New research into the dying brain suggests the line between life and death may be less distinct than previously thought
Patient One was 24 years old and pregnant with her third child when she was taken off life support. It was 2014. A couple of years earlier, she had been diagnosed with a disorder that caused an irregular heartbeat, and during her two previous pregnancies she had suffered seizures and faintings. Four weeks into her third pregnancy, she collapsed on the floor of her home. Her mother, who was with her, called 911. By the time an ambulance arrived, Patient One had been unconscious for more than 10 minutes. Paramedics found that her heart had stopped.
After being driven to a hospital where she couldn’t be treated, Patient One was taken to the emergency department at the University of Michigan. There, medical staff had to shock her chest three times with a defibrillator before they could restart her heart. She was placed on an external ventilator and pacemaker, and transferred to the neurointensive care unit, where doctors monitored her brain activity. She was unresponsive to external stimuli, and had a massive swelling in her brain. After she lay in a deep coma for three days, her family decided it was best to take her off life support. It was at that point – after her oxygen was turned off and nurses pulled the breathing tube from her throat – that Patient One became one of the most intriguing scientific subjects in recent history.
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In the moments after Patient One was taken off oxygen, there was a surge of activity in her dying brain. Areas that had been nearly silent while she was on life support suddenly thrummed with high-frequency electrical signals called gamma waves. In particular, the parts of the brain that scientists consider a “hot zone” for consciousness became dramatically alive. In one section, the signals remained detectable for more than six minutes. In another, they were 11 to 12 times higher than they had been before Patient One’s ventilator was removed.
“As she died, Patient One’s brain was functioning in a kind of hyperdrive,” Borjigin told me. For about two minutes after her oxygen was cut off, there was an intense synchronisation of her brain waves, a state associated with many cognitive functions, including heightened attention and memory. The synchronisation dampened for about 18 seconds, then intensified again for more than four minutes. It faded for a minute, then came back for a third time.
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I gotta say my takeaway from this is completely different than anyone else’s.
Why the fuck would you continue having kids when you know being pregnant causes severe medical issues?
I honestly wish I could understand the drive to procreate despite knowing that doing so could fucking kill you
A lot of women are still taught from a young age that much of their identity should be being a mother. And some of them (usually highly religious) are taught that it is worth dying to be a mother to multiple children.
The fact that we as a species are still here and currently living in a society with things like the internet indicates two things:
The drive to procreate is powerful
That drive often overrides a lot of rational thought - I mean have you met our society?
I only have one child, because she tried to kill me.
Going through the complications, the hospitalizations, the stress on my marriage, the fear and the sorrow and the anxiety… At the time it was all devastating. But then I held my healthy, beautiful daughter and I knew we had both survived it all. There was, of course, the natural biological rush of hormones and happy chemicals to ease labor and promote bonding. For me though, there was also a feeling of invincibility and adrenaline, like I had survived jumping off a cliff after a long tortuous hike to the top of a mountain. I don’t know how else to describe it.
Sure it could have killed me, but it didn’t!
Then factor in that for any woman, people will always ask when are you having another one? Peers at Mommy and Me, family members, old ladies at the grocery store, it’a a deeply personal decision and people treat it like chatting about the weather. Other Mom’s would tell me their birth stories and say but ‘it was all so worth the pain’ and I’d think, maybe I’m a wuss. Maybe I’m not as good of a mother as they are.
Think, too, of all the other stupid shit humans do that might kill them. Have you ever smoked a cigarette? Do you drink? Cross the street without waiting for the traffic signal? Drive or ride in a car? And if so, what did you get out of it? You could have risked your life, or someone else’s, for nothing.
These women are risking their lives, but they’ve survived this ordeal before. And in return, they bring a new life into the world!
I still wouldn’t do it again, but I can’t blame any mother who does.
I don’t think you’re an hero for bringing a new life into this dumpster fire of a world
Lol my exact thoughts plus has she thought about what if they get any health issues because of her condition ?
Whenever I bring up shit like that everyone claims me of being a eugenicist.
I just don’t understand wanting kids so bad you’re willing to set them up for the same life you have trauma from.
Exactly that is really selfish also people having kids in war torn or starving countries .
My sister nearly died during her first pregnancy. She went on to have two more. When I asked her why, she shrugged and said “well, I get a kid out of it.”
That’s sorta intensely selfish. Having a second kid outweighs the idea of leaving your other kid without a mom and a partner without their partner. Like the mom from this story who now left 2 kids without their mom.
She used to chew my lego, too.
Just the one?
Also third child at 24, when you don’t even know what life is yet
If you havnt had children you will never know and this applied to me as well as anyone else.
To me now: I have a love for them so much I would die to protect them, they are my legacy and life has far more meaning with them in it now.
I understand her reasoning completely.
Yeah but that’s all the reason for her not to do this. She left her other kids without a mother because she wanted more kids. It was extremely selfish and I feel sorry for her kids.
You left out the biggest assumption, you assumed she knew it was fatal, fainting is very common in pregnancy for a lot of reasons. Take away this assumption and it makes sense.
She was diagnosed, and it had to do with her heart. She knew the risk of pregnancy. It’s not an assumption, it’s right there in the article.
Again with the assumptions, you dont know when at what point. First trimester fainting is very common making it easy to dismiss and miss diagnose.
Did you read the post? She was diagnosed with a heart issue. She had seizures, that’s not common. What am I assuming?
You seem to be purposefully ignoring whole sentences in the post.
No.
I read the article unlike you. Not 3rd hand interpretation.
She had been through 2 other pregnancies successfully giving birth with the experience of non fatal complication.
Their is a lot of assumption all around here. What this thread and my comment is trying to convey is some form of reason as to WHY. Something no one can answer except her ultimately.
But my god are we all armchair experts with hindsight….
I didn’t read it? Another amazing assumption. She had seizures. That happened. Jesus Christ.
If you actually read it you would have read the first paragraph.
"Patient One was 24 years old and pregnant with her third child when she was taken off life support. It was 2014. A couple of years earlier, she had been diagnosed with a disorder that caused an irregular heartbeat, and during her two previous pregnancies she had suffered seizures and faintings. "
Diagnosed with irregular heartbeat and had seizures during her last two pregnancies. There risk there is SUPER obvious. The why doesn’t matter, what she did was selfish. Her two kids now have no mother because she wanted a third one.
But by having more children she has died and left her other kids without a mother. What is the point of risking that to create another life when you would be abandonung your previous children. This is not dying to protect your living children, I would do that for mine, this is gambling your life to have more kids which is an important distinction.
You left out the biggest assumption, you assumed she knew it was fatal, fainting is very common in pregnancy for a lot of reasons
But seizures are not common, which is the word before fainting in that sentence