The Ghost of Baby Sun Hudson

[rocktivity]

I've added this pic to my server because I think it will come in handy. They have their culture-of-life poster child; now we have ours.

:headbang:
rocknation

[Pool Hall Ace]

1. When interviewing the various talking heads who feel a need

to weigh in on Terri Schiavo, I do wish someone from the biased liberal media :eyes: would follow up with a question about Sun Hudson, and ask how it was consistent with the culture of life to disconnect him from the ventilator.

[FreedomAngel82]

2. Me too

The poor little one. :( Didn't even get a chance. So sad. :cry:

[LittleClarkie]

3. What was Sun's story

why was he on a respirator? Was there a chance of recovery?

I know if I bring him up, I'll need the details. And I'd like to know for myself as well.

[lavenderdiva]

4. check out the story here..

link to Houston Chronicle article:

http://www.chron.com//content/archive/ysearch.mpl?operation=getdoc&database=2005%3B2004%3B&databases=2005%3B2005%3B2005%3B2005%3B2005%3B2005%3B2005%3B2005%3B2005%3B2005%3B2005%3B2005%3B2005%3B2005%3B2005%3B2005%3B2005%3B2005%3B2005%3B2005%3B2005%3B2005%3B2005%3B2005%3B2005%3B&docid=89714&docids=18346%3B18378%3B18255%3B17823%3B16671%3B16642%3B16822%3B16539%3B15989%3B15793%3B15638%3B15629%3B15421%3B15411%3B15383%3B15355%3B14911%3B14478%3B14223%3B14164%3B13797%3B13773%3B13645%3B13417%3B13363%3B&query=sun+hudson+NOT+3:RSEC&pos=11&numhits=25&start=&type=&user=houston&sview=1&hview=2&dview=1

[rocktivity]

5. In a nutshell, Texas Governor George Bush signed a law

that people can be taken off life support if they don't have money and continuing care is determined to be "futile." As Bush rushed off from his vacation in Texas to sign Terri's Law, Baby Sun Hudson was unplugged.

Here's a news story and a DU thread. And a series of DU posts.

Medically speaking, the argument could be made that since Baby Sun had more cognitive brain function than Terri, he was better qualified to be part of Bush's "culture of life." But he was a Texan, and his mom wasn't insured...

:headbang:
rocknation

[fortyfeetunder]

6. The real problem with the late Baby Sun

I did speak with a pediatrician, who confirmed that yes Baby Sun was indeed terminally ill. Baby Sun had thanatrophoric dwarfism, which is genetic and fatal disorder in all infants.

I like the post in one of those other threads, the problem with baby Sun was because he was sucking $$$ away from Bush's rich hospital owning friends!

The other irony is, the mother had no pre-natal care, therefore no diagnostics to have detected this terminal condition, along with the option of terminating the pregnancy. But then, the mother was also in denial about how her child was conceived and its condition. I would have doubted she would have terminated this pregnancy.

And I wonder baby Sun's mother, has a clue how genetics played a role in the pregnancy (she said the father was the sun) and whether she will conceive with someone else to produce another terminally ill child. But you think the Texas government is offer her genetic counseling so she doesn't conceive with another partner to produce a baby with thanatrophoric dwarfism?

My conclusion: The Texas government as well as in the US House and Senate don't give a rats ass about babies, they are all about controlling women. Even Terri Schaivo.

I'd like to think Terri is up there taking care of baby Sun right now.

[LittleClarkie]

7. Amen. It seems to me

that both mothers were in denial, both Sun's mom and Terri's. But the Religious Right encouraged Mary's denial, while robbing Sun's mom of the same. What else could be the difference.

Oh the RW will say it's the ventilator vs pulling a feeding tube. But it sounds like more than anything it is as you say. If the parent doesn't have money then life is cheap.

I wonder if Sun's mom was seeing some reaction in Sun as she says in the news article, or if, like Mary Schindler, she saw a smile that had nothing behind it.

Was Sun comatose, or just sedated?

That story hurt my heart, just the same. And Terri dying today affected me too. I think it was a sort of relief, as if I'd been going through it with the family. Add a bit of girlie hormonal stuff, and in having to take my brother/roommate to the hospital today to be admitted because he had a fever of 103 when I'm not entirely sure if his insurance will cover it all, and I was sort of an emotional mess today. Verklempt most of the day.

[lostnfound]

18. Ventilator vs feeding tube is distinction of Vatican, but not Texas law

The bill WHICH GEORGE W. BUSH SIGNED says that hospitals have to give families 10 days notice before pulling life-sustaining equipment such as ventilators and feeding tubes. I read the law; there is no distinction.

[rocktivity]

10. "Thanatophoric Dwarfism...is USUALLY lethal at birth

(hence the term thanatophoric, meaning "death bearing" in Greek), but some patients may survive into childhood. Those who survive are severely retarded and suffer from respiratory insufficiency due to reduced chest circumference and/or lower brain stem compression..." (link)

Did Baby Sun survive his birth because he was immediately put on life support, or because he had the potential to "survive into childhood?" Wasn't he entitled to those extra years, even if he'd have to spend them hooked up to respirators and whatever? I mean, that's pretty much what Terri was doing, and considered to be "erring on the side of life." Plus, while Sun's cognitive brain may have been minimally functional, Terri's had no cognitive ability at all.

