Required Reading for Anybody Commenting on “Persistent Vegetative States”

The required reading is from MaxedOutMama:

She could be me, honestly. Good God, I looked at the YouTube video, and we even look somewhat alike.

I have been unable to speak, paralyzed, blind and a drooler, which she is not. She looks to be in somewhat better condition than I was at my worst.

I had the swallowing problem, but I can assure you that I now eat by myself. I was illiterate, but now I'm not. I was extremely, awesomely, incapacitated, but now I'm not.

The diagnosis of PVS is not a medical reality. Given time, many people in this condition will improve. Given time, some of them will return to a state indistinguishable from that of a person who was never a drooler.

My belief, having been there and done this, is that very few people in PVS are actually unconscious. The video posted makes me think that Lauren cannot be. There is very good medical evidence to support this idea. Every time someone does a study they find that those who survive do in fact have a lot of brain activity. Especially with therapy, many of these people regain the ability to communicate. The more studies reveal this to be true, the less the studies are done. We are coming up with unpleasant answers to the questions we ask.