She received her last rites when the tube was removed, and she is going to recieve the sacrament one last time before her death as well. This is all according to CNN http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/03/27/schiavo/index.html
I haven't tried to follow this ordeal very much since it's really none of my business, but it's being shoved in my face on TV and net so I guess it becomes my business. I decided to do a tad bit of reading to get a general idea of whats going on and even so it's not enough to make a fully informed decision. When it comes to these situations the average American only reads and hears whatever they WANT and not necessarily what the need. The article written by the nurse who cared for Terri is very revealing if you ask me. This nurse and however many others involved are partly to blame for this entire mess. How much care did they give her that they didn't reveal? They had no business doing some of the things they did to help Terri survive and should be punished by having their licenses revoked. They took it upon themselves to make decisions that were not theirs to make and assisted in prolonging her life. How dare they abuse their powers like that. Without a doubt, the husband sounds like a first degree ahole, but she chose to marry him. Has everyone overlooked this vital fact? Did someone hold a gun to her head and say "Marry this ahole". Think about it! Give her parents control? why? Did they take control when she was about to marry this ahole? no! Did they take control if they thought their daughter was being abused? no! Did they take control when they saw their daughter turning to skin and bones from belimia? no! Why are her parents so high and mighty all of a sudden? Why should they be given control of her life when all along they didn't participate much. Give me a break! Our life is based on our own choices! She chose this guy and she chose to get sick trying to please this guy. She chose not to put in her will to have her parents as her guardian which means she chose her husband as her guardian. She apparently didn't put down any decisions as to whether or not she would want life support. Did she even have a will which is still her choice. She made a lot of poor decisions that put her in this situation. If there is anything to be learned from this whole fiasco it's that everyone is responsible for their own lives. Your choices made today will affect your future. Learn from her mistakes and start putting together your own will and cover any issues you might have pertaining to a situation like this. Don't leave it up to others when it's as simple as writing your instructions down!
man i started to read this thread and then got upset about it...so i stopped, if i repeat others i apologize....a couple things that i wanted to comment on before i start... first off her husband refused both a freaking million dollars and ten million dollars to give the rights to her folks. does that sound like a man who just wants his wife to freaking die for selfish reasons or someone who honestly seems to be trying to fulfill his wife's wishes? people get all in knots and want to try to freaking look at things and make a judgement. murderer? people want to call him that....what a crock. if she wasnt living in this day and age, she wouldnt be even alive now. sometimes our technology traps people here and doesnt let them pass peacefully,. do i agree with removing the feeding tube? i have no idea, i dont know what she can and cant perceive. i have no clue how they can say what she can and cannot feel. doctors certainly do not know as much as they think they do. they say she wont be able to feel the sensation. i wish they could just inject her with something and let her pass on quickly. what gives me a right to have an opinion or get upset about this? this whole situation is very haunting and too close to home with me. my mother was in a car accident in 1988....count....that is 17 years...she is a double brain injury...she lives in a nursing home and has gone through many stages...there were regressions where i wished death on her cause i know that she just wouldnt want to live that way. she too survives with the use of a feeding tube.....but 17 years ago people didnt think about living wills....i was 13 at the time so its not like her and i had extensive conversations about such things...but i know my mother and i know she wouldnt want to be in this position. every member of that family has the right to feel how they do...noone is wrong...its their own feelings they are dealing with....and it pisses me off that the nation feels that it is their business. its the families not a bunch of people who havent walked those shoes and dont have one clue what the hell they are arguing about. sorry if this sounded angry. i am not really angry just frustrated...unless you have been there you have NO idea what emotions are involved in it all....
Would you want THIS to happen to you, simply because your husband (who has a girlfriend and a several children on the side) wants you dead, so he can collect insurance payments?[/QUOTE] he's not allowed to move on> GEEZ, why not? my stepfather has a girlfriend..has had several over the years but he also took care of my mother at home for 10....why arent they allowed to move on? if she has died in the first place would you condemn him for having continued his life?
yes, it was years ago though, this sort of thing, the living will only really came into play, became big as people were hearing cases like hers within the last few years. she was 27 when she got in this condition....you dont think about death then. i have a living will but how could i not, i have been a caretaker for 17 years.... how do you all feel you can judge the husband or anyone...and how do you feel this has anything to do with her decisions she made in her life? we dont deserve the things that happen to us all the time....sometimes it is just the way it is. and you can always get people to come out of the woodwork and make the most saintly person out to be a demon....truth is this many years later he was still fighting for her wishes and that he was still involved.....not many people still stick by
i hadnt gotten this far into the thread when i decided to post, i am sorry that you too have experienced such a matter but i am glad to see that you too feel that all outside judgements are harsh and come from judgement not concern for the loved one and their families...not everything is about a right and wrong...there is no definative at all...and it is completely between them, the family, and God....not any freaking body else.
I'm sorry if I'm repeating anyone, but Terri said she wanted to die. So don't take the tube out of her, just let her die on her own, with the tube. Her time will come. As for her husband, he wants to move on with his life. Let him! Both Terri and her husband would be happy if the feeding tube was kept in the body and Michael could go on. Wouldn't that be good for everybody?
If I get in a coma, unplug me as soon as it's clear that I won't wake up anymore. My organs will be given to others, being buried doesn't need electricity or doctor's attention, my bed in the hospital will become vacant for someone who needs it more than I do... I'm more useful to the world dead than comatised. So I'm slightly on the husband's side here, seeing as I would rather die than "live" if I was in Terri's situation. However, it wouldn't be completely fair to the parents either. But if there's just no use keeping her "alive" like that... Sigh. It's difficult.
