Terri Schiavo Should Die in Peace

Parent Cafe
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<p>Terri Schiavo should die in peace. There’s no chance she will ever regain consciousness. Her husband has the right, since he’s her legal guardian, to do what is best for her. Her parents, the federal government and other bystanders should be ashamed of themselves for letting something like this grow leaps and bounds. Since when did the GOP become the savior for the lives of people? Why not commit to this same role for other people whom hospitals daily pull the plug? Why not ban the death penalty since that’s outright murder of another person? There are so many starving children in the world yet they want to save a 41-year old bulimic who has been in a vegetative state for nearly 15 years. Talk about a waste of taxpayers’ money. </p>

<p>"Since 1990, Theresa has lived in nursing homes with constant care. She is fed and hydrated by tubes. The staff changes her diapers regularly. She has had numerous health problems, but none have been life threatening. </p>

<p>Over the span of this last decade, Theresa’s brain has deteriorated because of the lack of oxygen it suffered at the time of the heart attack. By mid 1996, the CAT scans of her brain showed a severely abnormal structure. At this point, much of her cerebral cortex is simply gone and has been replaced by cerebral spinal fluid. Medicine cannot cure this condition. Unless an act of God, a true miracle, were to recreate her brain, Theresa will always remain in an unconscious, reflexive state, totally dependent upon others to feed her and care for her most private needs." </p>

<p>End her suffering NOW.</p>

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<p>End her suffering!!! That man who calls himself her husband is a monster. There have been people who have had worse injuries that have recovered; and by the way she is not in a comma she is conscious. The man you say has the right to kill her has been locking her in a hospital room and not allowing her to recieve any medical care. She hasn’t recieved a day of physical therapy are any treatment for that matter. No one knows whether or not she can recover because her HUSBAND won’t allow any doctors to treat her. By the way the other illnessed you were talking about were her husbands doing as well. She got several mouth infections because he wouldn’t allow the doctors to brush her teeth. And then he goes on and on about how he needs money and stuff and when he gets it not a dime goes to takeing care of Terri. Last week at the court hearing Terri’s brother begged the judge to let him feed Terri, and yes she can swallow and chew, but the judge told him he wasn’t allowed to touch her. I mean come on, your 100 year old grandmother needs help eating. I was very offended by your bulimic comment. Several people both close to Terri and her husband have said that she was never like that until she married him. After they got married and she gained a couple pounds he kept calling her fat. Even girlfriends of her HUSBAND, that he had after Terri’s accident have come out and said that he is an insane man. Several of them have restraining orders out against him. </p>

<p>Well I guess my point is is that you need to get your facts streight. No one knows how Terri can recover until someone steps in and actually gives her medical care.</p>

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<p>end her suffering now?? when they remove the tube - she will live for 4 to 6 more weeks until she eventually dies of dehydration… sounds like that causes more suffering</p>

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<p>It is cases like this that make you think that we are more compassionate to our dogs then we are to each other.</p>

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<p>Jordana, did you that man studied nursing so he could help his wife, he stayed home with her, he went to specialist all over te country to see if anyone could help her…and that her dad wanted money from him from the settlement, the husband said no, so now dad is mad…what a loving family that is…so unless you know all the facts about a family, don’t judge the husband…he has done all he can, let the doctors do all they can</p>

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<p>He has not done all he could. Doing all you can isn’t dumping your sick wife in a nursing home where they can’t give her the proper treatment, and then not allowing them to give the treatment they can. He wont let her family see her or talk about her.
And please tell me that it is not suspicious that both the last time he tried to kill her and this time, he has had a cremation appointment lined up for mins after she is dead and he has refused to let her body be autopsied.</p>

<p>Please tell me again this is a good man just trying to help his poor wife.</p>

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<p><a href=“http://www.sptimes.com/News/013000/TampaBay/A_family_divided.shtml[/url]”>http://www.sptimes.com/News/013000/TampaBay/A_family_divided.shtml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>People, she HAS NO CEREBRAL CORTEX like the article stated. Doctors found out back in 1996 that permanent brain damage has taken its toll. This was 1996, people. It’s 2005 now. She WILL NOT RECOVER. She won’t be a productive member in society anymore. A person cannot recover if they have SPINAL FLUID in their brain.</p>

