What would you do if you went into a a brain dead state how long would you want to remain on life support?

Question

If you were to have a huge stroke and become brain dead, but be able to know your surroundings and not be able to move.

sitting their day after day, week after week, month after month, and year after year how long would you like to stay alive before they let you die?


Remember you are fully aware of your surroundings just unable to move any part of you no speaking, no moving, just blinking your eyes day in and day out

how long would you want to stay alive for your family and children

I know this belongs in the health section but i want to know from all stand points religious and atheist

brain-dead/vegetable sorry :)

Answer 1

I wouldn't want to continue living. What kind of life is that? Medical bills left for your family. Never being able to express your love. Nothing... Why would anyone do that to their family?

Answer 2

If someone has any awareness whatsoever of their surroundings, they are not "brain dead". Brain dead, as I understand it, was a term that was originally applied to such severe cases that there was no brain function beyond the basice stem which controls some involuntary functions. I am not a medical person, but have done quite a bit of reading on this topic. One of the best answeres I have ever heard came from a religious attorney who said that these kind of decisions shoudl never be made by people in the middle of a crisis. They need to be thought out and looked at from all angles and the decision made on an ethical and moral basis, not an emotional one.

If one were truly brain dead, there would be no decision to make and no reason to stay on life support. The term "vegatative state" is considered by some to be insulting. Nothing can ever happen to you to make you any less than human. You can never turn into a plant.

Now, for my opinion. When a person reaches the stage where the body is truly dying (not absorbing nutrition or hydration) and that state is continuing over several days, weeks, unable to be altered, it is time to unplug. Outside of that, removal of life support, such as breathing machines, etc (mechanical devices doing the bodiyly functions) needs to be a decision that was reached before the emergency happened, but, if not, the family, if not the patient, needs to make that decision along with input from doctors, ministers, etc.

Stopping nutrition and hydration are another topic entirely. Food and water are NOT articifical means of life support. Stop you food and water today and see how long you live. Babies can't provide this for themsleves, either, but we don't consider it above normal means to provide it for them.

After all our technology and education, there comes a time in everyone's life where we have to realize, we are not in control of everything. This is quite often one of those times. My own mother far outlived her expectations and spent the last 5 years of her nearly 90 yrs in a nursing home because her condition required care I was not physically able to give. She often asked, "Why am I here?" but never once tried to do anything to change her situation. It was very uncomfortable watching the changes that came over her in the last years. I would not give up one day of that. Families often need time beyond what one would think the patient needs. Unbelievable healing, growth, etc, can take place in family members and in caretakers during this "last days" process that sometimes takes years. It is not wise for us to play "boss" and try to make decisions that will put us back into control. Sometimes we don't belong in control.

Answer 3

It is reasonable to believe that a human brain transplant will eventually be possible. I believe some research has been done transplanting monkey heads. Though there is a fair amount of mind body interaction, current scientific theory holds that MOST of what you would call a mind or soul resides within the brain. So if your brain was transplanted into a body with higher levels of testosterone, your 'personality' might experience increased sexual interest, but you certainly would not 'remember' the face of your host body's lover. Occam warns us not to establish plurality without necessity. If the physical brain seems to contain the mechanism for the generation of self, one should resist the notion of a transcendent 'soul' existing without the brain, unless forced to do so by observable data. So if a coma patients physical brain is damaged, the data (aka soul) it contains would be accordingly compromised. If some failure of the original body, was causing brain malfunction, but not brain damage, one would expect a transplant to a healthy body to restore proper brain function, & cosequently the 'person' contained therein.

Answer 4

Ah, I see you've corrected yourself about being brain-dead.

If I were brain dead, I'd say preserve my life for 3 days. After that, pull the plug.

If I were a vegetable, then I'd want to be alive. There may be a cure around the corner. Besides, I'd still be able to get visits from people.

Answer 5

If the doctors determine I am brain-dead, no sign of brain activity, and no hope for recovery, then I would definitely want my family to let me go. As soon as they are ready to say goodbye, retrieve all my viable organs and let me go, within a couple days for sure. The last thing I would ever want is to be a burden to them.

Answer 6

Brain dead means no brain waves what-so-ever. You only live thru automatic electrical impulses from your brain stem. You are completely unaware of anything around you. What you are referring to is being in a vegetative state.

Either way I would want someone to put a pillow over my head as quickly as possible.

Answer 7

One week so people could say their goobyes. Theres no reason to be alive and you really arent anyway if youre brain dead

Answer 8

Which states are brain dead?
Could you list them and then I'll decide.

PS You aren't brain dead if you are aware of your surroundings, so your Q is moot.

Answer 9

you mean become a vegetable? that's not exactly the same as being brain-dead.... but i think that if i were like that, it would only be a burden to my family, so i'd rather die.

Answer 10

I'd just want them to cut me loose, and let my family get on with their lives.