[8mmMauser]

Update from Cheryl Ford


RN Ford Comments: Rightfully so, I would not be swayed by the autopsy if I were them as well. The autopsy gave a clear revelation to the fact that Michael Schiavo's claims that Terri's trauma was a result of bulimia, low potassium and/or heart attack were all bogus! Now the evidence is clear and right from the medical examiner that the manner of her death was certified as undetermined.
As the loving parents who the Schindlers are; the family who fought long and hard to keep their daughter alive and tried to place her back in the safety of their home, there is not a doubt in my mind they will not rest until they find out what caused their daughter's collapse in February of 1990.

Remember, the most critical piece of information in that autopsy report is the information that said she did NOT collapse from low potassium and that her heart and body were healthy at the time of her collapse.

The results then leave clear and convincing evidence that Terri's trauma did not occur from a sudden bolt of lightening out of the clear blue sky, what Terri's parents have been questioning all along! Do we leave her collapse and the 15 years of misery she was forced to endure, ending in Schiavo's success at torturing Terri to her death via dehydration a mystery? I think not!
Ignorance remains when Felos claims Schiavo is "pleased" at the results.

Any news agencies that leads this story about the autopsy showing no evidence of abuse is a lie. For example, the autopsy clearly showed the abuse of her dental health and hygiene. Secondly, neither of the medical examiners were qualified to do the specialized type of autopsy that can and should have been done in order to determine any history of strangulation. This type of autopsy can and should have been done by the appropriate experts in that field who offered their services even prior to Terri's death, but were declined.

If you would like an electronic copy of the report, email fight4terri@aol.com

The soon to be released book "Our Fight4Terri" will reveal the past and present medical information that was ignored by the Florida courts. Request your copy at:
Trafford Publishing: Our Fight4Terri
http://www.trafford.com/4dcgi/robots/05-1041.html

Schiavo's Parents Not Swayed by Autopsy

By MITCH STACY
The Associated Press
Thursday, June 16, 2005; 4:47 AM

LARGO, Fla. -- An autopsy that found Terri Schiavo suffered from severe and irreversible brain-damage has done nothing to sway her parents' position that she deserved to live and may have gotten better with therapy.

The long-awaited report Wednesday found Schiavo's brain had shrunk to about half the normal size for a woman her age when she died March 31 after her feeding tube was disconnected. The autopsy also determined she was blind.


Dr. Jon Thogmartin, District 6 Medical Examiner, right, and Dr. Stephen Nelson, District 10 Medical Examiner, release Terri Schiavo's autopsy results during a news conference Wednesday morning June 15, 2005 in Clearwater, Fla. Schiavo's autopsy backed her husband's contention that she was in a persistent vegetative state, finding that she had massive and irreversible brain damage and was blind, the medical examiner's office said Wednesday .(AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
Dr. Jon Thogmartin, District 6 Medical Examiner, right, and Dr. Stephen Nelson, District 10 Medical Examiner, release Terri Schiavo's autopsy results during a news conference Wednesday morning June 15, 2005 in Clearwater, Fla. Schiavo's autopsy backed her husband's contention that she was in a persistent vegetative state, finding that she had massive and irreversible brain damage and was blind, the medical examiner's office said Wednesday .(AP Photo/Chris O'Meara) (Chris O'meara - AP)
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Bob and Mary Schindler disputed the results, insisting their daughter interacted with them and tried to speak. Their attorney said the family plans to discuss the autopsy with other medical experts and may take some unspecified legal action.

"We knew all along that Terri was profoundly brain damaged," said Schiavo's brother, Bobby Schindler. "We simply wanted to bring her home and care for her. It all goes back to this quality of life."

The findings vindicated Schiavo's husband in his long and vitriolic battle with his in-laws that engulfed the courts, Congress and the White House and divided the country. Michael Schiavo and court-appointed doctors have said she had no hope of recovery. She died at age 41.

The autopsy also found no evidence that Terri Schiavo was strangled or otherwise abused before her sudden 1990 collapse _ countering allegations by the Schindlers that she was abused by her husband.

Yet medical examiners could not say for certain what caused the collapse, long thought to have been brought on by an eating disorder.

George Felos, attorney for Michael Schiavo, said the findings back up their contentions made "for years and years" that Terri Schiavo had no hope of recovery. He said Michael Schiavo plans to release autopsy photographs of her shrunken brain.

"Mr. Schiavo has received so much criticism throughout this case that I'm certain there's a part of him that was pleased to hear these results and the hard science behind them," Felos said.

The Schindlers fought their son-in-law in court over their daughter's fate for nearly seven years, battling to the end with conservatives at their side.

The autopsy counters a widely seen videotape the Schindlers released of Schiavo in her hospice bed. The video showed Schiavo appearing to turn toward her mother's voice and smile. She moaned and laughed. Her head moved up and down and she seemed to follow the progress of a brightly colored Mickey Mouse balloon.

Schiavo's parents said that showed she was aware of her surroundings, but doctors said her reactions were automatic responses and not evidence of thought or consciousness.


