Posted on 04/07/2005 2:59:57 AM PDT by schmelvin
Exactly. By the time I was actively following these threads heels had been dug in...but I really didn't understand the background at the time.
Sounds like the hospice pretty much did do that.
The article says that the hospice did start an IV when the outraged siblings arrived. The next day, while her siblings were arranging with hospice for transport to a medical center, the probate judge granted the granddaughter emergency guardianship and the transport was not allowed.
I live her in GA
I have called the attorney, I have called the Hospice. The governor- the brother, etc..
I AM BEYOND TICKED!
NO HELP! NONE!
GOOD GRIEF!
I will CHANGE this if it is the LAST thing I DO!
Crying again!
Governor's office actually said "NOHTING WE CAN DO!"
SO TERRI'S CASE HAS TAUGHT US THIS???
Yes, it is EVIL.
One thing that has me so upset about this case is that my own grandmother died 20 years ago (while receiving the best medical treatment -- we did everything we could to save her, NOT kill her), and today I would give anything in this world to have my grandmother alive and well and here with me now.
How could someone do something like this? How can someone torture her own grandmother to death and still be able to look herself in the mirror? I just don't understand this at all.
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okay
JUST TALKED TO THE JUDGE!
Case WAS settled Monday--
ALL parties agreed on the following.
Three doctors were picked and approved by BOTH PARTIES!
If 2 of the 3 found that Miss Mae could be moved to Emory or Birmingham with a DECENT chance of surivival then this would happen- and that the grandaughter would remain as guardian.
The Doctors had a phone conference Monday night at about 6:00 pm.
What was decided- the judge does not know--
SO please do NOT bug the judge!
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Please ping Diva Betsy Ross or me if you wish to be part of this NOC (Nuclear Option Committee) for Judicial Activism to carry this fight forward.
>>>The recorded message confirmed the story, and asked that only media leave messages, to avoid overloading the machine. So I didn't leave a message.
Isn't a newsgroup considered a type of media? We are reporting to a large audience AND a lot of reporters report from OUR research.
I've called the DOD media a few times in reference to Pro Coalition stories I've posted. They understood I was a poster at FR and gave me a log in for a video site to access for stories here.
Based on that, I think we are a media.
Leave a message! You are reporting info!
I think you are wrong on the actual feelings of people who face this decision every day. There is an important distinction to be made between brain injury patients who are otherwise healthy in body, and those suffering from terminal disease. Many many people have had terminal parents and other relatives who, wasting from disease, are medicated for pain but never hooked to IV or tube feeding systems. My grandfather died of ALS, cared for by us in our home, with the assistance of hospice nurses. In his final days he was in and out of consciousness, and never had any kind of IV inserted.
My mother, on the other hand, died in hospital of stomach and liver cancer. She had IV hydration, and also received Morphine through that IV, but she had no nutrition other than liquids in her final days, her digestive systems were shutting down and it was not even discussed as an option to insert a feeding tube. Due to her level of Morphine given for pain, she was never conscious.
So in the simple answer, I'd say no, that is not the place to start. These treatment and care decisions are much more complicated than that. Removal of a tube in a person who is lingering because of it is an entirely different situation than the situation many face, where there is no tube inserted in the first place. Did they die sooner than they would have with a feeding tube? And would the extension of time in those circumstances have been a mercy or a cruelty? Is the length of survival the best measure of life?
The original intent of hospice was to aid the families of the terminally ill in taking care of their family members who wished to die at home. Sometimes these patients would be sent to rest homes when the burden was too great for the family and the hospice team would then work with the staff to insure adequate and appropriate care, and pain management in order to live out their last days in as much comfort and dignity as possible. Well I guess it has now evolved into institutional care, with the emphasis on death rather than end of life care.
I now see it has become big business, here in Napa. A multimillion dollar Hospice has been built that rivals the most expensive nursing care homes in the area.
I copied the news release and email it to a dozen FOXNews reporters. Tried CNN but I don't know if they got it. Sent it to local MSM's, too.
Exactly--
BUT! It is OUT OF THE JUDGES HANDS-- BY THE WILL OF THE FAMILY!!
NOW! If we could just find out what on earth is going on-- it would be VERY NICE!
Can't believe the attorney is NOT telling us what to do!
I have called 3 times- left 3 messages-- still no reply!
AAARG!
The 'quality of life' issue would not even have sunken into this level of conversation if we all could take a step back to what brought it to this level.
Go back to my looooong post about viaticals.
If there was no money to be made from transferring a life insurance policy...there would be no grey area to discuss on who should decide when someone should stop receiving treatment.
This discussion gets hot because everyone has had a level of experience with it. No one is comfortable with making these decisions for someone else. No one wants to entertain the thought as to whether they did the right thing.
We all can stay focused on where this whole system went wrong.
That is the viaticals. The transference of the life insurance policies.
If that is stopped. There would be no patient brokering.
:)
I was able to contact the same person via e-mail, and I don't want to take up his message space. In the e-mail, I explained my involvement with Free Republic, and the people here who are actively involved in preventing forced starvation and dehydration.
Bump!
:)
I personally have never seen so many "debaters" practicing medicine without a license. I never knew there were so many licensed radiologists posting here as they bandied about the brain scans and EEG's as proof of "PVS".
I hope they don't agree for the grandaughter to remain the guardian. One of the mistakes the Schindlers made was giving sole guardianship to MS
Thank you for all you are doing.
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