Such exciting news: Scientists in Canada and Europe have discovered another effective use for an EEG (electroencephalogram)…to test for whether or not a person, in what doctors call “a persistent vegetative state”, are still “in there.”
The EEG can detect awareness.
Prof. Adrian Owen and Dr. Damian Cruse, from the University of Western Ontario’s Brain and Mind Institute, asked 16 persistently vegetative patients in Europe to imagine moving and squeezing their right-hand and toes. They then measured their brain activity and compared it to 12 healthy patients who were asked to do the same thing. What they found was stunning.
“In our first pilot study using the technology, we’ve shown that 20 per cent of these patients aren’t vegetative at all but are in fact conscious and aware.”
Three of the 16 patients could repeatedly and reliably generate appropriate EEG responses to the commands, despite appearing entirely unresponsive.
“We can conclude that they understood the instructions that we were giving to them and that they were carrying out these mental operations purely by using their brains,” Owen said.
Wouldn’t it be great if the use of an EEG allowed “locked in” patients to engage in two-way communication…by asking simple yes or no questions…and getting responses?
“We can ask them questions like: are you in any pain? Are you happy, sad, are you depressed?” says Owen.
Melanie Hack
Author of Who Killed My Sister, My Friend
Read an excerpt now
TV Shows and Clips about the Death of Cindy James
I haven’t been following much of Conrad Murray’s trial, but I did see the verdict today (he is guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the June 25, 2009 death of Michael Jackson) and I read some of the news reports tonight.
Maybe you’ve been following the trial more closely than I, so perhaps you already knew the defense team had been trying to argue that Jackson gave himself the fatal dose of Propofol.
Boy does that ever bring back memories…of some nitwits saying my sister, Cindy, could have administered the fatal dose of morphine to herself. Of course that’s physically impossible for her to have injected herself, because she would have been comatose before the end of injection…not to mention there was no needle found by her body.
Anyway, I was wondering how you feel about the Murray verdict?
Looks to me like he won’t be getting much of a sentence…a minimum of probation and a maximum of four years in jail, and likely to lose his medical license.
We’ll have to wait until November 29th to find out.
Melanie Hack
Author of Who Killed My Sister, My Friend
Read an excerpt now
TV Shows and Clips about the Death of Cindy James
This morning I was absolutely delighted to see video of a two-week-old baby girl being rescued from the earthquake rubble in Eastern Turkey. Apparently the mother is still to be pulled out of the collapsed building. She had been sitting with her baby in the living room when the walls caved in around them two days ago when the 7.2 earthquake hit.
My heart goes out to those in the region.
Imagine being trapped and hearing those sweet words, “Please keep silent, we need to listen to the signaling sound of possible survivors,” and praying you will be one that is heard.
Melanie Hack
Author of Who Killed My Sister, My Friend
Read an excerpt now
TV Shows and Clips about the Death of Cindy James
To live in the hearts of those we leave is not to die.
Melanie Hack
Author of Who Killed My Sister, My Friend
Read an excerpt now
TV Shows and Clips about the Death of Cindy James
Loved ones left behind after suicides have one striking thing in common: the way they talk about suicide. Rather than saying someone “committed suicide,” they will say that a person “died of” or was “lost to” suicide.
They pick up the pieces of their lives and live in a very isolated and lonely place, often suspecting people blame them for the tragic self-inflicted loss of their loved one and so they shy away from friends and family members…unable to talk about it.
That’s why support groups are so important—because they are empowering.
There’s the stigma of mental illness associated with suicide that keeps people suffering silently…too afraid and ashamed to speak.
Suicide of a loved one brings intense feelings of failure and guilt – that you could not alleviate their suffering, that you did not see ‘the signs’, that you were somehow responsible for their actions. At the same time, family members may feel very angry that the suicide victim never shared their despair, that they left others to cope with all these emotions…and with the social stigma.
Many times you cannot tell by looking at someone that their life is in such turmoil that they’ll actually die of suicide.
“Why did s/he do it?” (Often it’s because the future seems very unfulfilling and undesirable and the day-to-day routine and associated stress, depression and lack of energy is just too much to handle.)
“What was s/he thinking?” (S/he was constantly directing frustration towards her/himself.)
“What could I have done to prevent it?”
“Why didn’t s/he let us help her/him?” (Sometimes pride gets in the way and the person doesn’t want to admit there is something wrong so they stay emotionally boxed in, or help isn’t wanted.)
National Survivors of Suicide Day is coming up next month – it falls on the first Saturday before the American Thanksgiving in November – a day for healing…a day for survivors to connect with others who have survived the tragedy of suicide loss…a day to express and understand the powerful emotions you are experiencing.
