Yes. The heart condition. She is only out of immediate danger say her doctors, new and old. Since Mae is not a candidate for surgery, that renders her aorta dissection as inoperable and probably fatal. I know the sister is being treated by the same doc and Mullinax claims that Dr. Aqel can treat the condition without surgery. Yet surgery seems planned for the sister if she hits a level 6 distress level which is critical. So surgery is a life saving procedure that Mae cannot benefit from.
Mae is 7 years older than her sister and already suffering advanced effects of the hereditary condition. In my book she's terminal. Not saying that I would deny her life support based solely on her heart condition.
Incidentally, it doesn't seem that "terminal" is a medical term. The only definition I find for "Terminal illness" is "When you get sick at the airport," from the Redneck Medical Guide.
terminal illness: n.1. Syn. raster burn.
2. The `burn-in' condition your CRT tends to get if you don't have a screen saver.
Cboldt: Are you asserting that Mae has a medical condition with a prognosis of "terminal?
RGSpincich: Yes. The heart condition.
Three cardiologists disagree with Mae's attending physician in LaGrange.
"Incidentally, it doesn't seem that "terminal" is a medical term."
Medicare seems to define it for the purpose of paying Hospice as "they must be certified by a physician to be terminally ill with a life expectancy of six months or less."
http://www.hospicenet.org/html/medicare.html
Sounds like it's more of a legal term?
"State definitions of terminal illness may further limit the usefulness of a living will. A terminal illness is an irreversible condition that will result in death in the near future or a state of permanent unconsciousness from which recovery is unlikely"
Your medical analysis comports with one I heard from a "acute" care/ICU person with 26 years experience of dealing with such people.