Y’know, it’s hard as hell to Google anything on this case with all those blogs out there. Anyway, all I could find was this:
on wikipedia. That page does contain links to the reports of both guardians ad litem she has had, which may have more detail.
I don’t know if everyone can get to the NEJM article–they may have this one available for free to the public. Anyway, it says:
It is an editorial, but even editorials in the NEJM have to be carefully cited and are heavily peer-reviewed.
DoctorJ, while you’re here- I’m a touch confused. I’ve heard most people say that she can’t feel pain, but I’m also reading that she is on a morphine drip. Is she capable of feeling some pain, or is it just a precaution, or what?
It’s just standard of care. We don’t always use a morphine drip in patients who are not showing any signs of discomfort, but if there is any doubt, we do. I don’t think there is any medical doubt here, but with all the doubt sown by the opposition and the incredible denial of the family, it is worthwhile if it can ease their minds. (An awful lot of end-of-life care is for the benefit of the family, and there is really nothing wrong with that.)
Sometimes it just takes a crotchety old guy to say what needs to be said…
Link
You go, Bill Youmans!
I’m sorry to hear about that. It seems like the ultimate in untenable positions to be in if something like this happened to someone so fearful of passing on. What happens when a family member wants every measure taken indefinitely, but the family knows there’s no hope at all? I can’t imagine having to make that decision. MS fortunately has the peace of mind knowing he’s trying to carry out Terri’s wishes.
It goes without saying, I hope you never find yourself in that situation, Silentgoldfish.
How can people do that to their families? I don’t understand. It’s like saying, “If at all possible, I’d like to be the most excrutiatingly heart-wrenching burden to you before I die.” And, yes, I do think prolonged death is a burden to family members, emotionally and psychologically, if not financially. Everyone I know wants a) to die as quickly and painlessly as possible, and b) for their family not to have to suffer through it. Even the people I know who want TS kept alive, which I can’t even begin to figure out.
Interesting. This made me think that Christianity would have been in such a pickle if our advanced life-saving measures were available and insisted upon by those who followed Jesus. And, of course, if Mary had insisted that Jesus told her he wanted to die (what with his having to save our collective souls and all), they would have called her a whore and said she had some financial gain riding on his death. The media would have crucified HER!
Unless by some miracle she somehow comes back to life, with a completely functioning brain, and is then addicted to morphine.
Seriously, I agree that there’s nothing wrong with trying to assure peace of mind for the family, though I’m not sure it really helps in this case.
The one good thing that I can think of regarding this case is that I’m sure that hundreds of people have started the ball rolling on living wills, et al, of their own. I was discussing this case with my mother, who’s a nurse. I told her in no uncertain terms that I wouldn’t want to live in a PVS.
Her response? “I had no intention of letting you.”
:eek:
Great…now part of me can’t help but think that my mother’s actively plotting to kill me. :rolleyes:
The Schindlers may be giving up, but their whackjob supporters soldier on:
“AAAAAHHHHH WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH to testify!” :rolleyes:
How many people said they didn’t care about Terri and the Schindlers and just wanted to make political noise? It’s nice of them to go and prove it, but it’s not a surprise.
Hope you’ve got your deposit ready for your condo on the eastern shore of the Lake of Fire. I’ll be across the hall in 3G. That cracked me up.
I nominate Mr. Michael Schiavo as MAN OF THE YEAR.
He has stood firm against bribes, threats, ridicule and harassment in order to stand by the woman he loved (past-tense deliberate) in order to full fill a promise to her. This in spite of the damage it has done to his life… a life she would have wanted him to live and enjoy, I suspect. If the religious folks are right, her soul must be somewhere crying and shaking her head for the trials he has endured.
You know what? Time’s PERSON OF THE YEAR thing is a pretty long way off, but you can put Terri Schiavo on the short list of contenders.
I’m wondering if that was their decision…or their lawyers’.
Now Patrick Mahoney is going to Washington and pressuring Congress to make good on their subpoena. At this point, the Schindlers aren’t even involved. A stranger, someone who never met Terri, is going to ask the government to intervene in the relationships between the woman and her doctor, her husband, and her parents.
So now it’s clear that AAAAAAAAHHH WAAHHHHH meant, “I want to appear before the House Government Reform Committee.” It was so obvious!
On the bright side, something called the Revolutionary Communist Youth Brigade has also entered the fray.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/03/27/schiavo/index.html
It’s increasingly difficult to tell the difference between parody and reality.
I love this bit:
I googled this group, and got exactly two hits from the same site, which appear to be coincidental. I’ll bet this is a hoax by the “Make Terri Live No Matter What” to try to tar the oppostion with communist connections. Are there no lows to which they will not stoop?
j
Lawyers probably.
From abcnews.com:
"Outside the hospice where Schiavo is being cared for, five protesters were arrested, and about a half-dozen people in wheelchairs got out of them and lay in the driveway, shouting “We’re not dead yet!” :dubious: