Posted on 09/29/2010 4:49:59 PM PDT by wagglebee
Whether there are more Terri Schiavo’s suffering a torturous death by starvation and dehydration these days, or we’re just hearing more about them these days is uncertain. But the manner of such death should be made clear, and the media are certainly not doing that.
The latest case we know of is the ‘bride in a coma’ story. She was young and just married. But what we know through the media is incomplete about Trisha Rushing Duguay’s death is incomplete.
Just 27 years old, she had continued living, remarkably, for eight weeks after her husband and family had, according to her wishes, removed her feeding tube.
Trisha’s father, Jim Rushing, announced the news in an e-mail to family and close friends.
“Trisha has finally departed us on this physical journey to take her branch onto her spiritual journey. This journey has been 132 days in length 56 of those days off of life support. We know that not only her love & caring for others, but the sheer volume of prayer that has occurred will truly help her along this new path. Thank you.
That volume was generated through media coverage of this dramatic story and social communications media that spread it. The good news is that it generated a tremendous amount of prayer. The darker side of this story didn’t make it into the news coverage, as Terri Schiavo’s brother tried to warn people. Bobby Schindler writes:
Terri’s Life & Hope Network expresses concern with the manner in which some media outlets are portraying the situation, treating Trisha’s prolonged death and going without food and hydration-for over 7 weeks now-as an act of compassion.
I think it is important to be reminded that dying this way is not compassionate, peaceful or pleasant. My family witnessed, first hand, something quite the opposite. Terri went through almost two weeks without food and water before she died, and it was heartbreaking. Her death was cruel and barbaric and she suffered horribly. We must continue to educate the general public that food and water is basic and ordinary care and despite ones intentions, it does not change the nature of the act.
That’s a vital point. Food and water are not medical treatments, they’re ordinary care, no matter how they are redefined. People are very confused about this. Conscientious, faithful people are looking for moral guidance in making end of life decisions, and it’s available for all people concerned with preserving and respecting human dignity when it can be toughest to discern that process.
And the culture of death continues to lie and say otherwise.
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By their standards every person who requires an oxygen tank to breath should have to dehose...
thank you for the post.
They would say that a newborn baby deserved to die because it was unable to feed itself on its own.
I visited a skilled care facility which was also a hospice. I visited about 5 times a week for 5 years. I saw at least 40 people die. Some of the families had the water disconnected near the end. The death came faster, but the effects were horrific. In most cases the family members stayed away and did not see it. I hope nobody does that to me.
That any family could think this is an act of love, perverts the meaning of Love... may every one of them have the same fate
One day I was talking to a doctor friend about Terri Schiavo and asked how they could consider food and water medical treatment.
His answer was that as her feeding tube was a medical device, they could discontinue its use. Pretty callous in my opinion.
He did not see anything abnormal about it.
I watched the dehydration/morphine technique on an older relative. Up close and personal. At a fancy hospice. Really fancy.
The children of the guy have PhDs. Now I think of terminal degrees in a very different light altogether.
They didn’t even let the guy go home and say goodbye to his cat.
And we wonder why America has fallen, is fallen, and will likely stay fallen until we the people return to the faith of the founders. That is likely a bridge too far, sad to say.
A friend of a friend died this same way. She begged her husband to let her spend one more Christmas with her children. However, he wanted to unburden himself quickly.
Someday, there will be justice and people like that will be held accountable for murder.
Some people are so selfish that they just want their “problem” removed as quickly as possible.
Pray for the elderly and the infirm. I just visited a friend and her husband today. Her husband will probably not make it through the weekend. They were medicating him every hour to keep him comfortable. The Hospice nurse came in to check on him while I was at the nursing home.
56 days off of “life support”. The poor woman.
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