Brain Death

[Crispin]

continued from other thread:

offf topic: Wow! With a compromised brain stem you are a miracle. The 10th cranial nerve is the vagus nerve, responsible for controlling your heart beat. When that gets knocked out the sino-atrial node takes over at 60 beats per minute. When that goes the atrio-ventricular node takes over around 40 beats a minute. When that goes the last resort is ventricular contractions at about 20 beats a minute (which will not last very long.)

Theta waves are equivalent to being in Stage III of sleep. (Four stages, then REM) At Stage III you are not responding to any external stimuli and the brain is not dreaming. Dreams don't start until stage IV.

Were you on a ventilator? The respiratory control center is just above the brainstem. If that got taken out and you survived then you are truly exceptional.

No deep pain response means you had spinal compromise as well, hence the "locked-in."

Nowadays, "locked-in" means that you have cognitive awareness. Meaning you can hear, smell, think, and see, but cannot express anything. The most common form of locked in comes from a basilar stroke. At that level everything below cranial nerve IV is taken out. Cranial nerves III and IV are responsible for eye movement, so these people can still communicate by moving their eyes. Stephen Hawking invented a machine to track their eye movements and give them a voice.

Seems like you have some residual frontal lobe damage, lol. Just kidding, that is a neuro joke. You are one of those medical marvels people see on tv.

Crispin

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

A Handbook of Civil War Bullets and Cartridges - Grab it through Amazon!

[bigscoop]

Interesting. A lot of content in your post.

 

[releventchair]

Reb,what of waves? No disrespect but i don,t remember your monitored stats.

 

[Crispin]

Waves are monitored via EEG. He originally said that he had theta waves. Any shorter amplitude waves would automatically be eliminated as they only occur in conscious or semi-conscious states. Longer amplitude waves would imply significant cortical activity. If that were the case then he would probably have some vague recollection of a dream state. Most comas sit in theta wave. Sounds about right.

 

[Rebel - KGC]

Waves are monitored via EEG. He originally said that he had theta waves. Any shorter amplitude waves would automatically be eliminated as they only occur in conscious or semi-conscious states. Longer amplitude waves would imply significant cortical activity. If that were the case then he would probably have some vague recollection of a dream state. Most comas sit in theta wave. Sounds about right.

CORRECT; "I" WAS on a Ventilator AND! Tube-feeding for 2 1/2 months... are YOU a Neuro Doc? "I, Me, Mine" Consciousness (I/M/M C) was ELSEWHERE; didn't give rat's arse, what was happening to "my" body. Wife's web-site for HER side of the "adventure" @ www.hopenetwork.centralva.net have to look for it. MAY be BUSY, and you can't "get on"... so, "google" it.

 

[Rebel - KGC]

Must be a "block" on her web-site... dunno. Any more questions? No...?
I have one for you, Crispin'... As "Doc, what is YOUR specialtry? Are YOU...Neuro? I LOVE Brain Science...

 

[Crispin]

Rebel: Let me know when the website is available, I would like to take a look at it. What part of central VA and which hospital were you in? I spent four years studying neuroscience at UVA, Mr. Jefferson's University, the best college in the world.

Two and a half months on a vent is a loooong time. Complications like pneumonia and strokes are common. Your body must have been pretty deconditioned when you came out of it. Do you remember what your creatine phosphokinase was when you awoke? Also, I would be curious to see if your lactate dehydrogenase was elevated. How long were you in rehab for? One more question, you said that you were shocked awake, how? Did they do ECT? I have never heard of ECT being used for that...of course, that doesn't mean it hasn't been. A lot of things have happened that I haven't heard about.

I prefer not to openly reveal my speciality. There are some pretty closed minded people with very negative opinions about medicine on this forum. I don't want to be a lightening rod for their attacks. Lets just say that I am board certified in two different areas and you would be pretty hard pressed to find somebody on this website that knows a lot more about neurology then me. I'm sure there are people that know more then I do on this site...just not A LOT more.