I don't think the fact that she is a "vegetable" or not is relevant. She is a human being. Who knows what the body comprehends even in that state. Not one us do. Allowing a dehydration of a fellow human is wrong and inhumane. If someone did that to a dog or horse - they would be in jail. I have personally been in this situation. I was 9 months pregnant and overdue when my mother collapsed in front of me. I was giving her full cpr, before the resque squad was there. I heard and felt her breastbone serperate. When the docs ran all the tests and discovered heart attack - massive. No brain waves. I took a copy of the sheet and went and studied what wave patterns there were in the medical library. I went into labor 2 days later. Hard as hell delivery with all kinds of "problems"... 2 days after I left the hospital, we had the life support pulled. she died within a minute. This woman has been without water for over a week now. What does her body know? who knows. Her body may be in excruciating pain. Or it may not. We don't KNOW. But her soul does!
the family didnt do it the parents did, and just cause its in the media doesnt mean its our business...they knew this would create hype and take the nations thoughts off of other matters....still though, even with it being in the media and people hearing the sides, it still doesnt give anyone the right to judge. you dont know unless you have been there. as i stated i think this is a horrible way of doing it, but its not my place. its between the husband, her, the family and god.
With all due respect to those who feel passionately enough about this issue to respond, I must now add my opinion. Terri Schiavo, by most credible accounts is in a persistent vegetative state. This is a very specific condition and many people who are posting have obviously not taken the time to properly learn the proper definition of this condition and thus are comparing it to all sorts of unrelated conditions. If I could, I would help Terri Schiavo to live and in fact, if I could somehow wave a magic wand, she would be up and talking, walking, and enjoying her life once again. It is easy to be tortured by the "if onlys" of this case. If only she hadn't have been a victim of bulimia, etc. I truly believe that most people (disregarding some political opportunists) have Terri's best interests at heart. However, sometimes it is more humane to let energy leave a damaged shell and find a new place to gestate than it is to keep that energy trapped. Some have posted that it is akin to starving a dog to death. This misguided metaphor reminds me of the puppy I owned when I was 7 that accidentally got run over but was not immediately killed. Even though in my heart I wanted nothing more than to reverse the hands of time, even at that age I knew that was not possible. We made him as comfortable as possible, but it was obvious he was suffering greatly. Needless to say, we had to have him put to sleep, even though it caused us great grief. I know that we did the right thing. the Humane thing. Terri Schiavo cannot think any more. She can not talk. She can not feel. She can not express love. Her energy is inside her, locked inside her, to be more precise. Energy cannot be destroyed. When Terri dies, I will be sad for myself and for her loved ones, and for anyone who will be affected by this. It is going to be a very emotional day and we have all been changed forever by this story as we have struggled with our consciences. I believe that Terri's positive energy is needed more in our world than it is inside of her body. But what is truly important is that it has been proven to any reasonable person's satisfaction that her wish was to not be kept alive in the manner that it has been. I respect her wishes and I hope that everyone will find the will within themselves to respect her wishes. When Terri passes, please plant some seeds or a tree, and let her life stand for something more than her illness and death. Thank you for listening to yet another opinion. Peace.
let her die!!! whats worse, having her die and getting over it, or watching her slowly die before your eyes over a period of time. the life she is living right now can not even be considered a life, she cannot do anything but sit in bed all day, she is not living, she is just waiting to die in the hospital room, someone like her has nothing to look forward to
capnquisp, that was beautiful and i couldnt agree more. this whole family is definately in my prayers....and i do agree the energy is best used in the universe not trapped...i highly applaud your thoughts here
watch Terri LAUGH with her dad (fairly recent video) This doesn't look "vegetative". http://gordonwatts.com/ConversationWithTerri.wmv and COMMUNICATE with her mom http://web.tampabay.rr.com/ccb/videos/hows_that_cold.rm here are a few CT images and readings from another site... http://codeblueblog.blogs.com/codeblueblog/2005/03/csi_medblogs_co.html
I, too have been in these shoes. Twice. Once for my brother and once for my step father. Stevie (brother) was profoundly mentally retarded. his life quality was like that of an infant, except he did some social interaction, recognized a few people, had a few favorite things. Coca Cola, ice cream, and trains. he was in a group home because texas stupidly shut down all the state MHMR schools save one, in a lawsuit settlement. my brother inhaled some food, which caused pneumonia. He lay in a hospital bed, deterirating for three weeks. My mom was a basket case. one lung collapsed day 2. we had it reinflated. he started seizing, something he'd never done, on day 5. by week 2 he didn't recognise mom. we debated a DNR for days. if he'd recovered, he would be bedridden for the rest of his life. He was 33. Now, when a train ride is what you basically live for, that is a big chunk of quality of life. we directed a DNR order three days before his other lung collapsed. The order was honored and my brother had pallative care for his last hour. One isue was custody, like Schiavo. Stevie was technically a ward of the state, as a group home resident. For a while it looked like we would have to go before a judge for the DNR, and def. to withdraw life support. at our house, because some meddling nurse called a disabled rights group, my mother was getting calls calling her a murderer at all hours. this was her precious son. she fought to have life support after the birth. Twice a hospital official has suggested letting him go at other points in his life. She didn't. with my step dad we had a living will, but we still had to make the decision to say, Ok this is enough. he died of an infection caught post-op that shut down his kidneys. This is not a lightly taken decision, and everyone should get the hell out of Michael Schiavo's life. put yourself in his shoes even 13 years ago. Watch the person you love fade and plateau. hold her hand and know she will never recognize you, will never feel wind or sunshine again, will never eat another dinner.... would you REALLY let that ride? really? The parents need to let the family SHE CHOSE make decisions.
exactly, like i said, if you havent been there you dont understand. its not easy is it? no, and the whole family has gone through hell..the decision has been made everyone, just pray she dies soon and everyone can start to be at peace.....God help them all.
