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The only thing that might make you of questionable mind, would be to let a doctor (or several doctors) who spend less than 30 minutes "assessing" you, decide from an cat scan that they know your cognitive status, prognosis, and worthiness to live....better than the people who love you and have known you for much of your life, and who ALL sense that "you" are still there....and who all sense or know innately that "you" want help to live....and that "you" are wanted and will be cared for by them, even if your disabilities are severe.

But that isn't what happened in Terri's case, either. Far from it. Right or wrong, she was diagnosed PVS by every doctor she had since '90, until the two her parents chose in 2002. They determined that by her lack of progress in 3 years of therapy, clinical exams, her CT scans, SPECT scans (her parents' docs even prefered SPECT over PET), and all her multiple EEGs since '90 that showed no cerebral activity.

A critical ball was dropped by the parents' attorneys in choosing the awful Hammesfahr and, to a lesser extent, Maxwell to testify at the 2002 trial that she could improve.

In such a critical decision, you don't pick a guy who ads in National Enquirer, is listed at Quackwatch, pretends to be a Nobel Nominee, lies about not realizing it's not true, tries to imply something abnormal about her neck to suggest he abused her, won't submit his report on Terri (so oft cited here) for cross-examination, and repeatedly dodges and weaves about those things as well as his abilities on the stand.

But the question wasn't whether or not she was PVS, anyway. They didn't use that law. They only needed to show that she wouldn't recover capacity to change her mind so that the original decision that it was her choice would no longer apply.

We can and should debate the "clear and convincing evidence" of her wishes standard. It wasn't enough for me either, really.

But most of the other stuff we've wasted time and credibility on here is either not true, or irrelevant.

In reading the assessment provided by Terri's doctors, it seems that many of her doctors simply scoured her records and repeated the same notes and diagnoses of other doctors, who had referred to the notes from still earlier examinations. Dr Hammesfahr spent 10 hours with Terri and did as thorough a view of her records as he could muster (with incomplete records) and got to personally expereince her personality.

Anything that was in Terri's favor of living was and still is being dismissed, and much if it by people who haven't read it for themselves. The videotapes f Terri loving her mother with her eyes, enjoying music, following commands and even exerting super effort to comply...are being scorned as "edited" to highlight primitive movements...the family, priests, attorneys (most under deposition) and nurses who were willing to testify (pretty brave to buck the industry and challenge a doctor's stated dignosis), are being slandered and derided. The two doctors who went to court to say they could help her (not cure her, but help her communicate) are being called quacks....the speech therapist and 50 other doctors who called the family to offer help after seeing the videotapes in recent weeks - all buried with Terri's records and ashes.

In one videotape, the doctor who held a balloon and praised Terri for following it with her eyes was Dr Bambakidis. Who then went to court in 2002 and certified her as PVS. He also testified as to Terri's abnormal neck (which impeded her ability to turn her head in tracking assessment. although Dr Bambakidis did not report that..only Dr Hammesfahr spent enough time to notice it). As have others.

Dr Bambakidis also did not mention (as Dr Hammesfahr noticed from her records) that Terri was virtually blind... but that Michael and the Judge would never permit an opthalmic exam and perhaps glasses. After all, why would a vegetable need glasses? Nor di the court appointed Doctors report that Terri had extremely low blood pressure. Maybe because the other doctors did not TAKE her blood pressure. Because it took Dr Hammesfahr an hour to massage her spasticly constracted muscles to relax her arm enough to take her blood pressure....more time than any of the other "experts" even took on their entire exam. Terri even tried extra hard to helkp the doctor get her arm relaxed, as she reported. When her father asked her to try even harder to help the doctor take her blood pressure, she relaxed her arm another 20 degrees. This is remarkable. This is not PVS. This is Terri.

Nor did any of the other doctors except Hammesfahr note that Terri was suffering from a chronic and long-time untreated urinary tract infection that would have dulled her ability to be assessed..or that Terri's EEG had been improperly conducted and was therefore not really valid.

Yes, there are a lot of angles to this story, but to me, the most outrageous is the virtual imprisonment of this women and the systematic denial of every opportunity for her to improve her condition, in the interest of the guardian having her die. And all with the permission and even direct involvement of the court in forbidding her every small comfort, much less therapies!!!

Come on- threatening Terri's mother with legal action because she was reported for putting chapstick on her daughter's lips? And because she brought in a CD of Terri's favorite Christmas music to play for her? (only the musicMichael approved was allowed to be played for Terri...Judge Greer!!!!)

In spite of ALL the cards stacked against her- Terri made friends and admirersin the nursing homes and hospices, and among the attorneys and few observers who were able to spend any significant time with her! And with 75% of her brain. Even Dr Hammesfahr noticed and reported that she was discriminating enough to ignore Michael alone in a room full of people .. which must have INFURIATED him. I think her spunk is why I feel like I got to know her and I say >b>Terri YOU GO GIRL, he can't hurt you anymore now and YOU ARE GONNA WIN the judgement of time and history