R.I.P. Terri Schiavo

[Desdinova]

Maybe now the media will find something to report on that people CARE about

Yeah, like removing the Pope's feeding tube.

 

[Giovanni Casanova]

Originally posted by mahon83050
Where did you get sight and touch from. I never heard that she was blind, where are you getting your facts from?

When your cerebral cortex is liquefied, your eyes may be able to "see", but your brain cannot register that you are "seeing" or identify what you are "seeing". Ditto with touching (and every other sense for that matter).

Read up on all the really cool things that the cerebral cortex does for you, and then ask yourself how long at a maximum you would want to live without those things.

 

[Ricky]

If just one of those judges wasn't also brain dead.

But judges are hunted nowadays anyways and I wouldn't want to say anything to contribute to that wrong and hostile environment.

 

[WastelandWarrior]

Man, I really wish that all the people who are so profoundly concerned about the wellbeing of Terri Schaivo would at least learn how to spell (and pronounce) her name.

And put spaces between "well" and "being"

Come on man, is that all you can come up with is my putting a "y" instead of "i?"

Read up on all the really cool things that the cerebral cortex does for you, and then ask yourself how long at a maximum you would want to live without those things.

All the husband had to do was come up with concrete evidence and this wouldn't even have been an issue.

 

[A&F Brand Cologne]

Originally posted by Giovanni Casanova
Man, I really wish that all the people who are so profoundly concerned about the wellbeing of Terri Schaivo would at least learn how to spell (and pronounce) her name.

oh the irony...

 

[Giovanni Casanova]

Originally posted by A&F Brand Cologne
oh the irony...

Haha... typo. Schiavo. Look at the rest of my posts and you'll see that.

 

[DJDamage]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N21349374.htm

WASHINGTON, March 21 (Reuters) - Terri Schiavo, at the center of an emotional and political storm over whether she should be allowed to die, will almost certainly never recover from her unconscious condition, neurologists agree.

She is in a permanent vegetative state, and no one has ever come back from such a condition, according to the American Academy of Neurology.

"Approximately 10,000 to 25,000 adults and 6,000 to 10,000 children in the United States are diagnosed as being in the persistent vegetative state," the Multi-Society Task Force on Persistent Vegetative State says in its 1995 guidelines on the condition, the latest available.

"Survival beyond 10 years is unusual. The chance for survival of greater than 15 years is approximately 1 in 15,000 to 1 in 75,000," it adds.

While most neurologists agree that recovery is almost impossible, the decision on whether and how long to keep such a patient alive is usually left to the individual doctor and the patient's guardian.

Schiavo has been in the condition, which is far more severe than a coma, since she had a heart attack in 1990 that deprived her brain of oxygen. Under the medical definition, that became a permanent state after a month.

Her husband and legal guardian, Michael Schiavo, has fought to allow her to die and courts have supported him.

The tube was removed on Friday after Florida courts rejected numerous last-ditch legal attempts by the parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, to keep their daughter alive. But early in the hours of Monday morning President George W. Bush signed a bill allowing federal courts to again intervene in the matter.

The Schindlers believe their daughter responds to them and her condition could improve with treatment. Tennessee Sen. Bill Frist, a surgeon and Senate majority leader, has viewed videotapes and agrees.

But Dr. Ronald Cranford, a neurologist and bioethicist at the University of Minnesota Medical School, said reflexes can fool non-specialists.

"To the families and loved ones, and to inexperienced health care professionals, PVS patients often look fairly 'normal,'" Cranford said in a statement.

"Their eyes are open and moving about during the periods of wakefulness that alternate with periods of sleep; there may be spontaneous movements of the arms and legs, and at times these patients appear to smile, grimace, laugh, utter guttural sounds, groan and moan, and manifest other facial expressions and sounds that appear to reflect cognitive functions and emotions, especially in the eyes of the family."

Such patients can even squeeze a hand in response to a caress, Swedish Covenant Hospital in Chicago says in guidance posted on its Internet Web site.

"Sadly, these actions often appear meaningful to hopeful families but are all automatic reflexes -- not movements with a purpose," it reads.

"There are no confirmed reports of anyone fully recovering from a permanent vegetative state lasting more than three months."

This is because in such patients, the cerebral cortex has been destroyed, said Dr. Lawrence Schneiderman, a physician and bioethicist at the University of California, San Diego.

"Four to six minutes of anoxia, lack of oxygen, destroys that completely," Schneiderman wrote in comments posted on the Internet at http://seeingthedifference.berkeley.edu/schneiderman.html.

"The rest of your brain, particularly the brain stem, can survive for fifteen or twenty minutes without oxygen," added Schneiderman, who signed a friend of the court brief in July of last year supporting Michael Schiavo.

"What happens is that that part of the brain, the cerebral cortex, which is us, our personality, who we are, how we think -- our capacity to experience, see, hear, think, emote -- that may be permanently destroyed."

Experts say Terri Schiavo would experience no discomfort if allowed to die, as the part of her brain that experiences pain is unlikely to be functioning.

 

[WastelandWarrior]

Experts say Terri Schiavo would experience no discomfort if allowed to die

The thing is, she was FORCED to die. She was living until her feeding tube was removed.

Furthermore, if she wasn't experiencing pain, what purpose would morphine serve?

"Experts..." lol... what a joke.


