Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Review of Alleged Ted Williams Case Reports Printed in Johnson's Book

Someone related to Ted Williams recently asked for my remarks on the alleged case report for Ted Williams, which was printed in Larry Johnson's book. There are too many spelling and grammatical errors to make sense of much of it but, in my opinion, it clearly paints yet another very clear image of the glaring incompetency rampant in cryonics. Even laymen should be able to see the unprofessionalism in most of it. From the alleged TW case notes, published in Johnson's book:

"Mike is trying to do something on the right." (Brilliant record taking!)

"Mike needs a curving knife!" (No comment necessary.)

"Mike is trying to seal up (the tubes?)" (This person does not have a clue what she is describing, other than Alcor's incompetent staff hacking someone's head off and trying to perfuse it.)

"They are trying to open up some part on the front neck..." (More of the same.)

"...Mike murmured "We need electric curving knife..." (Maybe Mike should have been a chef.)

"The head was completely detouched." (No comment necessary.)

"Mike said lots of drainage coming out from everywhere but not from the jugular..." (If this is accurate, it seems blood was coming out from everywhere EXCEPT where it was supposed to be.)

"Brian said we are not getting any cryoprotectant in the venous. Mike back to the head." (It seems they were putting cryoprotectant in the arterial side, but it wasn't coming out the venous side, as it should.)

"Mike called Jose. Jose came back in. (It seemed to me Jose didn't complete his job.)" (How would Erico Narita know if anyone had completed a surgical task? Her notes make it quite clear she has little knowledge of the procedures and equipment. Throughout the report, I believe she uses various terms, such as "canyon," for "cannula." If Alcor assigns their note-taking to someone who has yet to master the English language, (much less applicable medical terminology), how can we even begin to trust them to assign medical tasks to the appropriate personnel?)

The pressure changes, the pump "making funny noises," Mike noticing one of the tubes is "not getting any fluid," the "reflectometer" that "had air" all seem to indicate air was pumped during the case, (something I'm told happens during most cryopreservations, a grossly negligent perfusion error that has been virtually non-existent, in conventional medicine, for decades).

"No air is coming out from the left side as well, Brian noted." (Just guessing from the phrasing, I would say "No" was supposed to be "Now." Either way, it most likely indicates that air was being pumped into, and exiting the vessels, at some point in time...a definite perfusion "no no.")

"The part of the flowrate was incorrect, because bypass line was open." (There's a bypass line that should be closed, when flowing to the patient. When the bypass line is open, a portion of the flow that is supposed to be going to the patient is being diverted to the venous (return) line, without ever reaching the patient. It's not clear when they turned on the perfusion pump, as it's not always clear as to what flows and/or pressures they are referring to, but they document starting the ramping of the cryoprotectant agent, at 22:02. No one noticed the bypass line was open, (a perfusion error), until sometime between 23:21 and 23:27, more than an hour later (79-85 minutes later). Does this seem acceptable for a company that had been in existence for approximately THREE DECADES??? Does this seem like a company that should expect people to believe they can preserve the "legally dead" well enough to be awakened in the future??? Would YOU pay THEM $150K to take perform your cryopreservation?


(The "Mike" being referred to is Michael "Mike Darwin" Federowicz.)

2 comments:

Boundlesslife said...

Quote from Cold Filter: "Will I give up the battle for better care for cryonics patients? No...I will just take it somewhere else. I'm tired of beating my head against the wall here. It makes me mean and nasty, and it's a foolish waste of my precious time."

A wise choice. Beating one's head against the wall *can* make one mean and nasty, and waste one's precious time. There's a story from the past, from which I will omit the names, to protect both the innocent and the not too innocent, about how letting the mean and nasty side of one's self can be like firing a polish pistol!

Once upon a time nearly two decades ago, there were a set of circumstances in which someone not too different from yourself, Melody, found himself in conflict with another cryonicist whose acts had caused him to loose his career in conventional medicine, and it was eating him up. The stress of this was tremendous, and his health was suffering. Yet, he would not give up the battle to put his own health first.

This individual had a military background, and at one time had been a specialist in warfare of a delicate kind, putting it in the most abstract way, "surgically extracting key players on the other side". In any case, it was on a particular night of intense stress over the cryonics conflicts mentioned earlier that he found himself going out drinking with someone he felt understood him, and (as recounted by that friend) was visualizing all of the various ways he could put an end to this individual with whom he had the conflict. The outpouring of hormones must have been tremendous, because the next morning he deanimated and then was suspended. Letting oneself become immersed in turmoil can be lethal, not to those who are plaguing you, but to yourself.

Thank you, Melody, for the spirit and integrity which has characterized your postings on Cold Filter. They are about the only ones I've been reading, along with a little bit of the ones that provoked your responses. I'd rather simply see your thoughts on your own blog (this one).

These comments are not a response to the posting to which they are appended as a comment, by the way. That one just happened to be the most recent, and offered an opportunity to place these comments where I felt they would be more suitable, than on Cold Filter.

Boundless Life,

Fred Chamberlain

AboutCryonics said...

Bless you, bless you, bless you. Everytime I start to think there is no one involved in cryonics worth fighting for, someone like you shows up to remind me some people really AREN'T afraid of the truth, and realize progress won't come without it. My undying gratitude to people like you, Bob, Andy, and a handful of others (who may not want me to mention their names).