Posted on 03/23/2005 5:09:24 PM PST by Hildy
You are in your 20's, and you're visiting somebody in the hospital. You pass by a room where somebody is all contorted up, in a vegitative state. Would you say to your husband:
a)Honey, Don't ever let me live in that condition.
b )Honey, If I ever get like that, please make sure you do everything in your power, whatever the cost to you and our family, financially and emotionally, to keep me in that vegitative state no matter how long it takes. I want you to come and sit by my side every day and go home alone every night. I want to have strangers tend to my most personal needs. If I don't respond in four or five years, make sure I'm kept alive by a feeding tube in my stomach. And, most importantly, if you're not sure if I know what's going on around me, please err on the side of caution and keep me in that bed, indefinitely.
Remember, you're 24 years old. Which one would you pick?
I know! I was surprised when I looked it up just now, from my usual, credible source. I'm going to ask my priest.
Popcorn would be nice, but make sure you chew slowly. Otherwise you might choke once you start laughing.
If people want to discuss the pros and cons of killing a healthy person with a crippled mind that is one thing but they are acting like that is not what they are doing. There is no "nature taking it's course" here. It is killing.
That they have to wrap it up in euphemisms and weasel words is a clear indication that they know that it is wrong. But no one wants to think of themselves as evil. So they rationalize it.
And humans are capable of rationalizing anything to themselves with horrific results as history repeatedly shows.
Do I really need to specify my wishes in a will?
I thought that if I just posted them here you would all come and save me as soon as you heard Hildy saying, "When is that bastard gonna die?"
Thank you for your eloquent response. So true.
I love the way you said that. Unfortunately, I no longer am allowed to post on Terri threads so you're going to have to keep saying that!
LOL! Thanks for the heads up.
If I was capable of somewhat recognizing those around me (from their voices for example), conscious at some level, and on a feeding tube, then yes, I would like to be kept alive. I would hope that either the individual I marry or my family would continue to regard me as a person, even in my diminished/different state.
If I am gone completely and on artificial life support (which I don't consider a feeding tube part of), that presents a very difficult question that I do not know the answer to at this point in time.
That said, I'm only 26 and this is not a topic that is commonly discussed. I guess it wouldn't be a bad idea for me, to discuss this issue with my loved ones (and put something in writing). You never know what will happen tomorrow.
There is no evidence that she recognizes anyone. You must stop reading the propoganda and accept the facts.
Like I said, I would not treat a dog like this. You treat a human being like this.
You're welcome, Hildy. As for posting on Terri threads, it's largely a waste of time, anyway, so I'd say you're better off.
I hope your priest is up to speed on it. Surely he should know the answer to that one without looking it up.
No .. this stems from a question Hildy asked me on a Terri Thread
She thinks I am selfish because I take my marriage vows before God seriously
Through sickness and in health, till death do us part
God Bless you and yours, (((lonestar)))
I forgot to add that I'm glad that this is really getting people even at your young age to think about these things so your wishes will be adhered to. I respect that.
Isn't it amazing how even in dying, our love ones still instill in us the value of life and to appreciate each day as they come. What kind of society are we when we can not have empathy toward those that are less fortunate. I think one poster said - A burden to Society.... I hope these minions of death feel this way when they find themselves in this predicament. As the lesbian polio survivor told Rush. I'm rooting for the Republicans, they respect my right to live. The hell with the ACLU, they want me dead.
You are my kindred sister in spirit, God Bless
What a great post with very insightful thoughts for all to ponder.
My husband, aged 62, and I, aged 59, have made out our living wills...we have both spelled out, in black and white, just exactly what we do and do not want done for us, should we not be able to speak for ourselves...I want nothing done for me...my husband wants everything done for him, everything possible...
Now, I disagree with my husband, but I would honor his wishes..its his right to decide what he wants for himself...however, he has been honest with me, and says, that altho he knows how I feel, he feels he would be unable to honor my wishes...he feels, that there is always something more that can be done for someone who is in a terrible medical condition...
So sadly, I have had to appoint my younger son as my Durable Power of Attorney person...and he said, hard as it would be, he would honor my wishes...Sad, because I wish it would be my husband who could speak for me, as he so often done during our 35yr marriage...but I am glad, that my son, will help me if I cannot speak for myself...
Now, I took care of my older son, for 15 months, dying from leukemia...that was the hardest, saddest thing I ever had to do....and he was 15yrs old, and I would have done anything, just anything to keep him alive....so I well understand the Schindler family, and their efforts to save their daughter...parents love their children, and are willing to save them from death, regardless of what 'quality of life' they may have...to lose a child is the absolute horror a parent can suffer...my heart goes out to the Schindlers, I know the sick feeling that they have in the pit of their stomachs, I can sympathize with the pounding in their head, that they must have, contemplating the ever nearing death of their daughter...I would be doing as they are doing, fighting with everything I have to save my child...no one should fault them for this, fighting for ones childs life, is natural...
On the other hand, I took care of both my mom and my dad, while they both were dealing with their own critical medical crisises, dad with cancer and mom with Alzheimers...I cared for them, each in their own time, at home, doing for them, caring for them, and supporting them in carrying out their wishes for their last days...both mom and dad wished no measures be taken...no IVs, no vents, no feeding tubes, no CPR, no anything...I fed them, cleaned them, comforted them, and let them go...but they were old, their bodies were already dying, so it was easier to deal with, then dealing with a young person...
I have also spent many, many years working in nursing homes...and doing for the elderly there, what I did for my parents at home...care for them, respect them, love them, and comfort them...and all the seniors had different wishes for their care, and the medical personnel always accomodated them whatever their wishes....
Now I have to deal with my younger son and what he would want should he be in a condition similar to Terri Shiavos...he is now 30, and today, via the computer, we had a long, long talk about all of this...because I have never known his wishes, and have never asked him...he is single, so I and his dad would be the ones doing for him, if he could not do medically for himself...he told me, quite bluntly, that if a correct medical diagnosis was made for him, and it was really a horrible horrendous diagnosis, one that would render him unable to live life that way he wished, and it was established that that he could not recover, that he would want to be let go...but as far as being fed, and being hydrated, he would want food and drink, whether by mouth of by tube...and he wants no pain...but anything more than that he would not want...no vents, extraordinary measures...
He knows this is hard for me, as I had to watch as my older son, became brain dead, due to a massive cerebral hemmorhage(and yes, extensive tests were done to assure us that he was indeed, brain dead)...and we had him disconnected from the ventilator....so the thought of having to do that ever again for another son, is just too hard to consider...
And yet, my younger son would like to know, that his wishes would be honored...and this is really hard for me...I want to shake him, and tell him, that as such a young person, maybe he should not be so anxious to have us, his parents, pull a plug on him....and I reminded him, as John Gibson reminded us in his commentary on FoxNews yesterday, that often we say one thing while we are young and healthy and perhaps a little foolish...and we may regret saying those things even just a few years later...so I have left my younger boy with some things to ponder...
He lives about 70 miles from us, so we dont see him as often as we would like...but he will be down here on Easter, and we have already agreed, we, as a family, he, my husband and myself, will discuss this matter further....
Gads, I sure am longwinded...have not posted on any of the other Shiavo threads lately, so seem to have unloaded on this thread...Sorry..
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