Fight4Terri @aol.com

Theresa Marie Schindler
December 3, 1963 ~ March 31, 2005
Light a candle For Terri at her online Memorial Website
Memory-of.com - Memorial website in memory of Theresa Schindler (1963-2005)
http://theresa-schindler.memory-of.com/about.aspx

Visit: www.fight4terri.blogspot.com

Visit Terri's site: www.terrisfight.org

Cheryl Ford, RN (Fight4Terri@aol.com) is not affiliated with any other group and works to protect the rights of the disabled community.

[8mmMauser]

Further update from Cheryl Ford

Many thanks to LAScan for forwarding this email!

Dr. Frank brings up some good points.

---

Forwarded Message:
Subj: Schiavo autopsy: No trauma in 1990 collapse
Date: 6/16/2005 7:14:56 AM Eastern Standard Time
From:
To:

To say that Terri Schiavo suffered no trauma prior
to her collapse in 1990 is one of the most ridiculous statements I have ever heard.

After 15 years, soft tissue trauma will NOT show up.
Her neck could have been squeezed depriving her
of oxygen, thus brain damage. There need not be
any tracheal cartilage fracture. Or, mouth stuffed
with cloth or taped and nose squeezed, or just
putting hands over nose and mouth.

The fact that the Medical Examiner, Jon Thogmartin concluded she likely did not suffer a heart attack
makes the above all the more a possibility -- more
likely, a probability.

As for blindness at the time of death -- what about
the weeks prior to her being starved and dehydrated
to death. She followed a balloon around with her eyes.
Blind people can't do that.

And the brain being half its size -- so what.
We only use a small portion of our brain.
Now, we will never know if Adult Stem Cell therapy
would have helped Terri to regenerate her brain cells.

Judge Greer who has had many of his decisions
reversed just had to listen to Terri's husband
and order Terri Killed. This whole case never
did pass the smell test.

I wonder why the husband would not allow
an outside pathologist come in to review the
autopsy, as Terri's parents requested.

Frank Joseph MD

---

MATTERS OF LIFE AND DEATH
Schiavo autopsy: No trauma in 1990 collapse
Medical examiner's office issues report in high-profile case
Posted: June 15, 2005
11:54 a.m. Eastern


© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com

Terri Schiavo suffered no trauma prior to her collapse in 1990 under disputed circumstances, according to the autopsy report released today by the Pinellas County medical examiner's office in Florida.


Terri Schiavo, 1963-2005

Medical Examiner Jon Thogmartin said Schiavo's brain was about half of normal size at the time of her death.

Thogmartin concluded she likely did not suffer a heart attack and found no evidence she took harmful drugs or other substances prior to her death.

The medical examiner also said Schiavo could not have eaten or drunk on her own.

"Removal of her feeding tube would have resulted in her death whether she was fed or hydrated by mouth or not," Thogmartin told reporters.

He also said she was blind, because the "vision centers of her brain were dead."

The autopsy results on the 41-year-old brain-damaged woman were made public more than two months after her death ended a high-profile battle that brought in Congress and the White House.

Schiavo died March 31, nearly two weeks after the feeding tube that had kept her alive was removed under a court order obtained by her husband, Michael Schiavo.

Her death ended a bitter legal battle between Michael Schiavo, who said his wife did not want to be kept alive artificially, and her parents, Bob and Mary Schindler. Both Michael Schiavo and the Schindlers found doctors to support their views.

Testimony in a 1992 civil trial indicated that her heart stopped probably because of a severe chemical imbalance brought on by an eating disorder. The Schindlers, though, do not believe she had an eating disorder and have accused Michael Schiavo of abusing his wife, a charge he vehemently denies. The autopsy report found no evidence that Terri had an eating disorder.

The Schiavo case was the subject of an act of Congress and several Supreme Court reviews. It dominated international press coverage during the month of March.

A decision by the Supreme Court the night before her death against intervening sealed her fate. The emergency request argued the federal courts did not consider whether there was enough "clear and convincing" evidence that Terri Schiavo had expressed a wish to not live in her current condition. The trial court in Pinellas County, Fla., determined she was in a persistent vegetative state. The Schindlers countered that assessment with statements from neurologists who claimed she was in a "minimally conscious state," able to respond to stimuli.

Terri Schiavo's life-sustaining feeding tube was removed by court order March 18 after a decade of bitter legal wrangling between Michael Schiavo and the Schindlers, who insisted their daughter had a strong will to live.

Her body was taken to the Pinellas County medical examiner's officer for an autopsy. It was then cremated and interred in Pennsylvania, according to Michael Schiavo's wishes.

Some legal analysts, while respectful of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's efforts, criticized the governor for not using the executive powers they believe he had to take Terri Schiavo into protective custody.

Bush filed a motion to that end with Pinellas Circuit Court Judge George W. Greer, who had presided over the case for seven years, but it was rejected. The governor's critics maintain, however, he did not need judicial permission to act.

President Bush rushed back to Washington during a vacation to sign a bill giving federal courts jurisdiction in the case. However, the federal courts ignored the act of Congress and left the case with Greer.

Editor's note: "Life and Death in America" – a stunning special investigative report that starts with the Terri Schiavo story, but goes on to expose as never before America's rapidly expanding euthanasia/"right-to-die" movement – is the focus of the May issue of WND's acclaimed monthly Whistleblower magazine.