Facts About Vegetative and Minimally Conscious States After Severe Brain Injury

My father is in Vegetative Stage now...2 months of unconsciousness..he had a diabetes for many years, badly brain damage from unable to control sugar level ...I am still hoping for the miracle ...wishing for recovery ...

Hi ,my wife is 35 and she had a bad stroke on April 1st 2014 she is currently fighting for life on life support,its been almost a year now and we just discovered that she has a huge hole in her brain, the drs said that she will never recover from this they also said to pull the plug. i refused being that god is above all,and his ways is better then ours,till this day my wife remains on life support at a nursing home,she's unable to respond to anything,just opening of her eyes but the dr says she's in a vegetative state,,,,,please pray for her and my two boys elijah n tyrefr....we are deeply saddened but we're remaining strong in god,no matter which way it goes...god is good,trust faith and believe,,,,,,

My daughter in law just passed away on Wednesday. She was found unconscious and not breathing the Wednesday before after suffering a seizure. She was hospitalized in nuero trauma icu. Her health directive was no artificial life support. Her life support was removed and she went to heaven surrounded by family 20 minutes later.

My brother sugar had dropped to 40 and he went I to a coma after 4 days he opened his eyes he has said very few words like ouch and yes.and moves his head and arm occasionally. Will he get better? What is going on? Anybody familiar with the symptoms?

My wife of 26 years suffered an anoxic brain injury after a witnessed arrest and CPR. Hypothermic protocol followed. To make a long story short, she emerged from a coma, a vegetative state to a minimally conscious state. Maybe even better as she was able to do math flash cards, speak (simple words), follow commands, squeeze hands, wiggle toes etc. The appalling thing is that the hospital staff decided to do "nothing curative" as they basically gave up. The recommended protocols are just an illusion if you don't have big money. They moved to sedate her with morphine and "sell" me on her vegetative state. She passed away because they refused to address her underlying cardiac needs. This is such a tragedy as she was aware that she was targeted for euthanasia. I can't imagine what she was thinking as she lay dying for lack of a simple cardiac intervention. Was this an unusual experience or are anyone else experiencing this callous denial of care? I'd be glad to discuss this with anyone who would like to talk about it with me. 

        Mark Jarnot

​        505 Elmwood Ave. Apt 8H

        Buffalo, NY 14222

Send me a letter with your phone number and I will promise to call you and share my experiences and possibly help your loved one navigate these treacherous medical waters. There are things that can be done. No one but God has the ultimate answers, certainly not a doctor. If he acts like he is God ask him to forgive your sins or stop the wind. Ultimately you have to accept the outcome and embrace your loved one with unconditional love, regardless of the degree of progress made. Stay strong and don't capitulate to the hospital administrations prognosis. God calls the shots, not the accountants. Don't let your loved ones life slip away to disregard for precious human life. You have to take action to combat these well oiled death machines. God bless you and your loved one and feel free to contact me.

                                            Mark

Brother had a brain tumor size of lemon. Neuro- Surgeon operated the following day after diagnosis. We went from a possible droopy eye and left side of face to a coma. Never waking up after surgery. This article helped me tremendously. We try to get all the information possible through the surgeon and now after the surgery is not as compassionate to our family or seems less confident in providing the family information. I will always seek a second opinion after all my brother and family have been through. Praying everyday to have him back to normal or that he even wakes up. This guy was ordering a pepsi an hour and 2 meals at a time the day before the surgery and now nothing.

Very informative...I pray my 29 yr old son progresses to a good recovery.  I also pray for everyone who is going through a brain injury. It has been six months since his vehicle accident.  He was diagnosed with diffuse axonal injury with multiple fractures.  I believe he may be in the minimally conscious state.  He can occasionally give a thumbs up, but doesn't lift his arms. He also looks at me slowly when I tell him to, He moves his right leg a lot...not sure if this is spasticity or not, and he has no movement on his left side.  If anyone has any advice please email me at scttethridge@yahoo.com  Praying and hoping 

This morning my son Asim told me that our company CEO got heart attack in Dubai but shocking news was that he went in coma. I am in Jeddah. Immediately I left for umera prayed for him and for other patients as well. May Allah almighty give them health. Ameen.

My 45 year old husband of 26 years married the love of my life. He had a massive heart attack and while they worked on him for over 25min he lost blood flow to the brain. Now they give me little hope. He's in a vegetative stage. But the Dr's aren't God and my heart is hurting so bad that I can't even breathe at times. I pray for everyone going thru this because I never knew there could be so much pain. No matter I will praise God thru it all. I find my boys 25 and 20 to be my rocks along with family. Leaning on them truly helps.

Very informative article.. My sister is 20 yes old and suffer an anoxic brain injury from the loss of oxygen. Her air ways collapsed after a week of chemotherapy from leukemia, this happened 12/23/13. Although we have heard nothing but negativity, I am believing God for a recovery in her health. She has been in a vegetative state since last December..

