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American Morning

Interview With Jessica Lynch's Doctor

Aired May 09, 2003 - 09:08   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Doctors say former prisoner of war Jessica Lynch is getting better by the day. Private Lynch was captured when her Army convoy was attacked in southern Iraq back on the 23rd of March. She suffered multiple injuries. But on the night of April 1, commandos stormed a hospital in Nasiriya and brought her to safety.
Lynch is being treated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in D.C., and the head of that team handling her care is Dr. Greg Argyros. He is with us this morning.

Doctor, good morning to you.

DR. GREG ARGYROS, WALTER REED ARMY MEDICAL CENTER: Good morning, Bill.

HEMMER: It's my understanding that Jessica Lynch does not remember much right after a rocket propelled grenade hit her vehicle. Tell us what her last memory is.

ARGYROS: Bill, the last memory she has is riding in that vehicle, and the next thing she remembers is when she awoke in the Iraqi hospital.

HEMMER: How much longer after that, do you know? Was it days?

ARGYROS: It was from the time period that her convoy came under attack until she woke up in the hospital. I don't know exactly when during her time in the Iraqi hospital she does begin to recall events. It was just sometime during that time in the Iraqi hospital.

HEMMER: Doctor, I think you have said that this is not amnesia she is suffering from. If that is the case...

ARGYROS: That is correct.

HEMMER: ... what is it?

ARGYROS: As I have said previously, amnesia is the loss of the ability to recall an event that's been previously laid down in someone's mind. If you meet an individual or experience an event, a memory is laid down in the brain and you're able to recall that, and that is your memory. When you lose that memory, that is amnesia.

There are events that occur when memory is not laid down. Some examples I can give you include if you've ever undergone a surgical procedure and have had general anesthesia, the anesthesiologist is there beginning to give you the medication will have you start counting backwards: 100, 99, etcetera. You then go off to sleep and you have no recollection whatsoever of the events that take place during that because no memory is laid down. My...

(CROSSTALK)

HEMMER: Yes, Doctor -- I'm sorry, go ahead. I didn't mean to interrupt you.

ARGYROS: That's OK. My specialty is pulmonary and critical care medicine, and as part of that, I take care of patients in the intensive care unit. We see multiple individuals who -- while they are spending time in the intensive care unit recovering from a very serious illness, they may be interacting with the family and the staff, their eyes may be open, they may be speaking, but after the event is over, after they recover from the serious illness, they have no memory whatsoever of that time period.

HEMMER: Is that trauma or is that injury or both?

ARGYROS: It can occur from either scenario. Either the trauma of the time period in the intensive care unit, or from just being asleep like you would be under anesthesia.

HEMMER: Would she get that memory back?

ARGYROS: It's unlikely that she will. Private Lynch has been evaluated by a number of mental health professionals and her medical team, and those individuals have particular expertise in the evaluation of individuals who have suffered war injuries, and it is their opinion that it is very unlikely that in the future she will recall any of those events. There is no evidence...

HEMMER: Doctor, part of me says she doesn't want these memories back. Is that likely?

ARGYROS: Again, I can't speak for Private Lynch in that matter. All I can tell you is that she is consistent in every question that she has answered in response to that time period. She has gone through both military debriefing from the individuals in the Army who are conducting investigations for the potential for war crimes and things like that, and she has also undergone her medical debriefing by her medical and mental health team, and repeatedly as she has been asked by each of these individuals, she has absolutely no recollection whatsoever of any of those events.

HEMMER: Doctor, I'm up against time here, but absent of the discussion we're talking about with her memory, do you expect her to make a full recovery with the amount of broken bones this young woman suffered?

ARGYROS: Bill, our goal with all of our casualties that have come back from Operation Iraqi Freedom and with any war time scenario is to return those individuals to full duty, and that is our expectation with Private Lynch, that she will return to full duty.

HEMMER: Hey, give her our best, will you?

ARGYROS: Yes, sir. Thank you.

HEMMER: Dr. Greg Argyros is there, Walter Reed Army Hospital down there in Washington. Many thanks. Have a good weekend.

