Terry Schivo and the wonderful american gov't. . . ugh

[*RaiN*]

So for a rant. . .
Sometime last week Jed Bush tried to gain custody of Terry Schivo in attempt to have control over what happened with the situation. It drives me CRAZY that the government and media have put SO MUCH into this whole case while they show callous disregard to everyone else who is STARViNG in the world and are not in a vegetative state. In Liberia thousands of children die each year of hunger and malnutrition. All over the world this is happening and the American government has done NOTHiNG to allieviate the situation. BUT when an American woman who has been in a almost vegetative state for 15 years is about to have her life ended by removal of a feeding tube, the government wastes NO time stepping in to stop it. Why is this? Because if they were able to stop it it would be great for them and be "progress" by way of saying that we can not judge the "value" of human life therefor, they would be able to impose more laws and regulations regarding woman's rights to obtain abortion/birth control pills. So much for separtion of church in state. The whole situation just disgusts me entirely. It should NOT even be a public matter. Ah its a crazy world we live in. . .

[toman]

What I want to know is why her husband has let her sit around like a chunk of meat for 15 year, when he feels it's wrong. I think it should have been his duty to put her out of her misery a long time ago, regardless of what anybody else says. I'll tell you what; if I'm ever brain dead and laying in a hospital someplace I hope some friend or family member of mine does me a huge favor and just puts a pillow over my face or cracks me in the head with a bat. What's with all these right wing christians, anyway? If their god is so good, and their heaven is so good, why not let the poor woman die?

[LIBRA]

I agree toman, I think somethings shady with that husband, I havent been paying to much attention to the whole deal cause its none of my business really but what I have heard is weird stuff about that hubby.
I wouldnt want to live like that, especially for 15 years while your family adapts to you being that way then have to watch you slowly die of starvation, thats just wrong, some one should help her along in the slow process of it all, even though they cant and dont want to, neither would I though, that would suck so bad. it is none of the governments concern either but the family made it there concern so they had to step in and its a horrible way to die but at least she can move on and her family can move on too. things like this happen all day long you just dont hear about it, it sucks but its life and there is no way around it, I just feel bad for her mother, poor lady she loves her daughter just the way she is and is used to it and now she has to watch her die, awefull!!
I guess I have mixed feelings about this kind of thing, kinda like "your damned if ya do damned if ya dont"

[LIBRA]

she died today.

peace be with you terry..... :hb:

[*RaiN*]

gah i just realized how horribly wrong i spelled her name woops. . .
But yes
peace to Terri and her family

[Icarus]

Thought you guys might like to know a couple of things about this situation that weren't widely reported. 1:) She is in that state because she was anorexic and caused herself to have a stroke due to a severe metabolic imbalance. 2:) Her husband went to school and became a nurse...just so he could take care of her. 3:)He has been trying to have her feeding tube removed for much longer than the story has been in mainstream media. I know all of you were sympathetic to the situation so I thought a couple lesser known facts might be in order. May she rest in peace, I hope her family finds peace as well. I also think (full of opinions today) that as a goodwill gesture her husband should allow her parents to bury her as they see fit. He has done his duty and there is nothing left but to finish with kindness.

[LIBRA]

I see, I didnt really know too much about it. thats awefull, I know what I did hear were things the media put out and you cant ever really believe all you read!!

[toman]

Based on what I've heard, I don't think the usband is a bad person or to blame or anything, I just don't really understand why he let it go on for so long. Maybe he changed his position somewhere along the line, or maybe he's just not a particularly strong person, I don't know. All I know is that it's not right to keep people alive like that unless they've specifically stated they want to live every day possible regardless of the situation. And I realize the big problem here was lack or=f a written statement like that, but really, I think we need to use a little common sense when someone else has to make that decision.

[BandAide]

Hmmm...

Well, I hate to disagree with you all. Really, I do. But, my bleeding heart is open wide for poor Terri.

Also, she wasn't brain dead (to my understanding) but had severe brain damage. When I looked at her I saw a person with life. I saw it in her eyes. You can think what you will about the sentimentality in that statement, I don't really give a fuck, but I saw happiness there.

If I had a child who was born severely retarded and that child was not able to, even as an adult, care for him or herself at all. And one day I thought, this person would not want to live this way... s/he has no quality of life, and I stopped feeding her or him... I'd be a murderer.

This is really no different, in my humble opinion.

And sure, there are lots and lots of things in the world that are much worse than this person's death. There are lots of other things the media could focus on, but they chose this and it is a tragedy made no less terrible by it's backdrop and medium.

