More on Terri Schiavo

[StPaulieGirl]

Terri's feeding tube was removed for 6 days.  After it was reinserted, she bounced back.  This means that if a court orders her to be starved to death, it could take upwards of 14 days!  She's a fighter, therefore imo, she wants to stay alive.  If she didn't, she would have died years ago.

My point about lethal injection is that hardcore criminals have it easier than Terri (or anyone else subjected to this).  If this is to be the standard for healthcare in the future, they should just shoot them up with a lethal dose of morphine and be done with it.  

What about parents who have babies with Cerebral Palsy, Spina Bifida, Down's Syndrome, etc?  They have the hardest job in the world, yet they love their children, and accept the burden for the most part.  Should those babies be euthanized?  I mean come on, these kids are a burden on everybody!

Christopher Reeves almost died, but because he's rich and famous, he got the intensive therapy he needed.....and now he won't shut the hell up. (opposing political views lol) But see?  If he was Joe Schmoe, who knows what his condition would be?  What if he had a wife who had caused his injuries and wanted to shut him up?  She's messing around with all kinds of men, and wants him to just go away, so she can spend the settlement money on herself?  Is that right?  No way, Joe Schmoe has a right to whatever medical therapy is available to help him.

I believe in the death penalty too.  I also believe that prisons shouldn't have weight rooms or tv sets.  Put them out on road construction gangs, and work their worthless asses off.

[kiddosmom]

I agree with you 100% on the prisoner opinion!

I have worked in nursing homes where the patients are in better condition then this woman, and listened to them scream throughout the night to help them die, because they are paralized and cannot move. They have their minds, yet not a body and they do not wish to live. Yet they are made to because they have no choice. They live with feeding tubes because they refuse to eat through their mouths because they want to die,, the only thing keeping them alive is that feeding tube. NO I do not think a person in any shape or form should be starved to death, and if this man refused to let her get rehabilitaion should pay for that. The medical opinion now, 13 yrs or however many yrs  later is that this woman is past any kind of recovery, this is NOW her suffering,, I am not talking 13 yrs ago when it could have helped.
If he did do something, she is now beyond telling, unfortunatly.
Parents with children that have disabilities have to endure hell itself for their children and are the strongest people in the world and deserve every respect.
No parent wants to let go of their child, but I would not want my child to suffer, just to keep their body alive.

[StPaulieGirl]

If you worked in a nursing home,  then you know the difference.  I would suggest Risperdal for the screamers.  Being that agitated does no one any good.  If a patient refuses to  eat by mouth, then ethically (remember ethics?), the facility needs to provide nourishment via entubation.  Lots of people with mental disorders refuse food, do we put up with their antics?

Do any of these patients have regular visitors?

Until I knew my mom was safe, I made daily visits.  Some of these places are down right disgusting.

Terri breathes on her own.  What's the big deal about a feeding tube?  Get her out in a wheel chair.  Take her to the park.  Embrace her and let her know that people care.  I believe that having support from family makes all the difference in recovery.

[Indigo Mom]

-----I know that I personally would not wish to live as a vegtible, or even mentally retarded. I would prefer to pass away. Who would want to live not being able to move anything other then mebe your eyes? and maybe grunt? That is not life, it is just existing.-----

Existing is living.  With every ounce of respect you do deserve, I must say...DAMN....that's barbaric thinking.

Thousands upon thousands of less than desirable people have been exterminated because of thinking just like this.  Many moons ago, a person was tossed into an insane asylum and ultimately beaten to death by a system who was afraid of those "different" than themselves.

My little brother is mentally handicapped.  He's retarded, he'll never progress past the age of 6, he has autistic "qualities", he has add, he'll NEVER be able to take care of himself.  He IS a burden.  He's only a few steps above Terri on the "veggie" scale.  Does he not have the right to life?

Who decides who lives?  Who dies?  I can answer that....none of us.

Thinking that people who aren't perfect don't deserve life is a tad bit awful.  Terri is NOT a vegetable.  She wasn't born a vegetable, she wasn't raised a vegetable.  Someone made her that way...and I do disagree with her being called a vegetable, veggies get better treatment than she has so far.

