Good Thing They Weren’t Merciful

Rom Houben had a a car accident in 1983. Doctors in Brussels thought he was in a coma and vegetative. His family was convinced he was paralyzed, but still conscious. Who was right? Doctors with degrees out the Yangtze or the family using their intuition and common sense?

Professor Steven Laureys of Belgium’s Coma Science Group realized that the diagnosis was wrong and taught Houben how to communicate through a special keyboard, said Dr. Audrey Vanhaudenhuyse, who is on Laureys’ team.

Rom used the device to tell a reporter for the German magazine Der Spiegel that: “I screamed but there was nothing to hear.”

Belgian doctors who treated him early on said that Rom had gone from a coma into a vegetative condition.

Coma is a state of unconsciousness in which the eyes are closed and the patient can’t be roused, as if simply asleep. A vegetative state is a condition in which the eyes are open and can move, and the patient has periods of sleep and periods of wakefulness, but remains unconscious and unaware of him or herself or others. The patient can’t think, reason, respond, do anything on purpose, chew or swallow.

But Rom’s parents would not accept that he was comatose or vegetative.

Obviously there comes a time when tough decisions have to be made, but there is also a time to stick with what you know and just because someone clings to science doesn’t mean they’re right. Evidence #8,908,456 that there is more than one method to truth and that the guys in white coats don’t always know the truth.

And also it’s a good thing they didn’t pull a Terry Schiavo. What if she had been like this? The doctors were convinced she was vegetative — just like Mr. Houben’s doctors. I’d wager she wasn’t, but then it’s just a wager isn’t it? No one will know for sure. I can’t imagine the torture Houben would feel — thank God they got a doctor to listen. The doctor in this case has done research showing that 40% of those diagnosed with “consciousness disorders” are wrongly diagnosed as vegetative.

And then there’s this:

His mother, Fina Houben, said in a telephone interview that they took him five times to the United States for tests.

More searching finally got her in touch with Laureys, who put Houben through a PET scan that indicated he was conscious. The family and doctors then began trying to establish communication.

A breakthrough came when he was able to indicate yes or no by slightly moving his foot to push a computer device placed there by Laureys’ team.

Then came the spelling of words using his finger and a touch-screen attached to his wheelchair.

“You have to imagine yourself lying in bed wanting to speak and move but unable to do so—while in your head you are OK,” Vanhaudenhuyse said. “It was extremely difficult for him and he showed a lot of anger, which is normal since he was very frustrated,” she said.

Here’s a lot more on this case and comas et al. from ABC News.

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