I am saddened for her life and for her family.

[toman]

I know this is going to sound mean, but it's just a question. If a person (adult or child) is unable to care for themself, unable to communicate, unable to actually do anything, are anything more than a pet? And is it really a kindness to keep a human being alive as nothing more than a pet? I realize that in this society we've been taught that to induce death upon ourselves or anyone else is wrong no matter what the reason (unless it's done by the state, but that's another thread), but isn't this maybe one of those cases where we should stop and question?

[treehugger]

Something Toman said way back in this thread continues to resonate with me.

If heaven is so good and God is so good, just let her go there.

Imagine ten (or was it fifteen) years of not being able to communicate. Even if you could understand what was going on around you; I dare say most of us would be pretty much irreversibly insane by then.

Communication is cathartic.

If we cannot communicate; poison and emotions and just thoughts build up and stifle us.

I'm saying this as somebody who has a severe hearing loss. I'm prone to ear infections and sometimes cannot hear at all.

And this is relatively minor.

But it drives me NUTS to not be able to communicate.

May Terry rest in peace. :engel016:

Kath

[BandAide]

Well, I certainly agree with you. I also agree with assisted suicide and would personally not want to be kept alive by assisted breathing and feeding tubes.

And that's me.

That's not Terri, here.

No one really knows what she would've wanted. It's all speculation.

Americans are trying to push our way of lives on all sorts of people right now because it would make us crazy to live as they live... but that's not what they want.

As far as God is concerned, I just don't believe in any kind of God. So, Heaven and God and all that salvation doesn't offer any comfort over here. I greatly respect that it works for others. I appreciate and admire it, even. I just don't have any faith myself.

[mamasharones]

she died today.

peace be with you terry..... :hb:


I think she died a long time ago....
What people don't understand is that when you have a feeding tube in for so long you're much more liable for multiple organ failure rather than waking back up again.
When you have a feeding tube your pancreas, liver, kidneys and multiple other digestive organs are all working to digest the food that's constantly being pumped in. These organs are constantly releasing enzymes to break that junk down especially if she was anorexic. Her body was already wrecked and ravaged from being comatose.

[angymnast247]

Last year my grandmother went into a coma due to her health as well as a serious docors mistake. it was in her living will to not keep her alive if there is no hope. when i looked at her on the venalator and feeding tube, she looked in pain and suffering. after only 6 months of this we decided to go with her will. she passed away. as much as i love her i feel we made the right decision. it was like she was in limbo between life and death. i cant imagine 15 years of that. rest in peace grandma and terri!!!

peace and love to all
~alyssa

[julesandjo]

Humans are never "pets", no matter what their abilities are. I have provided care to so many of these people who are not able to care for themselves and let me tell you, there is no comparison to that of a pet. They are still human, no matter what. So, if someone you love gets into a car accident and becomes dependent on you for care you would consider that person a "pet"? Just a question. Would you try to have him/her "put to sleep"? The quality of a life may be different for some people than others but who are we to say what quality of life is acceptable and what quality of life is unacceptable? Just because one can no longer care for themself doesn't mean they don't experience emotions and feelings. They still feel. Happiness. Sadness. Anger. Hunger. LOVE. The bottom line is when a person is unable to speak for themself, someone needs to speak for them. Be it a family member or the government. Somebody needs to and if there is a disagreement between family members then it becomes necessary for someone else to step in, such as the government. I guess, if anything, we should all learn from this and make sure we have arrangements for ourselves if we are ever in a situation such as Terri's. And when I think of a person as being a "vegetable" I think of them never waking up, never responding to any stimulation and more or less being comotose. That is not what every person who can't care for themself is. A profoundly mentally retarded person still lives and still can enjoy life. Not life as we know it, but life as that person knows it. The only life some people ever know. But it is a life and nobody has the right to say what the quality of that person's life is when they aren't the one living that life. If someone is lovingly cared for their quality of life can be quite good, actually. Just something to ponder, I guess. And unless you've ever known or loved someone who fits this description then I guess it's hard to understand. ;)

[toman]

Actually I have had family members in that situation. Fortunately they had taken the appropriate steps so we knew what they wanted, and we let them go. Personally, I hope if I'm ever in a position where I'm no good to myself or anyone else that someone will have the guts to put a bag over my head or cut my throat. There's enough organic waste wandering around this eath pretending to be human without torturing people who should allready be dead.