Sharon Suffers a Stroke

[IAMedic]

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has suffered a massive stroke and is currently on a ventilator. We all know what the outcome is for someone who suffers a massive cerebral hemorrhage not a blockage, but a hemorrhage. Prognosis is not good.

What do you think this means for Israel?? What do you think this means for Palestine?? What do you think this means for the US and it's very close relationship with Israel??

His Deputy Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, is a spitting image (politically and philosophically) of Sharon. Do you think that the US will continue to embrace Olmert and will he want us to remain as close to them as Bush as been with his boss??

[EMSsquirrel]

Well, I know one thing for sure. As Dave Barry once wrote, "They can hold all the peace talks they want, but there will never be peace in the Middle East. Billions of years from now, when Earth is hurtling toward the Sun and there is nothing left alive on the planet except a few microorganisms, the microorganisms living in the Middle East will be bitter enemies."

When you ask if the US will embrace Olmert, are you asking whether official policy will embrace Olmert, or whether the public will embrace him? In my humble opinion, the US (as a matter of foreign policy) is always going to be embracing Israel. We stood by them when they were first formed. We recognized them. We've supported them. In a way, we don't have a choice but to continue to do so.

- Greg

[BFD Medic424]

I think Greg is right, they will always be fighting with each other over there. Hopefully the US can work with both sides and maybe slow down some of the violence. As unstable as that area is, its hard to say what will happen.:confused:

[southpawmedic]

I just heard on the news that Pat Robertson stated that Sharon's stroke is divine retrobution. That's a huge statement!!!!! Thoughts........?

[paramedicmike]

Here's a quick blurb re: Pat "Give me his head on a platter" Roberts:

http://www.kare11.com/news/cooler_article.aspx?storyid=115851


For someone claiming to be a Christian preacher, he seems to be one of the most un-Christian people out there.

And millions listen to and follow this guy regularly.

-be safe.

[DaSharkie]

Now I have a strong faith in God, but Pat Robertson has been saying some crackpot stuff in the past couple of years. I can't believe so many people listen to the stuff he spews out of his mouth. :confused: :confused: :confused:

[emtp2031]

Well if Sharon passes along with Arafat passing last yr (?) it will be good for those 2 countries....from what I've been told from someone who's been in the room with these two men in the past said that all you could feel in the room was complete hatred for each other.... the US doesnt need to work with a terrorist country and it doesnt,but it will always work with the one that isnt.

[rory_el]

This will be a destablizing event at the least. Sharon was the unifiing force in the current goverment and a respected stalwart able to sustain current Israeli peace plan of disengagement and reunification. It's a shame for the entire region that he did not have more time to solidify the current gains. The are certainly those who regal in his demise and seek to advance a more fundamentalist/antagonistic position

[BFD Medic424]

Just saw this............

JERUSALEM - Doctors inserted a feeding tube in Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's stomach on Wednesday, according to Jerusalem's Hadassah Hospital, where he is being treated for a massive stroke.

Sharon, 77, has been in a coma since he suffered a stroke on Jan. 4 and the stomach procedure was further evidence that he is likely to be incapacitated for a long time.

Long-term care specialists and a U.S. authority on comatose patients have examined Sharon in recent days. Experts say his chances of regaining consciousness or a meaningful level of activity are slim.

"Tonight Prime Minister Ariel Sharon underwent a gastrostomy, a process in which a tube is inserted into the stomach for feeding," the statement said. "The procedure was carried out under anesthetic and was successful. The prime minister's condition continues to be critical and stable."

According to an extensive study on strokes and stoke care by Dr. Jose Biller Dr. Ernesto Fernandez-Beer, quoted in "Best Practice of Medicine, 2004," gastrostomy is indicated for patients "in whom a prolonged phase of recovery is anticipated."

"This basically tells me that they've made a commitment to preserving him as long they can in this very debilitated state," said Dr. Keith A. Siller, medical director of New York University's Comprehensive Stroke Care Center. "The patient has in fact surived but without the likelihood of any significant functional recovery ... The prognosis is terrible."

Sharon suffered what was described as a "massive stroke" with "significant" bleeding in his brain on Jan. 4, a day before he was to check into Hadassah Hospital for a procedure to correct a tiny defect in his heart that was said to have contributed to a mild stroke he suffered two weeks earlier.

Doctors have come under fire from critics who questioned whether Sharon should have been treated with massive doses of anticoagulants after his first stroke, which was caused by a small blood clot in a cranial artery. Doctors admitted that the anticoagulants made it more difficult for them to stop the bleeding from the later hemorrhagic stroke.

The extensive bleeding and the lengthy operations Sharon underwent to stop it have led experts to conclude that he must have suffered severe brain damage and was unlikely to regain consciousness. If he does awaken, most say, the chances of his regaining meaningful cognition or activity are slim.

Sharon had set up a new political party, Kadima, just weeks before his strokes, and was planning to lead it in a drive for re-election in March 28 general elections. Polls showed that he was a strong favorite to win.

His close political ally, Ehud Olmert, was named acting prime minister after Sharon's second stroke and is Kadima's candidate for prime minister. Polls have shown the party maintaining its wide lead under Olmert.

Sounds like the end could be near. I sure hope Isreal has better luck "managing" a feeding tube than what Florida did.:D

[IAMedic]

I sure hope Isreal has better luck "managing" a feeding tube than what Florida did.:D

:wow: :rotflmao: Oh Snap!! That's a good one!! :bow: :jig: