schiavo

[ophiura]

Originally posted by lovethesea
None of the above are living with an atrophied brain and only electrical activity in the cerbral cortex.
I definitely agree with you.
I was going for that extreme cases scenario of the argument "I wouldn't want to live that way" - wasn't this part of "million dollar baby" or one of those movies? :notsure:
Anyway, part of my argument is the "slippery slope" issue. Where is the dividing line in cases such as these? And as a philosophical point, should we define an instance where we administer drugs to a person instead of allowing them to die in this fashion? Which is another slippery slope to be sure, but is it more humane?
Another question for discussion - would people be opposed to them seeing if she could be fed by mouth? It is my understanding that this is currently forbidden by the court in her case. She hasn't had the therapy to try. What are the general thoughts in that situation?
All JMO

 

[judyk]

Being in Florida, we've been hearing about this for a long time. Her husband had her in therapy and eventually gave up. Also, her parents took her home at one point and returned her becausing of being unable to cope with her care. Numerous doctors have testified on her brain activity. One judge even appointed an independant party to investigate this situation and he agreed with the doctors and husband. This has been in every court that would hear them for years. There is no monetary gain in this. It's strickly from the heart on both sides.

 

[lovethesea]

slippery slope indeed. I stated that earlier out of fear before the courts denied the families request to reinstate the tube.
This is all very important, no matter how young of an adult we are, we need to make our plans in writing. We donate organs based on hearsay or just because we want to.
Terry will never be able to have "therapy" for feeding. She does not have to ability to learn that. She is only operating on the "electrical" part of her brain.
I feel for the families involved, but the government needs to stay away from making these decisions because it could set precadent (sp) for all of us who have expressed our wishes verablly and written.
IMO, Dr. Kavorkian was on the right track, we all should have a say.....just my opinion of course

 

[dave flood]

I told my wife the other day if that happens to me pull the plug. Who the hell wants to live like that. I was just in the hospital for 6 wks. for a burst brain anurism & I almost died, I remember laying in the hospital thinking it would be ok to die now. Heaven, there's no better place to be.

 

[volitan100]

yeah , she is like a zombie. I say pull the plug

 

[lovethesea]

 

[michelle l]

Hey, everyone. There IS no "plug", just a tube. And that tube has already been pulled. Now everyone has just been standing around waiting for her to starve to death. When you guys get a fish with ich, you at least flush it and end it quickly. The law doesn't even allow citizens to have the right to be humanely euthanized, the way an animal or a murderer would. It's sad.

 

[valimisu23]

well if this issue hasn't opened a lot of eyes i don't know what will.
my husband and i have clearly conveyed our feelings to each other and each of our families that we WILL NOT live on life support. you can have a DNR (do not resuscitate), but i think that it's easy for family to fight that in court.
IMHO for the love of all that's holy go to a lawyer, spend the $100 bucks and GET A WILL!!!
that's the ONLY surefire way to make sure that your wishes are honored and documented while you're sound of mind.
everyone can go on and on about THEIR opinions and what they wouldn't want to live like but this is a PRIVATE family matter and should be hashed out between the husband and parents of this soul that's stuck here on earth in this state because she didn't put her wishes in writing. i can't even believe that this made it to Congress.
what about all of the hundreds of thousands of people that this has happened to year after year? what makes terry's case so different from all of those families?
FWIW, if you're single and one or both of your parents are still alive, they make this decision. once you get married your spouse becomes liable for this desision unless it's protested by your parents/family.
translation: if you get married, get a WILL. a will states your will of what's to happen in every situation that you list in the will.
I vow to have a will within 60 days. If this issue hasn't made you feel like you need one then what will?!?!?!?!?

 

[chainsaw5vent]

Originally posted by jj48
.
But her "husband" (I use that term as loosely as possible) has been living with another woman for years while STILL MARRIED to Terry and has two kids with this other woman
poor decision on his part. why not get divorced and let go of her?
and pwnag3. the goal of life is to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior of each of our own lives. a life lived to make it to heaven is just that, a life lived...but without Jesus.

 

[knots]

Since no one knows what Terri is thinking, then we should all stop trying think for Terri. It's obvious that Terri's husband gave up on her 10 years ago. So why doesn't he just quit fighting for her to die and just divorce her? From what I have read there is a whole lot more than 50,000 reasons not to divorce her. Her parents are more than willing to take responsibilty of her. Maybe they couldn't take care of her on their own, but that doesn't mean they don't love her and want her to live. The simple easy way to solve this whole Terri problem would be for the husband to quit fighting for her to die. But once again money and the husbands love of it is going to kill Terri. It's another sad day for America and for all of us who love this country.

