Sharon Medical Update - Tragedy
UPDATE 14: (3:28am PST) There has just been a discussion about whether or not the family is prepared to instruct the doctors to cease trying to save Sharon. It appears that the family has left it up to the doctors - "it is the decision of the entire country"
UPDATE 15: (3:31am PST) The PM's fluctuating blood pressure is of particular concern. Up till now, his vitals have been largely stable. It is the changes in the blood pressure that triggered the additional tests, with the subsequent discovery of more bleeding in the brain - which triggered this third surgery.
UPDATE 16: (3:55am PST) They're away from speculating wildly improbable about Israeli political scenarios and are back to interviewing doctors. Except those doctors appear to be hack psychologists... she literally just asked about Israel having a father complex regarding Sharon... And he muttered something asinine about "certainty"… He just switched to English to drop the phrase "rising to the occasion"… This is embarrassing and awkward… No one has anything to say, but nobody wants to go off the air...
UPDATE 17: (4:00am PST) No kidding: "How do we explain this to the children?" Our answer, which involves magnificent greatness and solemn duty, is apparently not the "professional psychologist's" answer. His answer has something to do with coloring books.
UPDATE 18: (4:04am PST) A real doctor: "when blood enters the brain, the body attempts to compensate by increasing pressure in the brain to push it out... so they had to do whatever they could to reduce the pressure, and then stop the bleeding..."
UPDATE 19: (4:07am PST) "... if this was just about reducing pressure, they should've been able to use the old opening and it should've taken 10 minutes... what worries me is that it appears that this is a new source of bleeding... then they have to be using chemicals to establish homeostasis..."
UPDATE 20: (4:10am PST) "... up till now, the damage had been limited to the right sphere... this is not the dominant sphere... that's not where memories, language are stores... a man who has only had the right sphere impacted can function, talk... the left hemisphere is now in danger... now they're trying to save what they can of that..."
UPDATE 21: (4:13am PST) A little relief outside the operating room. It looks like people have been given some sort of news that the surgery is ongoing, but is progressing well. Unfortunately, this follows the explanation from the doctor being interviewed (Dr. Feldman), who explained that part of Sharon's brain had been damaged both by blood and by inflammation - he's talking in terms of "trying to save" parts of the brain that haven't been damaged.
UPDATE 22: (4:19am PST) The Channel 10 feed just cut out. Of course it did.
UPDATE 23: (4:31am PST) Now relying on web updates. The latest update from Walla is just a confirmation of the "the surgery is going alright" news from earlier.
UPDATE 24: (4:43am PST) Sharon's family and advisers are all at the hospital. We're assuming that Walla is updating just a little behind what's on TV, etc. Memo to the Channel 10 folks: not having a competent IT person on staff today. Good budget cut. Incidentally, Dave from IsraellyCool is using the same IT company as Ch10, and his site just went down. He's blogging updates from his his podcast site.
UPDATE 25: (4:52am PST) Walla: No announcement expected from the Hadassah directory any time soon.
UPDATE 26: (5:04am PST) How awkward and uncertain are newspeople in Israel right now? Walla's latest 4-line update is a quote from Sharon's last interview.
UPDATE 15: (3:31am PST) The PM's fluctuating blood pressure is of particular concern. Up till now, his vitals have been largely stable. It is the changes in the blood pressure that triggered the additional tests, with the subsequent discovery of more bleeding in the brain - which triggered this third surgery.
UPDATE 16: (3:55am PST) They're away from speculating wildly improbable about Israeli political scenarios and are back to interviewing doctors. Except those doctors appear to be hack psychologists... she literally just asked about Israel having a father complex regarding Sharon... And he muttered something asinine about "certainty"… He just switched to English to drop the phrase "rising to the occasion"… This is embarrassing and awkward… No one has anything to say, but nobody wants to go off the air...
UPDATE 17: (4:00am PST) No kidding: "How do we explain this to the children?" Our answer, which involves magnificent greatness and solemn duty, is apparently not the "professional psychologist's" answer. His answer has something to do with coloring books.
UPDATE 18: (4:04am PST) A real doctor: "when blood enters the brain, the body attempts to compensate by increasing pressure in the brain to push it out... so they had to do whatever they could to reduce the pressure, and then stop the bleeding..."
UPDATE 19: (4:07am PST) "... if this was just about reducing pressure, they should've been able to use the old opening and it should've taken 10 minutes... what worries me is that it appears that this is a new source of bleeding... then they have to be using chemicals to establish homeostasis..."
UPDATE 20: (4:10am PST) "... up till now, the damage had been limited to the right sphere... this is not the dominant sphere... that's not where memories, language are stores... a man who has only had the right sphere impacted can function, talk... the left hemisphere is now in danger... now they're trying to save what they can of that..."
UPDATE 21: (4:13am PST) A little relief outside the operating room. It looks like people have been given some sort of news that the surgery is ongoing, but is progressing well. Unfortunately, this follows the explanation from the doctor being interviewed (Dr. Feldman), who explained that part of Sharon's brain had been damaged both by blood and by inflammation - he's talking in terms of "trying to save" parts of the brain that haven't been damaged.
UPDATE 22: (4:19am PST) The Channel 10 feed just cut out. Of course it did.
UPDATE 23: (4:31am PST) Now relying on web updates. The latest update from Walla is just a confirmation of the "the surgery is going alright" news from earlier.
UPDATE 24: (4:43am PST) Sharon's family and advisers are all at the hospital. We're assuming that Walla is updating just a little behind what's on TV, etc. Memo to the Channel 10 folks: not having a competent IT person on staff today. Good budget cut. Incidentally, Dave from IsraellyCool is using the same IT company as Ch10, and his site just went down. He's blogging updates from his his podcast site.
UPDATE 25: (4:52am PST) Walla: No announcement expected from the Hadassah directory any time soon.
UPDATE 26: (5:04am PST) How awkward and uncertain are newspeople in Israel right now? Walla's latest 4-line update is a quote from Sharon's last interview.
