Pitting the Gov. of FL, and the family of Terry Schiavo

The BBQ Pit
1

Terry Schiavo has been making news recently, because she is in a Brain Damaged-Dead Coma State, subsisting on a feeding and hydration tube and has been that way for 13 years. She cannot move, talk, respond, do anything for a productive life, from what I have seen of her on TV.

Her husband had her permission, that if she is in this kind of physical condition to let her die. Her family says that even in this state, Terry would want to remain alive. The family doesn’t want to let her go, OK I can take that, but she has been in a Coma, vegetative state for 13 years, she is already dead, and will probably, most likely not come out of it. She is draining money and resources.

She was taken off of her feeding and hydrating tube, and the court allowed this, but Jeb Bush, Gov of FL, passed a law for her to be put back on her feeding and hydrating tube. She was going to have a peaceful passing - her body would have given out, probably her kidneys, or heart, but she is now having to remain suffering. Her husband, is trying to have this law made unconstitutional, as it is not her wishes.

This lady needs to be let go, let her die, it should have been done long ago, when it was medically established that she was coming out of this condition. Family, husband, friends, could have said goodbye, remember the person you knew when she was vibrant, full of life and productivity, her attributes and contributions and just let her go.

I feel very bad for Terry and her family, and husband, this has splintered them.

I don’t even want to think of all the money that has been put out for medical and legal fees, by the husband and the family.

Some people say this is a Mercy Killing, I don’t see what is wrong with that, if I because of accident, or illness become like this lady, my husband will try to save my life, but he has my permission, my wishes to be let go if I am in a state that I won’t be coming back, it will be hard to do, but I would have lived a full life and do not want to be in a Coma-like state, like Terry, especially for all the years.

2

It just goes to show, if you feel like you would not want to have your life artificially extended in a condition like this, MAKE A LIVING WILL!!!

Yes, you.

Don’t wait until you may be sick, don’t wait until you’re older. Do it now, while you can. If you wait, you may never get a chance.

Sure, it’s morbid.
But when you’re with your spouse / significant other / anyone who may have to make this decision with you, and you’re talkinga bout the day’s events, bring up this little news snippet, and segue easily into…

Don’t ever leave it up to word of mouth, like Terry did–or didn’t…who knows? That’s the problem with just telling someone what you want. Family might not believe it. See why you need a living will? You won’t be in any condition to say “but what I said was…”

My sympathy goes out to Terry and her family.

3

I think what makes this issue more complex than it otherwise might be is the competing personal interests of the players. The husband here is a relatively young man, and does not want to spend the rest of his life married to a vegetable. His only way out - other than allowing her to die - would be to divorce her, but besides for the fact that this looks bad and puts a very unpleasant spin on the entire relationship, he would presumably lose a hefty chunk of money in that event. So he has a very powerful incentive to push for the death option.

The parents OTOH, have nothing to look forward to after the woman dies, so they prefer to hold on to some glimmer of hope.

I’m not saying that the husband does not deserve a lot of sympathy for his plight - he does. But his competing interest clouds his judgment of the case and his actions (and apparently a lot rides on his assertion as to his wife’s wishes).

4

Plus, there’s the small matter that Mr. Schiavo settled a $1 million medical malpractice claim with the hospital, as a result of the allegedly defective care Mrs. Schiavo received after her heart attack, which led to her vegetative state. I’ve heard conflicting reports from different news sources, but apparently at least a portion of that $1 million is payable only after Schiavo’s death.

It’s a terrible story, and I’ve got to have sympathy for both sides. I know I’m going to be filing a living will as soon as possible myself.

5

My only problem with this is that if she is taken off of her feeding and hydrating tube, her death will be from starvation or dehydration. Neither is a very pleasant way to go.

6

I watched a neurologist on a Fox news program who said that her brain function is so incapacitated that doctor’s don’t believe she would feel the pain involved with starvation or dehydration. In addition, he said the SOP for cases like this is to adminster pain medication, in order to suppress some of the bodily functions that occur during starvation and as a “just in case” measure to prevent any pain that might be perceived. He said that no one has ever “woken up” from the state that Mrs. Schiavo’s in after a feeding tube has been removed and been able to tell for sure that no pain was felt, so the pain medication serves as a humane measure.

7

How sad we can’t differentiate between “life” and a beating heart. She’s not alive. She’s barely existing.

How very sad for all involved.

8

Well, unfortunately, it’s not as black and white as the OP would have it. (http://www.terrisfight.org/Framesets/SituationFrame.htm). The family claims that she is not in a vegetative state and can respond to her environment on a limited fashion, and would benefit from rehabilitative therapies that have been denied her. They also seem to regard the husband as having less than noble motives for removing the feeding tube. On the seamiest edge of the spectrum is speculation that the original collapse was due to spousal abuse and strangulation (http://www.ragged-edge-mag.com/drn/07_03.shtml) based on doctor’s examinations at the time of the original incident. These suspicions are at least strong enough that the family was hoping to force an autopsy rather than the immediate cremation desired by the husband.