 

[nw2sltfsh]

Sadly this morning Terri passed on. If we agree or disagree with the removal of the feeding tube we must recogonize that this woman and her fight for life has brought to the forefront an issue that should be addressed by every american, the need to make your wishes known and documented in the case that you are unable to speak on your own.
My prayers and condolenses go out to Terri's family and friends
May she rest in peace.

 

[schneidts]

Well said...Amen.

 

[volitan100]

Liontamer, I did see that episode of south park last night, good episode

 

[pontius]

I found it interesting to read on yahoo that Michael Schiavo is having Terri Schiavo's funeral at an undisclosed location so that her parents cannot attend. I think that shows a lot about what kind of person he is.
I have no doubts or arguments that Terri Schiavo is better off now. But my problem is that if I butcher a family of 5, I will most likely sit on deathrow for about 20 years, after which time I will be given a couple shots and allowed to pass away peacefully. This woman has committed no crime, but she is starved to death for almost 3 weeks. anybody see the irony there?
next, how is Jack Kavorkian in prison for murder, and this case was basically about government sponsered murder. or at the very least, voluntary manslaughter.
Michael Schiavo has been living with a woman for 10 years and has 2 children with her. in most states, this is called "common law marriage". also in most states, paligomy (I believe this is the proper term for having two wives) is illegal. Michael Schiavo has committed paligomy and adultery over the past 10 years, is he not accountable for this? and at the very least, since he's obviously moved on with his life, why should his say bear more weight than what her parents say?
there's a lot more I could say, but I think it's over. a lot of you seem to take what Terri Schiavo said about life support as absolute fact. nobody but her "husband" heard her say this, right? I'm pro-choice as far as abortion. I'm pro-capitol punishment as far as crime. but neither one of those affects the way I feel about this. again, I think she's better off now. but I think it was handled wrong, and I think her "husband" is a scumbag.

 

[maeistero]

sorry i didn't want to read all through you'alls (is that a word?) posts, but i think they would've done better with a lethal dosage than let her starve to death or do without water to death. that was cucking ridiculous!!!! kill her or don't!
instead we make her suffer while it's debated in the house and senate. they should be sent to jail for that. kill her or let her live. the suffering of dying is insane. i hope she haunts them in their pain.

 

[judyk]

Maeistero,
Actually, this goes on daily. I had an uncle that was terminal. His wishes were to terminate food and water once he slipped into a coma. The family complied. It also took a couple weeks and was hard to watch but that was his choice.

 

[moraym]

Originally posted by maeistero
instead we make her suffer while it's debated in the house and senate. they should be sent to jail for that.
Oh please, the govt had nothing to do with her "suffering". The decision was made to pull the tube by the husband, the drawn-out house and senate debate was over whether they could do anything about it. The debate did not make her death go any slower. If anything, the debate through the levels of government and court system gave her more time to live. Stop trying to blame the government for every bad thing that happens.

 

[sw65galma]

My take is that Way back when like 15 years ago she said she didn't want to be artificially kept alive.
But i'm sure she had no idea how fast medical technology would have advanced in that time.
It's done like a 20x improvment in speed.
Who knows, maybe in 5 more years, they would have figured out how to cure her from her current state.
With stem cell research coming down the line, who knows the possibilites.
I myself would want to be kept alive in the case that waiting just a little bit longer would allow a cure to be created.
And brain damaged beyond repair TODAY doesn't mean it's beyond repair Tomorrow with stem cells.??
Remeber that!

 

[takia]

While we could debate all day about Mr. Schiavo's behaviors what I keep telling myself is that if I was in the shape that he was in I would want my spouse to move on. And, I also feel that Teri has been exploited by HER family. They are constantly in any picture you see related to this case, I have seen very few pictures of him. This is because, as his lawyer has stated, he loves his wife, and feels that family matters are just that. They are not political, or court matters. Good for him that he is having an undisclosed location. Let the man grieve in peace. If her family was involved it would be a circus, from the media that would be alerted to the protestors that would interfere. Good for him!! Reclaim his life. And, by the way, he and his WIFE will be entered into the same family tomb. BTW, Teri's brother and parents are already entertaining book offers per CNN and FOX news..... HMMMMMM......

 

[effloresce]

It was good for him to pull the plug, but he should have at least let the parents in at her last few minutes. thats pretty cold.