Bobbi Kristina Brown's family will keep her on ventilator
A source tells ET that Bobbi Kristina Brown's family has no plans as of now to take her off life support.
The family met yesterday to decide whether the 21-year-old daughter of Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown should remain on a ventilator in a medically-induced coma. Legally, the final decision is up to Bobby and a source told ET that he was the most upbeat that they've heard him sound in a while -- and gave no indication that he's even thinking of removing his daughter from life support.
According to the source, Bobbi Kristina is making improvements, her vital signs are stable and her organs are not failing. The family did not, however, address the possibility of brain damage.
It's been almost three weeks since Bobbi Kristina was discovered unresponsive in her bathtub on Jan. 31, and was rushed to a hospital in Rosewell, Georgia. The incident came just days prior to the third anniversary of Houston's death.
While the family continues to hold out hope for Bobbi Kristina's recovery, Dr. Julian Bragg, a neurologist at Midtown Neurology in Atlanta, who is not one of Bobbi Kristina's doctors, tells ET that patients in her condition may have significant brain damage.
"Normally patients like this have significant injury to the brain stem, which controls very basic functions such as breathing," Dr. Bragg says.
He added that if the brain stem is still functional, it is possible for the patient to "live indefinitely off the ventilator as long as continued nutrition is supplied."
However, he says there's also the possibility of a dangerous loss of muscle strength.
"After spending more than two weeks in a medically induced coma, or for any cause, the body goes through a number of changes," Dr. Bragg says. "There is a significant decrease in muscle strength both in terms of moving the limbs and in terms of breathing. Often people require extensive strengthening not only in being able to sit, stand and move around, but even simpler things like swallowing and breathing."
In the unfortunate event of her death, sources tell ET that any service for Bobbi Kristina would be held in Atlanta, where she grew up, but that her body would be laid to rest in New Jersey next to her beloved mother, Whitney Houston.