Post by Trent Matsunoshin on Jan 8, 2006 7:56:15 GMT 1
I'm sure we had one of these before, but...here's how it'll work, i'll post a news story (current, of course), and it will be open for discussion...here's the story.
"Day of truth" for Sharon as he fights for life
By Corinne Heller 27 minutes ago
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Doctors treating Israeli Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon were due on Sunday to make a decision on when to try to bring him out of a medically induced coma and assess the extent of brain damage from a severe stroke.
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Surgeons at Jerusalem's Hadassah hospital, where the 77-year-old has been under sedation and on a respirator since Wednesday's stroke, said there is a good chance he will survive though it is unclear how much his faculties have been impaired.
"Tomorrow is the day of truth," neurosurgeon Jose Cohen told Channel 2 television late on Saturday.
Hospital spokesman Ron Kromer told reporters on Sunday there had been no change in Sharon's condition overnight, that it "remains critical but stable" as it has since emergency surgery was conducted on Friday to staunch bleeding in his brain.
Doctors would soon convene "to determine the course for continued treatment," and could decide whether or not to bring him out of sedation, Kromer said.
Shlomo Mor-Yosef, the hospital director had said Saturday that the latest brain scan showed evidence of a slight improvement in Sharon's condition.
"We as human beings are optimistic," he told reporters. "But I cannot say that the prime minister has come out of danger... there are very slight signs of improvement."
Cohen said Sharon's chances of survival were "very high."
But Cohen stressed in remarks to Channel 2 television that Sharon would not be unscathed: "To say that after a severe impact like this one there would not be cognitive problems is just not acknowledging reality."
Doctors also said there was no guarantee Sharon would regain consciousness even when his sedation was lifted. Hospital officials said an additional update on his condition would be given at about noon (1000 GMT).
The medical consensus was that even if he survived, Sharon -- for many,
Israel's most dominant figure since founding Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion -- was unlikely to return to politics.
The death or incapacity of Sharon, who raised peace hopes by pulling Israeli settlers and troops out of Gaza in September to end 38 years of military rule, would create a void in Israeli politics and efforts to forge peace with the Palestinians.
"A REAL WARRIOR"
Sharon underwent a new computerized brain scan on Saturday that Mor-Yosef said showed swelling caused by fluid build-up in the brain had decreased and pressure had returned to normal.
"We are all impressed by how strong he is and how much he is fighting," Cohen said. "He is just a real warrior, it is his nature."
From Jerusalem synagogues where worshippers prayed for his recovery to Tel Aviv beach cafes where youths carried surfboards, Israelis anxiously followed the ex-general's fate.
At an Israeli league soccer match on Saturday, loudspeakers announced: "Today we are playing soccer but all our eyes are on the hospital." Fans chanted their support.
Throughout the Jewish state, radios were tuned to news broadcasts for any scrap of new information.
World leaders pledged support for Sharon's deputy, Ehud Olmert, appointed acting prime minister.
Sharon is reviled in the Arab world but increasingly seen by the West as having opened up new prospects for peace. He suffered the stroke at a crucial juncture as he was fighting for re-election on a promise to end conflict with the Palestinians.
Political analysts said Israel's March 28 election, which Sharon had been widely expected to win as head of the new centrist Kadima party, would become an open race without him.
Much of Sharon's popularity among Israelis stems from a belief he could take bold steps toward reconciliation with the Palestinians which others would not get away with, given his background as the archetypal hawk.
But Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, a key member of Kadima, said the party would move ahead with Sharon's vision even if he did not return to politics.
"Kadima's political path ... explains the principles of how to handle the conflict with the Palestinians," she said.
Sharon had been campaigning on a platform of readiness to give up some occupied land in the
West Bank, but has vowed to hold on to major West Bank settlement blocs, a prospect Palestinians say would deny them a viable state.
news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060108/ts_nm/mideast_dc
Without taking into his current situation, What are everyone's overall thoughts on Ariel Sharon?
"Day of truth" for Sharon as he fights for life
By Corinne Heller 27 minutes ago
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Doctors treating Israeli Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon were due on Sunday to make a decision on when to try to bring him out of a medically induced coma and assess the extent of brain damage from a severe stroke.
ADVERTISEMENT
Surgeons at Jerusalem's Hadassah hospital, where the 77-year-old has been under sedation and on a respirator since Wednesday's stroke, said there is a good chance he will survive though it is unclear how much his faculties have been impaired.
"Tomorrow is the day of truth," neurosurgeon Jose Cohen told Channel 2 television late on Saturday.
Hospital spokesman Ron Kromer told reporters on Sunday there had been no change in Sharon's condition overnight, that it "remains critical but stable" as it has since emergency surgery was conducted on Friday to staunch bleeding in his brain.
Doctors would soon convene "to determine the course for continued treatment," and could decide whether or not to bring him out of sedation, Kromer said.
Shlomo Mor-Yosef, the hospital director had said Saturday that the latest brain scan showed evidence of a slight improvement in Sharon's condition.
"We as human beings are optimistic," he told reporters. "But I cannot say that the prime minister has come out of danger... there are very slight signs of improvement."
Cohen said Sharon's chances of survival were "very high."
But Cohen stressed in remarks to Channel 2 television that Sharon would not be unscathed: "To say that after a severe impact like this one there would not be cognitive problems is just not acknowledging reality."
Doctors also said there was no guarantee Sharon would regain consciousness even when his sedation was lifted. Hospital officials said an additional update on his condition would be given at about noon (1000 GMT).
The medical consensus was that even if he survived, Sharon -- for many,
Israel's most dominant figure since founding Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion -- was unlikely to return to politics.
The death or incapacity of Sharon, who raised peace hopes by pulling Israeli settlers and troops out of Gaza in September to end 38 years of military rule, would create a void in Israeli politics and efforts to forge peace with the Palestinians.
"A REAL WARRIOR"
Sharon underwent a new computerized brain scan on Saturday that Mor-Yosef said showed swelling caused by fluid build-up in the brain had decreased and pressure had returned to normal.
"We are all impressed by how strong he is and how much he is fighting," Cohen said. "He is just a real warrior, it is his nature."
From Jerusalem synagogues where worshippers prayed for his recovery to Tel Aviv beach cafes where youths carried surfboards, Israelis anxiously followed the ex-general's fate.
At an Israeli league soccer match on Saturday, loudspeakers announced: "Today we are playing soccer but all our eyes are on the hospital." Fans chanted their support.
Throughout the Jewish state, radios were tuned to news broadcasts for any scrap of new information.
World leaders pledged support for Sharon's deputy, Ehud Olmert, appointed acting prime minister.
Sharon is reviled in the Arab world but increasingly seen by the West as having opened up new prospects for peace. He suffered the stroke at a crucial juncture as he was fighting for re-election on a promise to end conflict with the Palestinians.
Political analysts said Israel's March 28 election, which Sharon had been widely expected to win as head of the new centrist Kadima party, would become an open race without him.
Much of Sharon's popularity among Israelis stems from a belief he could take bold steps toward reconciliation with the Palestinians which others would not get away with, given his background as the archetypal hawk.
But Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, a key member of Kadima, said the party would move ahead with Sharon's vision even if he did not return to politics.
"Kadima's political path ... explains the principles of how to handle the conflict with the Palestinians," she said.
Sharon had been campaigning on a platform of readiness to give up some occupied land in the
West Bank, but has vowed to hold on to major West Bank settlement blocs, a prospect Palestinians say would deny them a viable state.
news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060108/ts_nm/mideast_dc
Without taking into his current situation, What are everyone's overall thoughts on Ariel Sharon?