My Mom is in Coma since 1st August 2014, after having the MRI Scan done we got to know the Final Diagnosis as Basilar Artery Thrombosis with Bilateral Cerebellar Infarct and Right PCA Infarct. I understand these are multiple brain clots which occur as we did not precautionary measures in regards to blood pressures , never had check up for blood pressure regularly. Please pray for my mom and advice in regards to her speedy recovery from coma.  Anand Pillay 9922617714.

My thoughts and prayers go out to all the family and friends of people in a coma or vegetative state. My brother in law, Eric is 54 years old and he is in a permanent vegetative state after a liver transplant. He had been diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver a year ago. On his last hospital visit with an encelopathy episode (which is where ammonia backs up into his brain); he lapsed into a coma. He was transferred to another hospital to await a liver transplant. On transport he suffered a stroke , and remained in the coma state. The Doctors decided to proceed with the liver transplant as he was in a severely declining state. We asked why they would give a new liver to him when he was comatose and they said he would die without it. 

He remained in a coma after the operation. We were told he might possibly come out of it once the new liver kicked in. We noticed positive health changes almost immediately. However, he was still comatose. Then he was put on dialysis because his kidneys were failing. He had several MRI's, CT scans and other exploratory procedures. Every week there was something different that needed attention.

After a few weeks he opened his eyes. But there was no tracking or response to stimulation. Nothing really has changed in 4 months. He was transferred to a sub-acute hospital. And has had to return to the transplant hospital on subsequent occasions.

My sister and I feel he would not want to be in this condition. His family is on opposite ideals. They keep saying he wanted his liver transplant more than anything so he would be able to live a fuller life with his family. I believe life expectancy for liver transplants is only 5 years in most cases. The family keeps saying things like, "Oh...he moves his hands. He can move his head. etc. Once my sister and I played a song by the Beach Boys and we noticed a single tear in his eye. We hoped it was in response to the song which used to be one of his favorites. But we have been told he is just having normal reflexes and is not conscious of his actions. 

Eric was a champion wrestler. He was supposed to go to the Olympics the year President Carter cancelled USA involvement in the games. He has always been a loving and kind man. I know he indeed did everything possible by the book to be able to receive his liver transplant. But I can also say for sure he would not want to be in a vegetative state and unable to function. No one would.

I guess my main question is in regards to the patient's state of being. Are they in a deep sleep of nothingness? Or is their spirit caught between two worlds...one where they are in a hospital bed , unable to communicate to their loved ones and the Doctors...or are they halfway in the next dimension? I would prefer to believe Eric is in Heaven, hanging out with his Mother and his favorite dogs. 

May God Bless each one of you. You are warriors for your loved ones.

I'm 17 and a childhood friend of mine was ejected from a car while riding home from beach week.. It has only been a few days but she still hasn't woke up.. Praying for her and her family. You can do this girl.

My brother aged 60,suffered a massive stroke and has been in a minimally conscious  state for almost a year. I am sad he is no longer who he was, no amount of medical care has helped. Our family cannot believe doctors failed to clearly explain his status for a real future. He is clearly suffering and would not want to be "Preserved" like some experiment. I think he will live in this horrible state for many years to come. It is wrong! There needs to be some way to release him from his misery.

Im gonna say an angel has been by my friends side. She has been in a deep coma for 108 days, she is now moving her hands and lifting her head. I am so excited.

This was veer helpful.  Thank. You

My husband had a removal of a brain tunour December 2012. Unfortunately he was taken to a ward postop and not ITU as expected following major brain op. The op was successful but the following morning was put on life support due to brain swelling. He was then rushed to theatre to have a craniotomy. He has been diagnosed as the minimally conscious patient. Unfortunately when he was transferred to our local hospital because he didn't score high on assessments he was deemed non rehabitable and I was told that he would go to a home. Through sheer determination and fight I managed to get my husband into a specialist rehab centre.He has been there a few weeks and already making progress albeit slow. I too pray for a miracle and through my journey I've seen a few so never ever give up.

My mom (75 yrs old) was found unconscious at home a week ago. We believe that she lay there unconscious for probably a good part of the day. The paramedics were able to give her something to kind of bring her out of it and once at the hospital we found out that her kidneys were failing due to rhabdomyolysis(break down of muscle releasing toxins into the blood stream). After many test we learned she had a small stroke. She was in and out of consciousness and was able to recognize and speak with us for brief moments. Several days later she had another stroke and she has been in a vegetative state since(4days now). Her eyes opened 5 times yesterday but did not focus and there has been slight movement but no awareness that we are there, no following of commands etc...Wed..her lung collapsed due to pneumonia and they had to place her on a ventilator. I am beside myself with worry and don't know if the movement and eye opening we are seeing is actually her trying to wake up or involuntary. I feel for all of you who are in a similar situation with loved ones and I will pray for healing for all of them.

Thank you for this very informative, great article!!!

My daughter went into a coma from low blood sugar in her sleep, and is still unresponsive after 4 months--any one out there know of any other person ever going into a comatose state from diabetes