L48 Anthro 3283 Chapter Notes - Chapter 15: Brainstem
Fadiman Ch. 15 (p. 210-224)
• Lia preferred a nyias (a shawl) instead of a wheelchair
• She was now 7 years old; the doctors have been waiting for her to die for almost 2 years
o Although she was not dead, she was quadriplegic, spastic, incontinent, and
incapable of purposeful movement → condition a “persistent vegetative state”
• Functions in brainstem worked, but not in the forebrain
• Debating whether or not she is conscious, or if her reactions to her family and other
things are just reflexes
• The Lee’s would use the tube to feed her, but after a week, they just squeezed the formula
into her mouth
o It worked perfectly, even though the doctors predicted that she would choke to
death without the tube
o The only problem was that if they didn’t use the tube, Medi-Cal refused to pay for
the formula, so Peggy and Neil started giving them cases of Similac
• Medi-Cal was willing to pay for a wheelchair and a suction machine, but it drew the line
at a pediatric hospital bed
o The bed, which the Lee’s never requested, became the focal point toward which
all of Jeanie’s grief and rage about Lia’s condition converged; it pissed her off
that they wouldn’t pay for it
• Lia’s brain damage cured her epilepsy
o Her soft food diet cured her obesity
o Peggy said she was the healthiest she’s ever been, a perfect vegetable
• Lia became the patient nurses liked, not the hyperactive child with seizures
o In the eyes of the medical staff, her parents went from child abusers to model
caregivers
o Peggy said her parents were great caregivers, better than most white families;
most white families would have institutionalized their child
• March 5, 1987 – the parent’s probationary status as guardians had been lifted
o They continued to fear that their daughter may become government property
again
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