<p>Jordana, stop being sexist and spreading lies. Terri’s husband sued the doctors years ago for not diagnosing correctly that she had bulimia which caused her cardiac arrest and her current sistuation. The doctors afterward told the family that she had permanent brain damage. The parents refused to believe their daughter <em>died</em> after her cardiac arrest. Michael, as her husband and legal guardian, wanted her to be in a better resting place and not trapped in some living corpse with no cognitive abilities. </p>

<p>The GOP and bystanders are making political grandstanding by getting involved in this case. We already know that the GOP are hypocrites. Now they want to support her parents when the GOP are usually pro-states’ rights, pro-HMOs and pro-capital punishment (a.k.a. murder). They should respect the Florida court decisdion to carry out Terri’s husband wishes by ending her suffering and rising medical costs. She will NOT RECOVER. She has PERMANENT BRAIN DAMAGE. </p>

<p>Dying by starvation is not as bad as you think about it:</p>

<hr>

<p>Experts Say Ending Feeding Can Lead to a Gentle Death </p>

<p>By JOHN SCHWARTZ </p>

<p>Published: March 20, 2005 </p>

<p>To many people, death by removing a feeding tube brings to mind the agony of starvation. But medical experts say that the process of dying that begins when food and fluids cease is relatively straightforward, and can cause little discomfort. </p>

<p>“From the data that is available, it is not a horrific thing at all,” said Dr. Linda Emanuel, the founder of the Education for Physicians in End-of-Life Care Project at Northwestern University. </p>

<p>In fact, declining food and water is a common way that terminally ill patients end their lives, because it is less painful than violent suicide and requires no help from doctors. </p>

<p>Terri Schiavo, who is in a persistent vegetative state, is “probably not experiencing anything at all subjectively,” said Dr. Emanuel, and so the question of discomfort, from a scientific point of view, is not in dispute. </p>

<p>Patients who are terminally ill and conscious and refuse food and drink at the end of life say that they do not generally experience pangs of hunger, since their bodies do not need much food. But they can suffer from dry mouth and other symptoms of dehydration that can be treated effectively. </p>

<p>Once food and water stop, death usually comes in about two weeks, and is caused by effects of dehydration, not the loss of nutrition, said Dr. Sean Morrison, a professor of geriatrics and palliative care at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. “They generally slip into a peaceful coma,” he said. “It’s very quiet, it’s very dignified - it’s very gentle.” </p>

<p>The process of dying begins in the kidneys, which filter toxins from the body’s fluids. Without new fluids entering the body, the kidneys produce less and less urine, and the urine becomes darker and more concentrated until production stops entirely. </p>

<p>Toxins build up in the body, and the delicate balance of chemicals like potassium, sodium and calcium is disrupted, said Deborah Volker, an assistant professor of nursing at the University of Texas who has written extensively on end-of-life issues. </p>

<p>This electrolyte imbalance disrupts the electrical system that triggers the action of muscles, including the heart, and eventually the heart stops beating. </p>

<p><a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/20/n...html?oref=login[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/20/n...html?oref=login&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Every video I’ve seen, Terri Schiavo is smiling and responding to her family. How can you starve a person like that to death? If the parents want her alive and want to pay for it, why does the husband and society care? The husband should divorce her and give custody to the parents. Take her home and feed her there.</p>

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<p>Jordana,
Do you have any idea how difficult it is to care for a person and attend to every physical need? Professionals are much more equipped, both in training and in practice, for these things. Terminally ill patients or people like Terri need care, literally all the time. It is not something that one person alone can handle. “Dumping her in a nursing home” can actually be a remarkably compassionate response - much like giving a child up for adoption. There are people who are just not equipped for that level of care, simply because there is a huge amount of work to be done. I would suggest that, before you get angry or overly opinionated, to care for someone who is completely helpless, by yourself. It’s an eye-opening experience and might give you some perspective.</p>

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<p>Regarding the video: they are not her really responding, they are more wishful thinking…the judges have even commented that they can tell nothing from the videos…any reaction is reflex. Do some research and see what the doctors have said, who have do the tests, and don’t just read the religious articles…what you see on the videos is a few moments that are manipulated to look much more than they are…nothing has changed in all these years, she is not getting better…let her go with dignity…the fighting between the men is so sad…</p>

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<p>I support the concept of letting someone die with dignity. However, starving them to death without hydration is not the peaceful death many imagine. I know as I faced a similiar decision for a loved one who had “:no chance of recovery” and was comatose. After talking to doctors and doing intensive research, I discoved that dying through starvation and lack of hydration can be quite painful and that comatose patients can and do feel at least discomfort. I know that my family member definitely reacted to the pain of medical tests and procedures even though she was comatose and considered “brain damaged” like Terri Schiavo. </p>

