I have stayed out of any and all threads that have addressed this issue. But this gave me pause and I thought the Dope would like to read it. Forgive me if you’ve seen this. Mods, since this was sent via group email with the name and email address of the author, I’m thinking that it’s not a copyright violation to post it.
Living will is the best revenge
By ROBERT FRIEDMAN, Perspective Editor
Published March 27, 2005
Like many of you, I have been compelled by recent events to prepare a
more detailed advance directive dealing with end-of-life issues. Here’s
what mine says:
In the event I lapse into a persistent vegetative state, I want
medical authorities to resort to extraordinary means to prolong my
hellish semiexistence. Fifteen years wouldn’t be long enough for me.
Robert Friedman is editor of Perspective. He can be reached at friedman@sptimes.com
[Note: edited for copyright reasons. Full article can be found here. Lynn}
And the “Mrs.” would have underscored the fact that she is married–you know, that sacred institution that is so threatened by outside forces–the same one that the GOP vowed to defend against all comers…
Yes, an evil, EVIL man who only wanted to see her wither away from deprivation so that he could line his pockets with her VERY BLOOD…
…who was at her side when she passed, and who wants an autopsy done to show that, although her body was alive for fifteen years, the person, the identity, the soul had long since left.
Sarcasm aside, the man was AT HER SIDE for Christ’s sake when the moment came. How would these fanatics have characterized that? Making sure she was dead? I wasn’t sure what to make of him from all the bad press he got, but reading about how he was with her when she died made me realize how brutally villified he was.
A clergyman representing the Schindlers in the CNN article was quoted as saying that this situation was an “atrocity.” He was goddamned right, and the good reverend helped perpetrate it.
I hope that the Schindler’s sue Mr. Schiavo civilally for murder. If they do I believe they stand a good chance of winning. For one there is the bone scan which shows a history of trauma. Then there are the reports of a girlfriend (after Terri was injured, but before he made his bastard kids with his current woman) who states that Mr. Schiavo threatened and stalked her. Then there are the statements from Terri’s former friends and family who say that Terri was about to leave Michael when she was “injured”. We also have the testimony of Dr’s like Michael Baden that it would be very unlikely that electrolyte deplection caused her brain damage as opposed to physical trauma. We also have former nurses like nurse Iyer who have said that they believed Michael tried to kill Terri while in Long Term Care (she even filed a police report at the time and was fired). Michael also admits to not even performing CPR (despite being trained in it) when Terri supposedly collasped initially. All in all the parents very well might win by a preponderence of the evidence.
Today, America stood by and did nothing as a likely wife beater was allowed to slowly starve a woman to death with the sanction and protection of the courts. The fact that the parents had over thirty doctors on record as saying that Mrs. Schiavo was not in a PVS, but was instead minimally concious meant nothing. Those who had no problem with Janet Reno taking action in the Gonzales case when the 11th Circuit ruled against her proclaimed that the legislative branch had no business even passing a law which they wouldn’t enforce. Jeb, and George Bush despite their statements did little to actually protect life. Today America moved closer to Huxley’s and Orwell’s totalitarian state as the band played on to the dirge of “I wouldn’t want to live like that.”
Soul Brother, I guess I’m the rare one who read your entire “living will”. It pretty much mirrors my own feelings, and captures the bile that is stuck in my own throat. I’ve watched my mother, and several relatives die (from cancer). I’ve seen the doctors perform unnecessary surgeries that do not save their lives, or do anything for the pain, they just prolong the death. I’ve seen them play cheap with the morphine because well uh it’s addictive (?). I’ve seen them, especially with one relative, keep cutting out and cutting off more bits and pieces, knowing full well he was going to die very soon anyway. Better to go all at once than a oiece at a time.
Bottom line is, I have a living will that says Pull The Frigging Plug. If I had the authority to do so, I would have done it personally for the above people, who I cared about very much. There’s a difference between providing care and practicing medical sadism.
Doppleganger, Mr. Schiavo has already stated he WANTS an autopsy. It would clear him of any and all abuse charges. Terry Schiavo was not beaten into her vegetative state, she starved herself into it. Other than that, this whole sorry travesty has been in and out of the various courts for uhhhh FIFTEEN YEARS and more. In each case, the courts found for Mr. Schiavo. If there had been anything fishy going on, I think somewhere along the line, it would have slipped out. You don’t know what you are talking about. Just like the media and politicians who jumped on the bandwagon to score “ratings” points.
Bed sores. Ever hear of them? Fifteen years of lying immobile in a bed will do that. But, it’s easier to smear the poor bastard who had been trying to take care of her all these years.
Yes the case was in 15 courts, but only the initial case decided by Judge Greer looked at the facts of the case . All of the other courts simply found that there was a trial with no grounds to overturn the decision they did not revisit the facts of the case de novo as Congress had passed legislation for them to do.
How do you explain all of the previous broken bones on the bone scan?
How do you explain the former girlfriend who says that Michael S. stalked her?
How do you explain the nurses who claim that Michael denied her care and at least on one occassion tried to kill her with an overdose of insulin?
How do you explain the fact that Michael Schiavo claimed in court (when he was suing the doctors for malpractice) that he needed at least 20 million (he only got about two million) to pay for Terri’s long term care and attempted rehabilitation only to end all care as soon as he got the money?
How do you explain the numerous unpaid doctors for the parents who believe that Terri was not in a PVS?
How do you explain the fact that Michael S. wouldn’t divorce Terri even though he had kids with another woman?
How do you explain the fact that Michael S. only claimed to know Terri’s wishes seven years after the initial event?
How do you explain the fact that Michael S. only asked Judge Greer for authority to cremate Terri after the bone scan came to light?
Yes Michael S. said he wanted an autopsy in recent days. Could it be that his attorney advised him that everyone in Florida who is cremated must have an autopsy and he wanted to appear on the right side of the issue?
Was Jesse Jackson watching to much Fox News? Is that why he also got involved? How about Bill Clinton who in recent days stated that he supported feeding Terri?
Why were the parents prevented from even trying to give Terri liquid of food by mouth? She didn’t “drool” therefore she had at least some capacity to swallow.
Not really a nitpick, but bedsores are not the same as bruises.
A bedsore or decubiti or pressure ulcer starts as redness to the affected area. If pressure is not relieved, usually a blister forms. If pressure is still not relieved or is not relieved often enough, for long enough–the skin under the blister will essentially erode away. If the pressure is not relieved, a sore can deepen until it involves bone–basically, there is now a hole or crater where there used to be intact muscle and skin. Bedsores usually occur on the “pressure points” of the body–any joint that is put under pressure–likely ones are the sacrum (your tailbone), either hip, knees, ankles, elbows, shoulders. I have seen pressure ulcers develope on the ears d/t the pressure that the oxygen tubing can exert on fragile, poorly nourished skin like we see in the elderly.
Once the barrier of skin is broken-the body is quite vulnerable to bacteria etc.
The best way to “treat” a bedsore is to NEVER get one. Turning a pt at least every 2 hours, changing their position and doing passive range of motion on each joint, ensuring adequate nutrition (especially protein intake and fluids) also is a major factor.
It is well known that TS does not have any bedsores–a miracle in and of itself, given the length of her confinement to bed and her complete lack of awareness and dependence on others to do for her what she cannot.
I hadn’t heard of any bruises and am putting them in the same category as the bleeding from the eyes–the BS pile just gets bigger with this case.