Crispin

 

[Rebel - KGC]

Very good, then... UVA Hospital was WHERE I had my "EXPERIENCE"l You may know Dr. N. F. Kassell, who "saved" "my" "life, in the PHYSICAL body". MY Medical Records are THERE... BTW,
I DID have a stroke, & pneumonia; and other "complications", with the PHYSICAL BODY... BUT!
In the SPIRITUAL WORLD, where I/M/M C was... NO PROBLEM. Here is a MAGIC WORD...
DURAL ARTERIOVENOUS MALFORMATION. Others to follow...

Physical body deconditioned? LOL! Lost @ 40 pounds... BUT! Gained 1/2" in height, I am now, 6' tall; weight back up to @ 190 pounds (ate LOTS of Ice Cream... (LOL!)

NOT ECT; the "paddles" on the heart...

 

[Crispin]

Wow! You survived a ruptured AVM? Most people either get those repaired, never know they have them, or just drop dead suddenly. Do you know where it was? I am guessing you had massive hemmorhage into the subdural. I assisted on a couple of craniectomies to evacuate subdural bleeds. I was not one of them, but the surgeons doing it were some of the best neurosurgeons in the country. I can't remember any of those people making a recovery. I also helped in some burr hole surgeries with catheter placement for drainage...but most of those got converted to open craniotomy.

 

[Rebel - KGC]

REHAB? @ 6 months... in "Step-Down" Unit at hospital in Richmond, Va. (not MCV... the other one), AND! Out Patient at Blue Ridge Hospital (UVA); BRH/UVA videoed me doing PT in a wheel chair; not in one, now.
You would have to check M.R. for answers to your "Medical Questions"... FANCY wording, there; HA! Wife had to buy & carry around medical dictionaries to "understand" "NEURO-SPEAK"; ppl thought she was a Med. Student... LOL!

 

[Rebel - KGC]

Wow! You survived a ruptured AVM? Most people either get those repaired, never know they have them, or just drop dead suddenly. Do you know where it was? I am guessing you had massive hemmorhage into the subdural. I assisted on a couple of craniectomies to evacuate subdural bleeds. I was not one of them, but the surgeons doing it were some of the best neurosurgeons in the country. I can't remember any of those people making a recovery. I also helped in some burr hole surgeries with catheter placement for drainage...but most of those got converted to open craniotomy.

YEP! BAD "blood bleed" - Brain Stem; wasn't suppose to be "invasive"... but was; had brain swelling; Burr Holes. MEANWHILE; felt NOTHING... I/M/M C was "OUT"...
ANOTHER "Magic Word"... NIDUS

 

[Crispin]

I'm glad you made such a remarkable recovery. I can gaurantee there were quite a few "grand rounds" about you. I almost went to med school at MCV but decided on a different one. I'm sure that your 'case' has contributed to future development and learning on how to treat these types of things. Good thing you were at a learning hospital like UVA...easily one of the best neurosurgical units in the country.

 

[Rebel - KGC]

You know... Title of O.P. is "BRAIN DEATH"; here is a MYSTERY for you... the BRAIN is part of the PHYSICAL BODY, and it DOES die (Brain)... BUT! NEWS FLASH... "SHOCKER coming"... "WE" don't die! "WE" are TRANSFORMED; HARD to explain... BUT! ("Spart", is THIS your "Weather Report Warning"? You must be PSYCHIC!... LOL!) "WE" are Spirits having HUMAN experiences; want to read of a neurosurgeon's experience? Dr. Eben Alexander (MD), who teaches at UVA, I think... "google" his name.

 

[Crispin]

Rebel: I agree with you. I have spent a lot of time thinking about what you did a great job summing up on. One thing that has always puzzled me is why people refer to ending relationships as "breaking a heart" or "heavy heart." When people are depressed they often describe it as chest pain or pressure on their heart. Ever wonder why nobody ever says, "She broke his lungs," or people don't have a "heavy kidney." Prior to the invention of a radio it would have been insanity to propose that radio waves exist and are everywhere around us. You would have been accused of heresy and locked into an institution.