So, take your pick: Husband has experienced a terrible tragedy and is trying to obey his wife’s wishes and get on with his own life but is being thwarted by the family’s refusal to accept and let go.

OR:

Husband is evil, heartless ghoul and family is trying to save the woman from a painful fate.

Damned if I know.

9

A “Living Will” or “Advance Directives” are important documents but don’t count on them too much unless you can truly trust your nearest and dearest. I work at a retirement facility and have seen spouses refuse to let go and ignore Living Wills or Directives. They can legally do this. I have seen the last few weeks or months of a persons life spent in unnecessary torment because a spouse or child couldn’t accept the reality of death.

Whatever the motivation of Terry’s husband at this point, she should be allowed to die. She has probably already experienced irreversible organ damage as a result of the several days off the feeding tube.

10

I agree that this case is heartbreaking, and I feel for the husband, but he has already acquired a “girlfriend” and baby while his wife is in the coma.

11

Please do a search of the Pit and GD, as there are at least two other great threads on this topic. The discuss the lawsuit money, the parties’ motives, etc. As has been said before, there are no black and white issues here.

As to this, though:

This woman has been in a PSV for 13 years. No matter how much therapy she gets, she is not coming out of it. Mr. Schiavo must be allowed to go on with his life.

12

As someone who’s had to withdraw lifesupport and enforce a living will, I agree. Have one. Imagine a catastrophic stroke where your upper brain functions are virtually anhilated. If there is any bit of ‘you’ that’s left, its trapped in a shell that it can’t understand or control…Forever. I can’t speak for you, but that for me is the real definition of Hell.

And Jeb is forcing her to continue in this Hellish state? What kind of SCUMBAG does he have to be to do that? Even ignoring the fact that the decision is overwhelmingly Evil and appealing to his bean-counter side, $2,000 a day in a hospital for 13 years with Zero chance of return is just a stupid waste of resources (that we don’t have a lot of these days).

Oh, Wait! He’s a Bush. He’s used to Pissing Away The People’s Money and Spreading Evil. It’s genetic.

13

His only way out - other than allowing her to die - would be to divorce her, but besides for the fact that this looks bad and puts a very unpleasant spin on the entire relationship

Considering he has a live-in fiance, has a child with her and one on the way, it doesn’t look like he’s too concerned about what his actions “look” like.

I agree if he has given up on her, he should divorce her and move on. That way he’s free of his troubles and her parents can deal with it.

But there’s money to be had and by God he’s gonna get it.

I don’t look down on him for giving up hope but to refuse to give her access to rehabilitative therapy from day one? This guy is a POS.

14

I did not know about the Live-in Girlfriend and his child(ren) the husband has with her.

No wonder the family is pretty pissed at the husband.

Anyway, Terry should be allowed to die, and go to a better place, than to be made to suffer here on Earth.

15

But’s it’s been thirteen years. He hasn’t had a real marriage with his wife for some time now. I would hope to be able to move on and start a new life were I in his position.

About the money, CNN is reporting that of the $1 million, there is only about $50K left. They didn’t say if the money was spent on her medical care for the last thirteen years, or if the money had been squandered or what, but there is only $50K left and it has been frozen by the courts, so its not like he’s fighting to get his hands on a million dollars; it’s gone.

16

And, AFAIK no one is begrudging him getting on with his life. However, on the one hand he refuses to divorce Terri citing his strict religious beliefs. At the same time he violates those same beliefs by living with his mistress. Were he to divorce Terri I don’t think anyone would even bring this up.

17

If he were to divorce his wife, she would doubtless be made a ward of her parents, who would continue to sustain her body. He asserts this was not Terri’s desire. I would not want to fail to honor my wife’s wishes, should we ever be in such an unfortunate circumstance.

18

I was just listening to an interview with a neuroligist concerning this case. According to the doctor, the portion of her brain that is responsible for conscious thought and movement is just plain gone. He actually used the word “liquefied”. To me, this means that whatever trauma was originally suffered caused that portion of the brain to die and it has since been resorbed, being replaced with cerebrospinal fluid. If this is actually true, then in my opinion it doesn’t matter whether the husband wants the money. His wife has been gone for 13 years. The parents need to give this up.

cj

19

Actually, the starvation and dehydration is a “natural” way to pass. Prior to so much medical intervention people, particularly the aged, lost appetite etc prior to death and the death was frequently attributable to starvation and dehydration.

IMO to many people are involved in this who are motivated by issues other than the welfare of the woman. It matters not who the husband is fucking or whether this plays well in the polls for the governor of Florida - this woman should be let go.

20

For God’s sake: she’s in a permanent vegetative state. She has no cerebral cortex, just a mass of spinal fluid in her skull. She could be slowly fed into a wood chipper and it wouldn’t be inhumane, going by her awareness of it.

And unless the husband has had an active sex life with Terri for the last 13 years, there’s no reason for him not to move on in fact, if not in legal fiction.