Comments on: Awakenings: Return To Life

Some Minimally Conscious People Are Actually Re-Awakening Thanks To Drug Therapies

[margiesj]

Doctor Margaret Ayers does treatment through neuropathways EEG treatment. www.neuropathways.com She has been able to get people out of comas and travels on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays to different cities to treat people. I suffered severe head trauma in a head-on collision in 1989 where I had a subdural hematoma and was in a coma. Per Dr. Ayers, after my diagnosis I have severe brain damage she doesn''t know how I''m functioning and said I was a walking miracle. Due to my head trauma I suffer from migraines and have had migraines that have lasted up to 6 days. Doctor Ayers is now treating me to help repair my brain, this has no side effects like medicine has. The FDA does not recognize her because she would put Pharmaceutical companies out of business. ""No one has done more to alert us to the fact that the symptoms of head injured patients can be reduced or eliminated through neurofeedback therapy than Margaret Ayers (1981, 1983, 1987, 1991, 1993, 1995a, 1995b). Her creative and bold approach together with her specialized instrumentation has made her a courageous pioneer." Alvah P. Byers, Ed.D, from The Byers Neurotherapy Reference Library, Second Edition, page 118. Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback. 1998"" Doctor Ayers is an amazing woman and has done this to help as many people as she can such as those who suffer from Autism, seizures, trauma from birth, head injuries, strokes, comas, etc...

[clean_air]

I have a daughter who has suffered a severe head injusry 16 years ago in a motor vehicle accident. She is severely brain injured, as in your story. She was given the diagnosis of persistant vegitative state, the state''s definition-no services would be bennificial. She has been to many neuroligist to change to the appriopriate diagnosis of minimal conscious state, and now recieves a few services each month. A long and uphill battle with the system.

[tristaboo]

Dear Anderson Cooper, Your story tonight on the Ambian Sleep Drug really touched our hearts. You see our 17 month old boy is in the hospital. He has been there for 75 days today and he is in a coma. He was a submersive drowning victim. The doctors have been telling us that there is nothing they can do for him except leaving him in the condition he is in. He is on a vent with 30% of a liter of oxygen everyday and he has a g-tube for eating. The doctors are very unsympithetic towards us about our sons condition. His diagnosis is called, Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy or Anoxic Brain Disorder. We have asked the hospital to perform different procedures on our son to try and wake him up, but they look at us like idiots and refuse every wish we ask for. We wanted to know if the doctor that you interviewed, Dr. Shiff, would be able to help us with our son. We have been trying to get our son into rehab clinics all over the U.S. and we have got shot down by at least 10, because none of them take children on vents. Please help us in our time of need and help our son out. God Bless.

Joe Isserles and Maria Polizzi
Davenport, Fl

[annwood3]

I have a very close friends whose daughter has a brain injury from a car accident.She is now in a nursing home and it seems she is trapped in her body. We know she hears us and sometimes will nod her head but we can not find anyone that will help us. Recently she had to be taken to Winston to have a drain removed from her eye and they gave her something to relax her and all of a sudden she had the most wonderful smile on hr face and tole her mother "I love you too" and also said my name but that was the end of it. We wondered if it was the medicine but noone would tell us it was possible. She can not walk, talk or eat. She is on a feeding tube and they find all kinds of excuses not to give her any therapy. Where do we go from here. I know she is in there but we can''t get any help on how to help.

[Elaine Munoz]

I made a comment about this treatment and asked to hear from other family members who are trying this treatment. My son is 30 and trying the treatment. I am Emunozleyva. [e-mail]

[Elaine Munoz]

My son is 30. He has a closed head injury. He is presently taking Ambien. There has not been significant change is his condition. We have seen him slightly more alert. I am not giving up and hope to see more studies on this treatment. Drs. will soon increase his dosage. This has given us more hope. But I am realistic. I would love to hear from George''mom or other family members who are trying the ambien.

[dj924]

I just seen the report on *Awakenings* tonight. I have a sister in a nursing home, tramatic brain injury due to a car accident 21 yrs ago. I know she is semi aware of her surroundings,and knows family members. But she is unable to speak, eat, walk, etc, yes 100% disabled. I would so much like more info on this, I know in my heart she is a canidate for this. If only people would take the time and find where many people like her are, yes in nursing home or other types of care facilities. Please I would like so very much for someone to some how get back to me, I so much want more info on this.