There are so many things about the human body that scientists cannot explain. I am an expert on the brain and I consider myself to know very little about it. I like the concept of the soul, not too different from that of the spirit. When it comes to explaining death and the continued existence of the soul I can sum it up briefly, "I have seen enough to know that I have seen too much."

Crisp

 

[Rebel - KGC]

MY response is simple... HEAVY hearts bc only in this realm of EXISTENCE, do "WE" NEED a heart (so do animals); "There"? NO need of a PHYSICAL Body... we are just "GLOBES of LIGHT" that CAN "project out" a "bodily image" for "identification purposes"... sorta like fireflies in a Bell-Jar. I "wrote" about all this in Psychic/Paranormal/Medium "forum"... go there. HERE, the BRAIN is like a RECEIVER in a radio/TV; I had 1 1/2 years at Blue Ridge Community College - Electronic Tech... built a radio; so I KNOW. AND! ALSO like a computer in "data storage" (memories)... bordering on Religion now, may have to stop... SOUL is our INDIVIDUAL spiritual attribute; SPIRIT is the "wider" broadcasting network. WHO/WHAT are YOU attuned to/tune into. That's my "BUDDHIST" part...
BTW, I have a BS in Psychology, MINOR in Religion, M.Ed. in Counseling (JMU); prior to work in VA DOC, I was in the "Disability" field, as Job Placement Counselor for VA DRS, Senior Peer Counselor for Independent Living Program at Woodrow Wilson Rehab. Center (LOTS of various disabilities!), Community Relations Co-Ord. for Independence Rehab. Center in Ch'ville, Va. (MISS those years in Ch'ville!). I was a "rabid" Disability Rights Advocate.

 

[Crispin]

My hat off to you sir. You work in a difficult field but a very important one. Somebody on TNET took a cheap shot on social workers Friday night...I let em have it for you and all the good people that work in that field. I try to stay away from the paranormal forum...not really my bag, baby. your brief explanation of spirit sounds like ideas proposed by Edgar Casey. I specifically like his work in the dream field and contacting the deceased. I grew up in Virginia Beach, the Edgar Casey museum is at the oceanfront.

I don't think we are getting into religion. We are both open minded enough to avoid specifics. A problem will come if an outside poster gets involved with fervor. I studied buddhism for a time. It took me a long time to understand "Life is suffering." Although, when I got...I got it. I like the tenets immensely but it has a tendancy to isolate from others. Which is fine if applicable, but difficult for me. Frequently, when I am at my most stressed, I go back to basic Buddhist principles.

 

[Rebel - KGC]

I always went to "The Foundation" in Va. Beach (on vacation or conferences); the library there is AWESOME! LOVE the A.R.E. ppl; went to several conferences "down there" (was living in Ch'ville at the time...). Buddhism is a "Way of Life"; unlike Judaism. They BOTH focus on SUFFERING. Did you know Dr. Robert Van de Castle and the Sleep/Dream Lab at UVA? GREAT guy, in a frigging trailer... he needed more space. AND! Edgar Cayce was also a GREAT guy; humble...etc.

 

[Crispin]

Rebel: I studied in Charlottesville almost ten years after your affliction. I had little interaction with the big shot MDs as I had yet gone to medical school. I knew all of the doctors of psychology and assisted in their research labs. I would love to go back and study more at UVA but I find my responsibilities to be elsewhere.

 

[Rebel - KGC]

Yeah, it happens... I ALMOST went to UVA; older bro is 1965 grad - UVA. Was gonna get into Parapsychology (now, known as Division of Perceptual Studies)... HA! Didn't care for their Re-incarnation stuff (Dr. Ian Stevenson); don't believe in that "crap"... ANYWAY, James Madison University in the Shenandoah Valley was good enough; I was a "day student"; on the Dean's List, a few times... working on my M.Ed.

 

[Crispin]

JMU is a great university. I have a lot of friends who graduated from there. Keep working hard, good luck to you, my friend.