The daughter of the late Whitney Houston has been moved to a physical rehabilitation facility, but she remains in a coma, her condition basically unchanged since Jan. 31, when she was found unconscious in her bathtub.
As time passes, the chances grow dimmer that Bobbi Kristina Brown will recover, a top expert tells Newsmax Health.
“The longer this goes on, the worse her prognosis,” said Marc Leavey, M.D., internist at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore.
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Bobbi Kristina, 22, the daughter of Houston and rapper Bobby Brown, was being treated at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta. But she was moved to a different facility last week, according to reports.
Her family, including father Bobby and grandmother Cissy Houston, has been by her side throughout the ordeal. Though doctors have told them to prepare for the worst, they have publicly expressed optimism that Bobbi Kristina would recover.
Although she has opened her eyes on occasion, such seemingly hopeful signs can ultimately prove meaningless, Dr. Leavey said.
“Unless the person is brain dead you are going to have some kind of neurological activity, like the flicker of an eye, the twitching of a finger, or the corner of the mouth curling up,” said Dr. Leavey. “It may be a reflex action that means nothing.”
The transfer of Bobbi Kristina to a rehab facility is the latest signal that the Brown family is settling in for what could be a long wait to see if she has a chance to recover.
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Shortly after her hospitalization, doctors put Bobbi Kristina in a medically induced coma. However, when they attempted to bring her back to consciousness, she suffered seizures.
The decision to remove life support is particularly hard for the family of younger patients such as Bobbi Kristina, said Dr. Leavey.
“People clearly are wondering why the family is keeping her on life support, but this is not an unusual situation when the person is young and had provided no end-of-life directive about their wishes,” he said.
“As long as her heart is beating on its own and she has brain wave activity, she is alive. She may or may not have a future, but there may still be some hope.”
There’s a chance Bobbi Kristina could remain in a coma for a long period, even years, he said.
“She has a young heart, and she’s has help to breath, so as long as she gets good nursing care, she could live for a very long time in this limbo state,” Dr. Leavey said. “No matter the circumstances, this is a heartbreaking situation and very difficult for any family.”