[Paleopsych] NYT: Brain-Dead Woman's Fetus Passes Milestone in Development

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Brain-Dead Woman's Fetus Passes Milestone in Development
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/21/health/21fetus.html

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    By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

    RICHMOND, Va., July 20 (AP) - A brain-dead pregnant woman on life
    support has passed the milestone in her pregnancy where doctors
    believe the baby could realistically survive outside the womb, giving
    her family renewed hope.

    The woman, Susan Torres, 26, lost consciousness from a stroke on 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 believe the baby would have a reasonable chance
    to survive, said her brother-in-law, Justin Torres.

    "The situation is pretty stable," said the brother-in-law, who is
    serving as the family's spokesman. "Susan, we have said from the
    beginning, is the toughest person in that I.C.U. room."

    He said that a sonogram suggested that the baby is a girl, and that
    Cecilia was one possible name the couple had discussed before the
    stroke.

    A Web site set up by the family - [3]www.susantorresfund.org - has
    helped raise about $400,000 in donations to pay the mounting medical
    bills, Justin 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 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.

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

    Ms. Torres's melanoma has spread to lymph nodes and taken over her
    vital organs, but they continue to function. There is a chance the
    [4]cancer could spread to the placenta, but so far it has been spared,
    the brother-in-law said.

    Extra precautions, including limiting the number of visitors, have
    recently been taken to help her avoid infections.

    Doctors have delayed giving the family a prognosis because the
    situation is so rare, said Mr. Torres, who said he believed his
    sister-in-law was likely to 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.

    The family received an unexpected sliver of joy on June 21, when Jason
    Torres felt his baby 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," Justin Torres said. "That was a very good
    day for everyone."

References

    3. http://www.susantorresfund.org/
    4. 
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/cancer/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier