Will anyone order an autopsy when this is over? I wonder how effective it would be if a medical examiner could show these right-to-lifers exactly what is left of Terri’s brain.
In the same vein, check this out:
They’re praying to Jeb Bush? I didn’t know “Jeb” was short for “Jebus”!
I know it’s just an unfortunate turn of phrase from a reporter in a hurry, but it made me laugh.
By this standard, it would be easy to prove that she is not only conscious, but endowed with psychic powers of precognition and clairvoyance. :rolleyes:
Dangerosa: Given the evidence I’ve seen, she isn’t there to communicate, but even if she were, there is no way to tell if “ARGGGGGGGGGGGH” means “let me live” or “please release me from this tortured existance” or “I want to see Patty Duke movies” or “retrain me to swallow, I really want some Rocky Road Ice Cream.”
That’s the scary part. I tried to imagine if it were me lying there, to all appearances persistently vegetative, unable to move or communicate or even swallow my own saliva, but nonetheless somehow conscious…
…for fifteen years…
…WITH NOTHING TO READ.
I swear, I get the shakes just thinking about it. Being kept artificially alive as an unconscious vegetable is an appalling enough prospect, but at least I wouldn’t know anything about it. Being kept alive as an isolated, immobilized prisoner in a completely non-responsive body, for decades… I can’t imagine anything worse.
I now have Weird Al Yankovic’s song “Mr. Frump In The Iron Lung” stuck in my head.
Let us all pray and hope that never happens–look what some of them do with the abortion pictures someone gave them!
Judge Greer has rejected the latest petition for Florida to take custody of Terri Schiavo, the one based on Dr. Cheshire’s analysis.
Well, I’m not a trained psychologist, and all I’ve seen are the videotapes – but I gather from the examples set from our Glorious Leaders that the former is not an obstacle and that the latter is quite sufficient.
Yep, that’s my read on it, too.
I heard that the husband went to nursing school after the incident so he could take better care of her.
Any merit to that?
He just wants to better understand the thought processes of people with no cerebral cortexes—watching Fox News is a pretty good way of doing that.
As far as I can tell, he is the only principal in this sad affair who has behaved honorably. I fear I would have been teeing off on her parents worse than they have been teeing off on him.
Actually, I speculated something similar a few pages ago in response to fessie. Even now, 15 years after she died, it seems that she, through her husband, and her parents are in a fierce battle for control over food. 
Warning: heavy religious content in spoiler box:
Dear God, people! On Sunday, Catholics, Episcopalians will celebrate the triumph of life over death and the hope of the resurrection! In order to rise again, one must die first; the joy of Easter morning is preceded by the grief of Good Friday. Let her die that she may know the hope of the resurrection. I’m certain God will take much better care of her than the poor delusional fools that pass for her parents will!
CJ
:eek: That’s my idea of hell. Seriously. My claustrophobia kicks in just thinking about it and I want to hyperventilate.
Thank goodness the judges are smarter, and know the law better, than the politicians.
The amount of ignorance is astounding. It’s not about whter it’s a coma or PVS, it’s not about whether she has a chance of recovering. It’s about the fact that a competent adult has the right to refuse medical treatment, and if they are unable to communicate we use a certain standard to determine what the best course of action would be.
This is the standard: Knowing that person’s previous thoughts on the issue, if they were to wake up now, for 10 minutes, be fully aware, and then return to their previous state, what would they tell us to do.
Terri said repeatedly “no machines for me”. So that’s the end of it, in withdrawing hydration and nutrition we would be fulfilling her own wishes, as we understand them to be.
If anyone is interested, the NEJM has some great articles on the issue. They will be published in the April 21st edition, but are available online now to subscribers.
Too bad Dan Rather can’t dig up a copy of the living will, it would solve a lot of problems.
Saw a “Save Terri” protestor holding a sign that said, “What if it was you?” :dubious:
Why, yes - that IS a compelling argument for letting the poor woman die. Thanks for clearing that up!
Yep, that’s kind of where I come down on it as well. To feed the “hunk of meat” to keep it breathing - even against her own wishes - in order to give peace to her parents…well, not comfortable with it, don’t like the idea ethically, find it a waste of resources, but I can think of worse things.
But if she is actually there (and I don’t believe she is)…oh my God. Please, please I hope I never have to live like that. (And yes, at least prop a cereal box in front of my face).
(And I can imagine something worse - believing one of my children was locked inside that non-responsive body).
In fact, I think he works as a respiratory therapist now.
Not only a registered nurse but a respiratory therapist.
This has been linked about a billion times in these threads but it’s for a good reason.
As I watch the grandstanding “Christians” who keep trying to conspicuously get themselves arrested for bringing water to Terri I am bemused by the irony that if one of these dimwits actually tried to pour water down her throat she would probably choke to death and die.