Now, I must bring this in "legal" terms.  Doesn't Terri, by law, have the right to protection from the person who harms her most?  Doesn't Terri, by law, have the right to medical attention?  Both of those basic rights have been violated for 13 years.  

Her husband is CLEARLY a criminal.  He shouldn't be allowed another girlfriend, any more children.  He should be sitting in prison right now because what he did to her was heinous.  He took her life.  He created this "vegetable" like you guys are calling it...yet he's walking free.  He's able to use the courts to further his abuse on this woman.  Hasn't he had enough?  Nah...he won't be happy until her body is cremated leaving all traces of FACT to dust.  

Her parents SHOULD have a say in this womans life.  After all, it is they who are truly concerned about their daughter.  If NOTHING else....they would be allowed to let her die with DIGNITY and GRACE!  Not starving to death over a 2 week period.  

Jumping off my high horse now.

[kiddosmom]

Actually, alot of the screamers were in their right mind. They can carry on a conversation with you, know what day it is - so long as they are kept up with it-  recognise whoever is in the room ect.. they could not get meds unless they were ordered by the physisian. These were older people who DO have family members coming,, at least every few days, and by refusing oral feedings is the only way they know how to try and die like they want,, and when someone takes that choice, they suffer, they cannot get up and leave to protest, so they scream.
Imagine yourself in the position of Terry,, would you want to be there?
After so many years, this stimuli is not going to produce any desired affects, embrace her? she does not recognise what an embrace is anymore. As for getting her out in a wheel chair, and taking her to the park,,,, Once you are a tube feeder, you are pretty much in that bed till the day you die. They have to put the tube into the body and the only time it comes out is to have it changed. And as infection is a major factor....
Many people are taken to the Hospitals from accidents and are as brain dead as Terry, if you insert feeding tubes the body will still live,, if you do not, they use the organs as donations to people who are dying.
I honestly feel for this woman and what her family must have been through. I would not make my child suffer so, or myself!

[kiddosmom]

-----I know that I personally would not wish to live as a vegtible, or even mentally retarded. I would prefer to pass away----

I said my personal preferance.
I never once said anything about children who are born with disabilities other then their parents are the strongest people and deserve the highest respect.
To me existing is not living, living is being able to breathe and eat and move and smile and laugh, and know what is going on around me.
You are right in what you say this man who withheld medical care to his wife deserves.

---Who decides who lives? Who dies? I can answer that....none of us.---
i disagree, if it were not for medical care Terry would die. But it is someones choice to keep her alive.

The only thing i ask,, Put yourself in TERRY's place,, not the parents, not the POS that calls himself a husband.

I have 2 children and it would kill me if this happened to them.

[Indigo Mom]

lol....so I jumped again.  So I responded quickly and without thought.  Sue me.......lololololol

-----The only thing i ask,, Put yourself in TERRY's place,, not the parents, not the POS that calls himself a husband.-----

Ok, will do.  As I'm laying at the bottom of the stairs after being brutally assaulted by a man called husband, I'd be thinking...damn man...I hope the doctors can prove he did this to me that way he can never do it to another human being again.  Course, I'm thinking about all this before I black out......................

[kiddosmom]

my thoughts exactly,,,only add the fact that he denied all medical therapy,, and it is now 13 yrs later and you will never wake up.......

And Terry's position would be?

[Indigo Mom]

-----And Terry's position would be?-----

Hopefully dying with dignity and grace, like I believe she should...and that's IF she's absolutely INCAPABLE of recovering.  Oh, and NO cremation until a thorough autopsy is done.

Then Indys position would be to smash the balls of the monster who did this.  In fact, if you look at all the details, I believe he's up for the death penalty.

[Peanutsdad]

Actually,, beyond the "right to be emergently stabilized" you have no medical "rights" to treatment beyond those you can pay for.

Medical care is not a "right" in this country. It is a service,, either paid for by you, your insurance company or the tax payers ie medicare/medicaid.


Whether or not Terris husband is heinous or criminal, remains for the courts to decide. But, speaking medically, after 13 years in a vegetative state, you have a better chance of being struck by a meteor than she has of making a recovery.

In our family, ie, my mom, dad, brothers, sister, myself, SO, we all know our wishes in this type of situation. Pull the plug, turn off the machines, stop tube feedings, allow us to pass with some semblence of dignity.