We'd know the answers if Sun had had money or been born in Flordia. And to answer your question, I've read that Sun was sedated--he wsa not comatose or vegatative.

:headbang:
rocknation

[fortyfeetunder]

13. The miracle is

that little baby managed to live five months though I bet his little body suffered so.

Just like you said rocknation, had baby Sun had money or was in another state, no telling what he would have become.

Keep this kicked.
:kick:

[DesEtoiles]

21. illegal to abort but OK for hospital to kill after the baby is born

[Been Fishing]

8. Voted this post as "Greatest"

Significant counter to "culture of life".

[rocktivity]

9. Thank you very much!

:blush:
rocknation

[Dr Fate]

11. Bush is a Baby killing Jack-ass.

n/t

[FreedomAngel82]

19. The thing with this case

that upset me was the mother didn't want the plug pulled. She wanted some more time with him but she didn't have any money and nobody wanted to help her but everybody went head over hills with Schavio when she was already more dead then this little baby boy. And of course Bush never said anything about that or that law.

[rocktivity]

23. DING DING DING! FreedomAngel, you're our grand prize winner!

...everybody went head over heels with Schavio when she was already more dead then this little baby boy.
Suppose all of the people who had protested in front Terri's hospice had done so in front of Baby Sun's hospital. Suppose they'd taken up collections and set up donor Web sites. Suppose he'd gotten as much mainstream media coverage as Terri did.

Maybe Baby Sun would have lived more than just a few more weeks, months, or even years. Maybe he would have had to live under sedation, in constant pain, and hooked up to machines. But there are a lot of Americans who are living that way (though Terri wasn't one of them--she was cognitively brain dead, not disabled), and no one is trying to pull their plugs. Baby Sun succeeded at being born in America, which is supposed to be enough to earn you a civil right to life. I feel that Governor Bush's law strips poor people of that right.

:headbang:
rocknation

[fortyfeetunder]

12. More information

http://www.gfmer.ch/genetic_diseases_v2/gendis_detail_list.php?cat3=289

Here are some x-rays and ultrasounds of fetuses with thanatophoric dysplasia. It was educational.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,151386,00.html

And here is a Bill O'Lielly interview with Sun Hudson's attorney.

[bobbieinok]

14. was this the only major media mention of this case?????

[rocktivity]

16. The major media attention was fleeting, at best

Anything more would have made President Mightymouse's "rescue" of Terri look bad!

:headbang:
rocknation

[jbnow]

15. This baby didn't live as long...but another mother's story

Here is part of how alive this baby, Eric was:

http://www.udel.edu/fllt/staff/stabosz/thanatophoric.html

Thanatophoric Dwarfism: A Parent's Point of View

We also requested that a developmental specialist be brought in to assess Eric's motor, sensory and social skills. We were especially interested in keeping this data so that other parents with thanatophoric dwarfs would have some idea of the potential of their infant while alive. A specialist from the early intervention program of the Division of Mental Retardation came when Eric was 33 days old, and stopped in regularly when making hospital rounds for follow-ups. Her report is as follows:

"On December 13, 1983, a developmental assessment was ordered for Eric Stabosz, who was one month old and was respirator dependent. Many of the items I usually assess on infants, e.g., reflexes, motor tone, etc., could not be adequately assessed while Eric was on a respirator. I was able to assess some of Eric's coping abilities and his interactive skills. Visual and auditory skills are usually well developed at birth and Eric's skills were very evident. When I first met Eric, he focused and tracked as far as his position would allow. When sounds were presented, Eric would search for the source with his eyes. Eric seemed to enjoy touch and he appeared to smile. When he was over-stimulated, he became very distressed.

I visited Eric weekly and observed changes in him. Eric, like most newborns, preferred black and white pictures (checkerboards, simple faces), but his tastes became wider and he showed his fondness for more colorful pictures especially those drawn by his brothers and sisters. Usually I would fine him with his eyes closed when I visited. He often appeared to be shutting out the excess noise and activity rather that sleeping. As I spoke quietly to him, he would open his eyes and find my face. He became very good at localizing sounds. When he was alert, he displayed good interactive skills. He enjoyed having someone talk to him, play music for him, and stroke his body. He enjoyed stimulation, made progress developmentally, and offered positive feedback to those who interacted with him. A full-term, respirator dependent infant often needs stimulation and is very capable of interacting with his/her environment."3

They sure wouldn't have ended Terri's life support if she had been able to react this way.

[Cuban_Liberal]

17. What was done to Sun Hudson was also inexcusable.

We simply must have single-payer, universal health care, wherein care is NOT subject to the dictates of 'cost'.

[DesEtoiles]

20. I called DeLay's office today-claimed they never heard of Baby Sun

[Roland99]

22. Not surprising...I mean...he was only in Texas.

You'd think DeLay was a Rep. from FL.