<p>If we really want this woman to die with dignity, I think she should be treated with the same humane respect for basic human requirements Let her die a natural death, not die through starvation. At the very least, let her receive hydration.</p>

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<p>"She won’t be a productive member in society anymore. "</p>

<p>Oh, is this the new way we measure whop lives and dies? By how “productive” they are. </p>

<p>If her parents were willing to take on her care, why does her husband feel compelled to deny that request and termite her life? What’s the problem with allowing her parents to administer to her? He needs closure - so he needs her dead. </p>

<p>From all that I’ve read and seen, she smiles at appropriate times and responds to her family. </p>

<p>Nobody really knows what she understands and doesn’t…so why take the risk?</p>

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<p>I agree Momsdream. Who is to measure the value of my life or another persons life? What right do we have to say that a disabled person can no longer be “a productive member in society” and should therefore be put to death?</p>

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<p><a href=“http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2005/03/09/17-medical-affidavits-about-terri-schiavo/[/url]”>http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2005/03/09/17-medical-affidavits-about-terri-schiavo/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>The court ruling addressed those videos. Although the out-of-context video snips featured on the terrisfight.org website, and on TV newscasts, seem to show Terri reacting to things around her, the full, uncut video shows Terri smiling and moving her eyes at random. In one instance, her eyes appear to track a balloon; that short sequence has been shown over and over. What they don’t show is the many failed attempts made to get Terri to follow the balloon. With clever editing, even random motions and reflexes - such as smiling and eye movements - can seem conscious. The intelligence and cognition on display isn’t Terri’s, but the film editor’s.</p>

<p>This is a well-known argument, brought up by past expert witnesses and relied on by Judge Greer in his decision. Yet not one of the 17 experts address this argument at all. Not one of the 17 experts reports having viewed the uncut films of Terri (and I doubt any of them did); in fact, several of them specify that they viewed the short clips available on the internet or seen on TV.</p>

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<p><a href=“http://www.kron4.com/Global/story.asp?S=2994651[/url]”>http://www.kron4.com/Global/story.asp?S=2994651&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“http://majikthise.typepad.com/majikthise_/2005/03/debunking_lies_.html[/url]”>http://majikthise.typepad.com/majikthise_/2005/03/debunking_lies_.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Carolyn, Terri Schiavo is brain-dead. While I am not a doctor, I do believe her reflexes are non-existent at best. She will never recover because she has spinal fluid in her brain. The brain is part of the nervous system; her brain has deteriorated since her cardiac arrest. The longer she lives, her condition will worsen. It’s creepy because I see her as a living “corpse” who died long time ago. Medical technology is just keeping her “alive” because her parents won’t move on and taxpayers must cover her costs. Let her die in dignity.</p>

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<p>Taxpayers must cover the cost? Are you kidding? Taxpayers pay for nursing home care when the husband was awarded millions? (or did I read that wrong somewhere)? Put simply, the husband wants her to die and the parents want her to live. If I were on a jury, if the parents want to pay for her care, then I say she lives. I hope that mean old husband of hers (why did he never divorce her?) doesn’t get his way.</p>

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<p>Before judging ANYONE, read read read, and read not just the religious press, I am Catholic, and I read it all!! Read the posts, read the doctors reports, the sciencist, and not just the talking heads…</p>

<p>so if your parents come in they can make choices for you…her body is barely alive and her brain is not…it is so sad that assumptions are made without having the facts</p>

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<p>Whichever side of this one believes, there is no escaping the issue that Michael is one very vile, horrible, sleazy, sickening and disgusting creep of a man. He gets on television and pontificates about his commitment to his “wife”, yet, this serpent lives with and impregnates another woman while still “married” - it’s rather obvious that Terri is simply an inconvenience that he needs to hurry up and murder. He’s also a liar, and I would need every bit of server space here to type the post long enough to articulate and document all of his lies. </p>

<p>If he possessed even a shred of humanity, he would relinquish care of Terri to her parents. Unfortunately, I do agree that Terri will never recover, but at least, if permitted to care for her and explore medical options, her parents could have some avenue of understanding and perhaps eventual acceptance of this. </p>

<p>Mother of God, there’s actually armed policemen outside the door to her room, guarding just in case someone tries to feed her. How horrible, how inhumane, how absolutely unthinkable.</p>