ray of light in these times

[strandinthewind]

For all the crap that is going on in the world right now, it is nice to see that people like this guy still exist. I can only imagine what he is going through.

Brain-dead woman's fetus passes key point
Doctors think 24 weeks earliest baby could survive

RICHMOND, Virgina (AP) -- A brain-dead pregnant woman on life support has reached the milestone in her pregnancy where doctors believe the baby could realistically survive outside the womb, giving her family renewed hope about the devastating ordeal.

Susan Torres, 26, lost consciousness from a stroke May 7 after aggressive melanoma spread to her brain. Her husband, Jason Torres, said doctors told him his wife's brain functions had stopped.

Her fetus recently passed the 24th week of development -- the earliest point at which doctors felt the baby would have a reasonable chance to survive, her brother-in-law said.

"The situation is pretty stable," said Justin Torres, who is serving as the family's spokesman. "Susan, we have said from the beginning, is the toughest person in that ICU room."

He said the family is "as certain within the limits of sonogram technology" that the baby is a girl. "Cecilia" was one possible name the couple had discussed, Justin Torres said.

A Web site was set up to help raise money for the family's mounting medical bills, and they have now received about $400,000 in donations, Torres said. Jason Torres quit his job as a printing salesman to be by his wife's side and the family must pay tens of thousands of dollars each week that insurance does not cover, the family says.

Donations have poured in from around the world: Germany, Britain, Ireland, Japan -- even a check with no note from a soldier in Iraq. On Monday, the family received a hand-knit baby blanket from a woman in Pennsylvania who was on a tight income but wanted to do something to help.

Jason Torres spends every night sleeping in a reclining chair next to his wife's bed at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, about 100 miles north of Richmond. The hospital has declined to comment on the case.

The couple's 2-year-old son, Peter, is staying with grandparents. He has not seen his mother, a researcher at the National Institutes of Health, since her collapse.

If possible, the doctors hope to hold off on delivering the child until 32 weeks' gestation, Justin Torres said. A full-term pregnancy is about 40 weeks.

The melanoma has spread to her lymph nodes and taken over her vital organs, but they continue to function. There is a chance the cancer could spread to the placenta, but so far it has been spared, Justin Torres said. Extra precautions, including limiting the number of visitors, have recently been taken to help her avoid infections.

Doctors have held off on giving the family a prognosis because the situation is so rare, said Torres, who believes his sister-in-law will likely hang on for a few more weeks.

Since 1979, there have been at least a dozen similar cases published in English medical literature, said Dr. Winston Campbell, director of maternal-fetal medicine at the University of Connecticut Health Center, which conducted research on the topic.

Aside from the tubes and machines she is hooked up to, the tall and athletic Torres looks remarkably well, her brother-in-law said.

"She would have wanted us to fight for this baby -- there's no doubt in our minds," Justin Torres said.

The family received an unexpected sliver of joy on June 21, when Jason Torres felt his child kick for the first time.

"It was a very, very nice reminder of what this is all about, and very heartening to us to know that we're making progress and that we're getting closer and closer," the brother-in-law said. "That was a very good day for everyone."

Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/07/21....ap/index.html

[skcin]

I feel for this family. Hope the baby makes it.

[irishgrl]

I myself was a 24wk baby so it IS possible to survive, but it was touch and go for about 3 months....

[GypsySorcerer]

My heart goes out to them. I hope the baby survives.

[DrummerDeanna]

Wow - what a story. I hope that baby makes it too!!

[darklinensuit]

The check from the soldier is especially touching, IMO.
Wishing the family well...

- Jake

[GypsySorcerer]

McLEAN, Va. - An infant born last month to a severely brain-damaged woman has died after emergency surgery to repair a perforated intestine, the family said Monday.

Susan Anne Catherine Torres, born prematurely on Aug. 2 after her mother was on life support for three months, died of heart failure Sunday, a family statement said.

The infant's condition had deteriorated rapidly during the weekend, according to the family. She died at Children's National Medical Center in Washington.

Cancer patient Susan Rollin Torres, a 26-year-old researcher at the National Institutes of Health, suffered a stroke in May after melanoma spread to her brain. She was kept alive on life support so she could deliver the child.

A spokeswoman at St. Rita's Church in Alexandria said parishioners were told of the child's death during the morning Mass.

"After the efforts of this summer to bring her into the world, this is obviously a devastating loss for the Torres and Rollin families," Justin Torres, the woman's brother-in-law, said in the e-mailed statement. "We wish to thank all the people who sustained us in prayer over the past 17 weeks. It was our fondest wish that we could have been able to share Susan's homecoming with the world."

The baby's father, Jason Torres, had made the decision after his wife lost consciousness to keep her on life support for the sake of her fetus.

The pregnancy became a race between the fetus' development and the cancer that was ravaging the woman's body. Doctors at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, where the baby was born, said that Torres' health was deteriorating and that the risk of harm to the fetus finally outweighed the benefits of extending the pregnancy.

The mother died shortly after her daughter's birth when she was taken off life support. The baby was about two months premature and weighed 1 pound, 13 ounces.

There was no immediate indication why the baby's health deteriorated. A spokeswoman at Children's National Medical Center would not comment.

After her birth, doctors said they saw no signs that her mother's cancer had crossed the placenta, and they described her as feisty and vigorous. In late August, the family said Susan had passed the 2-pound mark and had been taken off a ventilator, though she remained in neonatal intensive care.

English-language medical literature contains at least 11 cases since 1979 of irreversibly brain-damaged women whose lives were prolonged for the benefit of the developing fetus, according to the University of Connecticut Health Center.

Jason Torres had quit his job to be by his wife's side, spending each night sleeping in a reclining chair next to her bed. The couple had one other child —2-year-old Peter.

A Web site was set up to help raise money for the family's mounting medical bills and people from around the world had sent in more than $600,000 as of early last month. Any excess money was to be donated to cancer research and to establish a college savings plan for the two children.

-----------------
Poor little angel. My thoughts go out to the Torres family.

[michelle2677]

Oh my gosh this is so sad. I am so sorry to hear this and my hearts go out to this family.

[chiliD]

All that money spent...a job lost...and for what? The outcome was the same as if they'd done nothing back in May.

Everyone involved just suffered and endured more than needed.

Sometimes "do nothing" is THE choice to make.


And, I don't mean for that to be callous & uncaring...I feel for the people.