[zazzoo812]

This is a message to Linda and the boys .... I knew your dad from High School .. We played baseball on the high school team .... I left Buffalo in 1986. I lost track of Donny and had no idea this had happened. My deepest condolences. The story was very touching. I will buy the book for sure. The one thing I wanted to pass along to all of you was the fond memories I have of Donny before seeing this piece and it affirms that he was a good man, husband, father and friend. Linda ...I hope you get to see this posting. I prayers are with you all.... Bill ... [e-mail]

[sagangc]

I also would like more information about how to locate studies for this problem. My Father suffered bilateral subdural hematomas, resulting in brain damage. I realize his problem is not as severe as others, but as his daughter and now care taker, I would love to see him improve. Where can this information be found?

[dcooper1964]

I''m very eager to know what could I do to get infomation for my niece that has fallen to this illness three years ago that has left her in a vegetable state,from a asthma attack three years ago. She has three beautiful young children. My wife and I have adopted the two oldest. Help them please.

[sethin-2009]

I feel the subject of MCS was very well covered by Mr. Anderson. Few minimally conscious patients "wake up" and the challenge is to identify these patients early on from those that are going to remain in a persistently vegetative state. Unfortunately we still cannot identify these patients with certanity.
This should have been stressed in the news segment lest we end up giving false hopes to families.
N Sethi
New York, NY

Please, I have a 29 year old son who might benefit from this. He has been in a state comparable to the men in this segment for almost 25 years. When my son was 4 and a half years old a nurse anethesist let him go without oxyygen for 13 minutes during a "routine" eartube/adnenoid surgery. He is total care, we have cared for him most of the time at home. The pediatric care specialist above from Ohio above probably knows our family and was talking about us. We would love to have the neurologist in this segment see our son- study him and try ambien with him.

[micson9999]

Your article states that there are several clinical trials of Ambien underway, but that progress is slow, because participants are scattered across the nation. As journalists, you should have gone further, and provided a contact number for families with a loved one that wish to participate in one of these trials. In my opinion, 60 Minutes dropped the ball here... why was this vital information not included? Can anyone provide this?

[stardust924]

Anderson Cooper is a first rate journalist and it is great to see him covering important issues like tonight%u2019s "Awakenings" report.

It is frightening to think that someone could be literally trapped inside their body with virtually no way to communicate with the outside world for years at a time. Hopefully the results of these new drug therapies will force the medical community to take a closer look at those who would have been or have been previously misdiagnosed as being in a vegetative state. It will be interesting to see if cost will have any bearing on whether or not someone is reevaluated.

If these treatments can be administered in the early stages of an accident maybe they can prevent or lessen the severity of these types of injuries.

These cases are truly remarkable.

[msjaxs]

I in 1997 had a traumic brain injury and doctors told ny mother I would be in an vegetative state if I lived.
This was April and by June I took my first steps. After that my life changed.
Ten years later I live on my own although I still can''t do somethings for myself and haven''t spoken since then and never may that''s up to God.
I take Ambin to help me sleep and there''s some nights it doesn''t help.
Doctors are not God and should not tell people what will not be, because in all in they don''t know what could happen.

[cjascher]

The November 25th segment Awakenings was great! I am 28 years old today and I suffered a severe closed head injury when I was 15. I was given less than a 1% chance of living when the accident occured. I had to relearn how to walk, talk and speak as if I was starting from infancy.
Although the story''s premise was not on head injuries, both of the patients in the story had suffered a form of the injury. There are thousands of head injuries that occur weekly either through car, sporting, job-related and elderly accidents. Many individuals don''t make it through the terrifying parts of a head injury while others do.The healing process is owed in great part to medicine but I know that a great part of the process is also mindpower.

[blitzen121]

Did anyone say that a doctor perscribed the ambien for the patient? Or did you get what i got? - mom couldn''t take the kid moaning so she gave him a sleeping pill. Ambien is a controlled substance - if no doctors order what she did was a crime. If he had a bad reaction she''d be in another type of story...wouldn''t she?! The interview said that mom increased the dose - is she a doctor? Shame on CBS for this item. How many desperate caregiviers are searching for internet ambien right now? How many invalids are being doped up by their caregivers this week because they saw it on tv. If anyone dies i hope they blame CBS. Shame on you 60 min!

ntidwell1 , sorry, it wasn''t Patch Adams, it was Dr. Oliver Sacks

[copley417-2009]

Your segment on patients in a minimally conscious state was intriguing. Anderson Cooper''s reporting was balanced and appropriate. I was relieved that all involved in this report were cautiously optimistic. Maybe there will be a time in the future that from the world of functional MRI, PET scanning and the like, we will have more insights into what can be offered to brain disabled patients. Thank you.

My concern is that anyone would use this info as an excuse to allow their loved one to be kept alive by the health care system in order to wait for a ''cure''. We are YEARS away from such a thing...

Pediatric Critical Care Specialist
Ohio, USA

[ntidwell1]

I thought Patch Adams was having results like this years ago.