ARGYROS: You, too, Bill.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired May 9, 2003 - 09:08   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Doctors say former prisoner of war Jessica Lynch is getting better by the day. Private Lynch was captured when her Army convoy was attacked in southern Iraq back on the 23rd of March. She suffered multiple injuries. But on the night of April 1, commandos stormed a hospital in Nasiriya and brought her to safety.
Lynch is being treated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in D.C., and the head of that team handling her care is Dr. Greg Argyros. He is with us this morning.

Doctor, good morning to you.

DR. GREG ARGYROS, WALTER REED ARMY MEDICAL CENTER: Good morning, Bill.

HEMMER: It's my understanding that Jessica Lynch does not remember much right after a rocket propelled grenade hit her vehicle. Tell us what her last memory is.

ARGYROS: Bill, the last memory she has is riding in that vehicle, and the next thing she remembers is when she awoke in the Iraqi hospital.

HEMMER: How much longer after that, do you know? Was it days?

ARGYROS: It was from the time period that her convoy came under attack until she woke up in the hospital. I don't know exactly when during her time in the Iraqi hospital she does begin to recall events. It was just sometime during that time in the Iraqi hospital.

HEMMER: Doctor, I think you have said that this is not amnesia she is suffering from. If that is the case...

ARGYROS: That is correct.

HEMMER: ... what is it?

ARGYROS: As I have said previously, amnesia is the loss of the ability to recall an event that's been previously laid down in someone's mind. If you meet an individual or experience an event, a memory is laid down in the brain and you're able to recall that, and that is your memory. When you lose that memory, that is amnesia.

There are events that occur when memory is not laid down. Some examples I can give you include if you've ever undergone a surgical procedure and have had general anesthesia, the anesthesiologist is there beginning to give you the medication will have you start counting backwards: 100, 99, etcetera. You then go off to sleep and you have no recollection whatsoever of the events that take place during that because no memory is laid down. My...

(CROSSTALK)

HEMMER: Yes, Doctor -- I'm sorry, go ahead. I didn't mean to interrupt you.

ARGYROS: That's OK. My specialty is pulmonary and critical care medicine, and as part of that, I take care of patients in the intensive care unit. We see multiple individuals who -- while they are spending time in the intensive care unit recovering from a very serious illness, they may be interacting with the family and the staff, their eyes may be open, they may be speaking, but after the event is over, after they recover from the serious illness, they have no memory whatsoever of that time period.

HEMMER: Is that trauma or is that injury or both?

ARGYROS: It can occur from either scenario. Either the trauma of the time period in the intensive care unit, or from just being asleep like you would be under anesthesia.

HEMMER: Would she get that memory back?

ARGYROS: It's unlikely that she will. Private Lynch has been evaluated by a number of mental health professionals and her medical team, and those individuals have particular expertise in the evaluation of individuals who have suffered war injuries, and it is their opinion that it is very unlikely that in the future she will recall any of those events. There is no evidence...

HEMMER: Doctor, part of me says she doesn't want these memories back. Is that likely?

ARGYROS: Again, I can't speak for Private Lynch in that matter. All I can tell you is that she is consistent in every question that she has answered in response to that time period. She has gone through both military debriefing from the individuals in the Army who are conducting investigations for the potential for war crimes and things like that, and she has also undergone her medical debriefing by her medical and mental health team, and repeatedly as she has been asked by each of these individuals, she has absolutely no recollection whatsoever of any of those events.

HEMMER: Doctor, I'm up against time here, but absent of the discussion we're talking about with her memory, do you expect her to make a full recovery with the amount of broken bones this young woman suffered?

ARGYROS: Bill, our goal with all of our casualties that have come back from Operation Iraqi Freedom and with any war time scenario is to return those individuals to full duty, and that is our expectation with Private Lynch, that she will return to full duty.

HEMMER: Hey, give her our best, will you?

ARGYROS: Yes, sir. Thank you.

HEMMER: Dr. Greg Argyros is there, Walter Reed Army Hospital down there in Washington. Many thanks. Have a good weekend.

ARGYROS: You, too, Bill.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com