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<blockquote data-quote="Marguerite" data-source="post: 407028" data-attributes="member: 1991"><p>On the web doesn't mean it's all true. Not tat I think the parents are lying. The boy does sound like a very amazing kid. But I do doubt the accuracy of the medical reporting. </p><p></p><p>It is possible for people to do amazing things with a lot less brain than you would think. I remember a very carefully documented case of a bloke in the UK, I think he was a uni lecturer in Mathematics. They discovered he had hydrocephalus and the vast bulk of his brain was large CSF-filled ventricle spaces with a thin border of brain around the edge. When they did functional PET scans on him they found that what brain he had was all functioning at a very high level. </p><p></p><p>But there is a difference between lack of cerebellum, and lack of cerebrum. The cerebellum is the top of the brainstem, you need it for basic life support. There is nothing that can substitute for it. You can be missing cerebrum and have other parts step in and take over function, but to completely lack cerebellum - you simply cannot function.</p><p></p><p>So somewhere in that little boy's head, there must be a trace of something which is able to perform that function. It may be in a different place, or it may be a different shape. or there may be more of it than they saw on the scan. But it has to be there.</p><p></p><p>The parents can only discuss what they have been told by the doctors. I suspect the true medical picture is a lot more complex.</p><p></p><p>Still amazing, though.</p><p></p><p>We had a little boy born to a family at our church, who had no brain function. The parents were told to let him die at birth; to stop heroic measures. But the mother insisted they keep rescuscitating him. So he lived - in a way - until he was about 10 years old. Died last year. He kept growing physically, but he simply was not there at all. Most of the time he was constantly fitting. Not major obvious thrashing around, just constant twitching, each twitch was another seizure. Tube-fed, needing to have lungs suctioned several times a day. Physically heavy, needing a hoist to lower him into the bath to wash him or to get him out of bed into his wheelchair. His head was smaller and an odd shape due to lack of brain - I think most of his cerebrum was missing. Not sure about brainstem function. Clearly not all OK with cerebellum though.</p><p></p><p>husband's cousin had a baby with similar problems - he had a skull that was fused before birth, no room for the brain to grow so there was severe pressure on the brainstem which was badly hampering the baby's ability to breathe or do anything in terms of personal life support. he kept having more and more surgeries to open his skull but they were not able to reduce the pressure on his brain in time to save his life. He got pneumonia and died because they were not able to suction him out properly when the electric pump failed and all they had, over the holiday period, was an inefficient foot pump. He was due for his next surgery in a few weeks when they would have released the last of the pressure on his brainstem, which would have meant no more suctioning needed. very sad - or not, depending on how you see it. He would never have been able to lead anything close to a normal life.</p><p></p><p>Marg</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Marguerite, post: 407028, member: 1991"] On the web doesn't mean it's all true. Not tat I think the parents are lying. The boy does sound like a very amazing kid. But I do doubt the accuracy of the medical reporting. It is possible for people to do amazing things with a lot less brain than you would think. I remember a very carefully documented case of a bloke in the UK, I think he was a uni lecturer in Mathematics. They discovered he had hydrocephalus and the vast bulk of his brain was large CSF-filled ventricle spaces with a thin border of brain around the edge. When they did functional PET scans on him they found that what brain he had was all functioning at a very high level. But there is a difference between lack of cerebellum, and lack of cerebrum. The cerebellum is the top of the brainstem, you need it for basic life support. There is nothing that can substitute for it. You can be missing cerebrum and have other parts step in and take over function, but to completely lack cerebellum - you simply cannot function. So somewhere in that little boy's head, there must be a trace of something which is able to perform that function. It may be in a different place, or it may be a different shape. or there may be more of it than they saw on the scan. But it has to be there. The parents can only discuss what they have been told by the doctors. I suspect the true medical picture is a lot more complex. Still amazing, though. We had a little boy born to a family at our church, who had no brain function. The parents were told to let him die at birth; to stop heroic measures. But the mother insisted they keep rescuscitating him. So he lived - in a way - until he was about 10 years old. Died last year. He kept growing physically, but he simply was not there at all. Most of the time he was constantly fitting. Not major obvious thrashing around, just constant twitching, each twitch was another seizure. Tube-fed, needing to have lungs suctioned several times a day. Physically heavy, needing a hoist to lower him into the bath to wash him or to get him out of bed into his wheelchair. His head was smaller and an odd shape due to lack of brain - I think most of his cerebrum was missing. Not sure about brainstem function. Clearly not all OK with cerebellum though. husband's cousin had a baby with similar problems - he had a skull that was fused before birth, no room for the brain to grow so there was severe pressure on the brainstem which was badly hampering the baby's ability to breathe or do anything in terms of personal life support. he kept having more and more surgeries to open his skull but they were not able to reduce the pressure on his brain in time to save his life. He got pneumonia and died because they were not able to suction him out properly when the electric pump failed and all they had, over the holiday period, was an inefficient foot pump. He was due for his next surgery in a few weeks when they would have released the last of the pressure on his brainstem, which would have meant no more suctioning needed. very sad - or not, depending on how you see it. He would never have been able to lead anything close to a normal life. Marg [/QUOTE]
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