"Mrs. Weller stood up and learned over Terri. She took her arms in her hands. Mrs. Weller begged Terri to try to say, "I want to live." Terri's eyes opened wide, she looked at Mrs. Weller with great concentration and said, "Ahhhhhhh." Then, with great effort, she screamed, "Waaaaaaaa" so loudly that Michael Vitadamo and the female police officer who were then standing together outside Terri's door, clearly heard her. Terri had a look of anguish on her face and she seemed to be struggling hard, but was she could not complete the sentence. Terri began to cry and Mrs. Weller and I began to stroke Terri's face and hair to comfort her."

"Suzanne and I continued to talk and joke with Terri for probably an hour or more. At one point Suzanne called Terri the bionic woman and I heard Terri laugh out loud heartily. She laughed so hard that for the first time I noticed the dimples in her cheeks."

Both taken from sworn affidavits, which means they are telling the truth or should be in jail for purjury.
My money says nobody will seek charges.

Approximately 10,000 to 25,000 adults and 6,000 to 10,000 children in the United States are diagnosed as being in the persistent vegetative state,"

PVS as defined in FL statute:

http://flsenate.gov/Statutes/index..../SEC101.HTM&Title=->2003->Ch0765->Section 101

Other FL state statutes the pro-starvation/ dehydration crowd want to overlook:

http://flsenate.gov/Statutes/index..../SEC309.HTM&Title=->2003->Ch0765->Section 309

http://flsenate.gov/Statutes/index....EC3215.HTM&Title=->2003->Ch0744->Section 3215


I have a quick question.

Say that the new woman the husband shacked up with fell into the exact same condition as Terri when Terri was alive. Would shack up boy have the same power over her death as he did in Terri's death?

 

[Giovanni Casanova]

Originally posted by WastelandWarrior
Furthermore, if she wasn't experiencing pain, what purpose would morphine serve?

It's common in patients to administer morphine for end-of-life care even if it is unlikely or impossible for that patient to experience pain. It is more for the sake of the family than the patient.

Both taken from sworn affidavits, which means they are telling the truth or should be in jail for purjury.
My money says nobody will seek charges.

And isn't it lucky for them that nobody presses perjury charges against them for their delusions?

Say that the new woman the husband shacked up with fell into the exact same condition as Terri when Terri was alive. Would shack up boy have the same power over her death as he did in Terri's death?

If they are married and she did not have a living will, yes.

This is exceptionally common. In fact, I bet you don't have a living will right now. That means that if you went into a vegetative state today, your wife (if any) would make the decisions for you. If you didn't have a wife, the decision would go to your parents, or your children, or your siblings, or your next closest relative. If you don't want them making these types of decisions on your behalf, then I'd say to get yourself into an attorney's office to get a living will drawn up.

 

[il_duce]

All the videos, photos that were shown in the media are from 3 years ago. Why no recent photos? Hasn't she gotten better recently, as her family claims? The family have proof! Sen. Bill Frist even said she is getting better!

Oh wait, there is no proof. And Bill Frist is a political *****, we all know that. Come on, let's look at it logically here. There are no recent photographs or video, so we can only assume that her condition had gotten worse than it was shown in those "recent" 2002 photos shown in the press.

Wow, why do you think her husband would want to let her die at this point in time? 15 years in a vegetative state? That's absurd. It was about time they pulled the plug.

I really could go on but I don't have the time. The people who actually think her family had a legitimate argument in this case are just not thinking clearly. Michael was her legal guardian, end of story. Courts said so on numerous occaisions. End.

 

[Aztec]

I can't believe how last night's South Park episode caught up with that issue so quick.

 

[TyTe`EyEs]

Originally posted by Aztec
I can't believe how last night's South Park episode caught up with that issue so quick.

I was thinking the same thing. That sh1t was hilarious though.

 

[WastelandWarrior]

Yeah SP was pretty dam funny.

It is more for the sake of the family than the patient.

So, kill her against their wishes and without any evidence, but administer morphine that doesn't do anything for her.

I suppose I'll never understand.

I bet you don't have a living will right now

$100 ?

If you don't want them making these types of decisions on your behalf, then I'd say to get yourself into an attorney's office to get a living will drawn up.

Pay someone to write what I can type up and sign myself... no thanks.

 

[Giovanni Casanova]

Originally posted by WastelandWarrior
Pay someone to write what I can type up and sign myself... no thanks.

As long as you have one that is legally valid, that's all that's important. Now you won't be in the position of having your next of kin ensure that your wishes are upheld.

Personally, I don't have a living will at the moment (I'm 25 years old and it hadn't really occured to me to do so until recently). However, if I were to lapse into a vegetative state tonight, I am certain that my next of kin would respect my wishes. When I get married, I know that I can trust my wife as well.

 

[Giovanni Casanova]

Originally posted by WastelandWarrior
So, kill her against their wishes

I'm curious how you "know" that her wishes are that she wanted to be kept in a vegetative state for as long as possible, but the courts weren't able to figure it out.

and without any evidence

There were witnesses to her expressing these wishes, but ultimately her next of kin (her husband) is the one to make the decision if she doesn't have a living will. Lack of evidence in that case is really pretty irrelevant.

but administer morphine that doesn't do anything for her.

Yeah, that's pretty dumb, but imagine the stupidity that would be coming down if NO morphine were administered. All these crackpots and morons that don't understand the fundamentals of how the brain works would insist that she was being tortured and was in constant pain (although those crackpots and morons DID say that anyway) without any morphine.

 

[penkitten]

rest in peace, love and light to a soul that has layed silently for over 15 years waiting to see the other side.

terri, tell elvis he was spotted in iowa last week, kiss janis joplin 's cheeck and ask jerry garcia the meaning of life when you get a chance and dont forget to dance with jesus and ask for the shiniest wings!