Monday, January 13, 2020

Scott's Law



I never outright said the name Scott Routley, but I remember the case. I referred to it. I referred to a man in Canada.  



I was surprised to get a message regarding him.


__________________________





Routely was a man in Canada who was in a vegetative state. 




                                 
Mr Routley suffered a severe brain injury in a car accident 12 years ago.



None of his physical assessments since then have shown any sign of awareness, or ability to communicate.

But the British neuroscientist Prof Adrian Owen - who led the team at the Brain and Mind Institute, University of Western Ontario - said Mr Routley was clearly not vegetative.
"Scott has been able to show he has a conscious, thinking mind. We have scanned him several times and his pattern of brain activity shows he is clearly choosing to answer our questions. We believe he knows who and where he is."
https://www.bbc.com/news/health-20268044

Scott Routley passed away in September 2013.

_______________________________________________



I taught myself to speak in order to say "No." Removal of the feeding tube is a big issue, but it wasn't this surgery that was planned for me. It was something else, and it really doesn't matter what it was for. I  think I surprised people. I blurted out "No." 

I remember the doctor and the Physical Therapist, PT, trying to change my mind. The name of the surgery didn't sound bad and it would have helped in the short-term. I  was thinking long-term, though. I'm not supposed to be alive now. They wouldn't have known this. Ask a PT now. They'd say I said the right thing.

What matters is that I said no. Surgery to remove the feeding tube is the same. It's a person's wishes, not the type of surgery that matters. The ventilator can also be included.



______________________




I never taught myself to swallow. I didn't know I was supposed to. It sounds like I should have been given speech therapy. Medicaid does not provide speech to those not conscious. The diagnosis "vegetative" says the person is not conscious. I'm not conscious. I don't get Speech.

For the same reason... I'm not conscious... my feeding tube can be removed. Of course, I'll say "No" and that can't happen.


_______________________________________________



Recently, JohnAllman.UK contacted me. He authored Scott's Law:  Talk to me, don't just starve me to death!




There is a movement in his country to stop the practice of removing the feeding tube to hasten death. This movement just isn't in this country, but many others.



The big deal will be determining consciousness. This is what people need to watch with me. I am yet to be determined conscience. A feeding tube can't be removed from a conscious person. Mine can't if I say "No." That's not feasible for the non-vocal.

I should be conscious because I write this, right? Well, no. I'm not conscious because I don't swallow.


Accept the writing, gestures and brain scans. That's a start. Nothing happens until this occurs. It's the person's wishes that matter.


2 comments:

  1. I am so glad you blogged this.

    If that was offered to you, Would you like to participate in research aimed at enabling you to communicate in words, by thinking sentences and having your brainwaves read, in addition to one-fingered typing? The research by Dr Lawrence Pinneo proved that this was possible, using EEG and/or MEG data.

    The only problem might be privacy. You wouldn't necessarily be able to stop them reading thoughts you didn't want them to read, as well as the thoughts you wanted them to read. I dare say that that's why, since 1975, the USA's Department of Defence hasn't published any further research that built on the foundations Pinneo laid in 1975.

    You (or anybody interested) can find a link to relevant reasearch on

    http://Slavery.org.uk/science.htm

    ReplyDelete
  2. No thought to text program.I have enough strength to write. When I don't have strength, I can still speak, as awful as that is. Watch the video in the link. This happened. If I can't speak, writing doesn't matter. https://thoughtfulveg.blogspot.com/2019/08/late-night-comment.html

    ReplyDelete