ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, February 16, 1996 TAG: 9602160052
SECTION: NATL/INTL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.
NOTE: Above
A former police officer who emerged from a 7 1/2-year stupor and started talking as if nothing had happened underwent lung surgery Thursday that could save his life but plunge him back into a comalike state.
Gary Dockery, who amazed his family with his abrupt return to consciousness Monday, had infectious fluid drained from his lungs. Chronic pneumonia caused the fluid.
After surgery, Dr. James Folkening said, ``He opened his eyes and seems to be responsive, but of course we can't assess his ability to verbally communicate with us at this time'' because he has a tube down his throat.
Doctors said Dockery's vital signs were stable and that he was breathing on his own for short periods without a ventilator. X-rays showed the operation improved the lung condition.
The family's decision to proceed with the surgery was difficult. Doctors warned that the pneumonia would kill Dockery unless he had the operation but that he might never fully regain consciousness after the anesthesia.
Dockery's brother, Dennis, said the family had prepared to let Dockery die of pneumonia, because it was preferable to the vegetative state, until he regained consciousness and went on an 18-hour talking spree.
``Of course, when you've got somebody talking to you [after 71/2 years], you don't want to let go of them,'' Dennis Dockery said Thursday.
Dockery, now 42, was shot in the forehead Sept. 7, 1988, after answering a fake trouble call in Walden, a mountain town 15 miles northeast of Chattanooga where he worked as a police officer.
The shooter, Samuel Frank Downey, told officers he made the bogus call to get back at police for reprimanding him about making noise. Downey, 68, was sentenced to 37 years in prison and will be eligible for parole in 1998.
For 71/2 years, Dockery did little more than blink, grimace or groan. His family never was sure how much he understood.
Last week, seriously ill with a 104-degree fever and pneumonia, he was transferred from a nursing home to the Parkridge Medical Center in Chattanooga. Fluid was removed from his lungs, and within 24 hours of receiving antibiotics intravenously, his fever broke and he began talking to his sister.
He remembered neither the shooting nor taking the Walden police job just three months before. He did recall his divorce and his past jobs and recognized his sons, who were 5 and 12 when he was shot.
He spent Monday talking with friends and relatives, who were quickly called to his bedside. Dockery spoke less Tuesday and not at all Wednesday.
Dockery's family has said he was in a coma all those years, but doctors were skeptical that Dockery was truly in what laymen would consider a coma.
A coma is a short-term state in which a patient is unconscious with his eyes closed. After two to four weeks, if the patient doesn't die or recover, his eyes open but he is still unconscious; doctors call this a vegetative state.
Dr. David Rankine, a Parkridge neurologist who did not perform the surgery, said Dockery was indeed in a vegetative state, but that his limited communication - he could blink ``yes'' and ``no'' and nod his head - indicated that part of his brain was working.
Though recovery is rare, ``we're very hopeful it will be permanent,'' Rankine said Thursday. ``It's very likely it will be permanent.''
``It's still extraordinary, though, no matter if he was in a coma or a vegetative state,'' said Dr. Stuart Yablon, co-director of the brain injury unit of The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research in Houston. ``If I was a family member, I would probably characterize it as miraculous.''
``I cannot count the times I have sat by Gary's bed - the times I have prayed, `Please, if you could just speak to me,''' Dennis Dockery said. ``Most people don't get this opportunity. We are so thankful.''
Experts have theorized that some drugs may inhibit certain functions of the nervous system and can block the effects of the vegetative state.
In 1990, a Wisconsin man in a vegetative state for nine years awoke temporarily after being injected with Valium during a dental procedure.
The 45-year-old, who had been injured in a car wreck, remained fully conscious, talkative and performed complicated math calculations when medicated. He returned to the vegetative state without the intravenous drug.
Experts said keeping someone medicated intravenously for prolonged periods carries risks including depression of the respiratory system or heart.
LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Dockery. color.by CNB