any of us to decide upon their behalf.
I heard of that happening before, and they live a normal life..God Bless her..