Mark it on your calendar.
Melanie Hack
Author of Who Killed My Sister, My Friend
Read an excerpt now
TV Shows and Clips about the Death of Cindy James
Counseling is such a wonderful tool when you are grieving! So I encourage you to seek out professional help for both yourself and for your child!
And as you try to go about your life, here are a few helpful strategies: (There really are so many more…and the following ideas can also help children who have lost a loved one under other circumstances.)
Be loving! In fact, tell your children every day, “I love you!”
Spend lots of time with them.
And be patient!
Cook with them. (Let them decide what they want to make.) And eat it together.
And always encourage them to talk (no matter what activity you do together):
“Have you been thinking about your sister/brother (or whoever died)?
“What have you been thinking about?”
“What do you miss most about her/him?
“Can you give me some ideas [or one idea] on what I can do to help you feel better?”
Make sure you really listen!
Ask them to finish these sentences:
“I feel happy when…” (Let them know it’s OK to have good feelings too.)
“I feel angry when…” (Allow them to be angry and to express it in a healthy way.)
“I feel sad when…” (Allow them to cry!)
Talk about the life of the person who died. Celebrate that person’s life.
Talk about positive things that you did as a family while that person was alive.
Ask your children to draw what they are feeling (and allow them to be creative). Then ask them what their chosen colors represent. And always talk about what things mean to them.
Teach them about the different feelings. You can use a ‘feelings chart’ or a ‘feelings thermometer’—I’ll talk about that in another Blog.
Ask them to write stories about what they are feeling.
Ask them to use puppets to act out what they are feeling.
And teach them how to relax (with music, relaxation exercises, breathing deeply, painting, coloring….)
Melanie Hack
Author of Who Killed My Sister, My Friend
Read an excerpt now
TV Shows and Clips about the Death of Cindy James
I am not gone
I remain here beside you
Just in a different form
Look for me in your heart
And there you will find me
in our love which forever lives on
In those moments when you feel alone
Look for me in your thoughts
And there you will find me
in sweet memories that burn strong
Every time a tear
Forms in your beautiful eyes
Look up to the heavens
And there you will see me
Smiling down from God’s glorious skies
~By Injete Chesoni
Melanie Hack
Author of Who Killed My Sister, My Friend
Read an excerpt now
TV Shows and Clips about the Death of Cindy James
“Get busy living…or get busy dying.”
~From The Shawshank Redemption
Melanie Hack
Author of Who Killed My Sister, My Friend
Read an excerpt now
TV Shows and Clips about the Death of Cindy James
Today is the 10th anniversary of Sept 11th.
For some, having a memorial can make this a day of comfort…a day of healing—grief becomes a community event that generates strength.
For others it will be a day of pain…as memories, loaded with heavy emotions of losing a family member or friend, are placed directly in front of the person wishing to forget the pain.
And it’s not just memorials on and around anniversary dates that can cause painful reliving of events that someone might wish to keep buried and move away from. Faced with the choice of whether or not to read newspaper accounts of a tragedy that “hits too close to home”, a person may choose to avoid doing so because they haven’t dealt with their emotions…depending on how they’ve dealt with the death of a loved one and how long ago the tragedy happened. It’s called living with a pattern of avoidance – it’s much easier to NOT think about something and NOT talk about it or bury it, than it is to face the pain or the grief or the fear. In this instance recovery can get delayed.
For some, expressing the death and drawing others into their world of grief can be extremely comforting for a survivor – it opens up the world around them and helps them feel less isolated about the tragedy.
It’s a way of saying, “Hey world, my beloved was important…s/he lived…and will not be forgotten…ever!!”
When faced with a reminder of tragedy, experiencing pain is normal. And it can lead to greater healing.
We all grieve in our own way.
How do you deal with your grief?
Melanie Hack
Author of Who Killed My Sister, My Friend
Read an excerpt now
TV Shows and Clips about the Death of Cindy James
Written with a pen.
Sealed with a kiss.
If you’re my friend,
please answer this:
Are we Friends
or are we not?
You told me once
But I forgot.
So tell me now
And tell me true.
So I can say…
“I’m here for you.”
Of all the friends
I’ve ever met,
you’re the one
I won’t forget.
And if I die
Before you do,
I’ll go to heaven
And wait for you.
I’ll give the angels
Back their wings
And risk the loss
Of everything.
Just to prove my
Friendship is true…
To have a friend like you!
~Author Unknown
Thanks for bringing this poem to my attention, Marlene!
Melanie Hack
Author of Who Killed My Sister, My Friend
Read an excerpt now
TV Shows and Clips about the Death of Cindy James