latest-pls keep confidential first

[Dan Cao]

The doctors and the family almost decided on pull the plug today, they
actually already called the Buddhist monk to come over for final
ritual from a temple in sunnyvale. I was in the meeting with doctors
and families. There is a huge misunderstanding between doctors and
families. Anyway, the final decision now is "AS LONG AS THERE IS ANY
VITAL SIGN, DON"T PULL THE PLUG". I'm not sure I did the right thing
or not. But my understanding is the doctor's recommendation of life
termination was based on his lung deterioration (but they are not sure
it's a irreversible lung failure or not yet) and hypoxia in the brain,
and the family thought the doctors told them there is no way they can
save his life any more. It was really a tough time for me. I can't
control my tears.
By the way, if you want to keep your DNA, remember to put something in
writing" You want you sperm or egg to be saved even if you are in coma
or dying...". The family wanted to keep his semen, the doctors told
them they can't do it even though Yichao had chatted with his mom and
wife before he wanted a son and daughter... But per CA law, the
doctors need to have written demostration that he wanted his own baby
even after he died..
So much for now, it's really too much for me to take...

Dan Cao, Ph.D.
Department of Pediatrics & Genetics
Stanford University School of Medicine
Stanford, CA 94305-4205
650-815-5732