Two key tests are scheduled today for 16-year-old Hope Myung, the victim of the near drowning at Vaitogi two weeks ago.
KHJ News was unable to use her name until now, after her family gave permission.
A friend of the Myung Family, who has been posting updates on Hope’s condition, said, “A clear definition for Hope’s medical state needs to be established before next steps can be selected. This means her mental state must be clear, including both blood flow to the brain and level of brain activity.”
If either of these conditions cannot be confirmed, she will likely be declared “brain dead,” a diagnosis which all but eliminates additional medical action.
Doctors at Queen’s Hospital Honolulu will conduct cerebral profusion scans to confirm blood flow to her brain. If blood has not been flowing to her brain, there is nothing else that can be done.
Once blood flow is confirmed, brain activity needs to be confirmed. An Electroencephalogram (EEG) will be conducted to provide a sensitive test of the brain’s electrical activity. If electrons aren’t firing within her brain, again, there is nothing else medically that can be done.
The family friend wrote, “Please keep those prayers coming, both for Hope and for the Myungs. The emotional stress of the unknown is crushing. It is only the peace of trusting God’s perfect plan and the knowledge of the global outpouring of prayer that helps to sustain them at this point.”
