Posted on 10/16/2003 5:36:57 AM PDT by Don Joe
By DAVID SOMMER dsommer@tampatrib.com
Published: Oct 16, 2003
PINELLAS PARK - Even if Terri Schiavo does experience hunger, medical protocol calls for pain medication to keep her comfortable during her last days, experts said Wednesday.
As with every other issue surrounding the more than 5- year-old legal fight over the 39- year-old woman's fate, the two sides disagree on what will happen now that her feeding tube has been removed.
Bob and Mary Schindler contend their daughter is in for a protracted and agonizing death. Their attorney, Pat Anderson, has repeatedly referred to it as starvation, execution and state-sanctioned murder in court arguments.
Schiavo's husband, Michael, contends his wife has felt no sensation since January 1990, when sudden and still-unexplained heart failure cut off blood flow to her brain.
A majority of doctors who have examined Schiavo have concluded that most of her brain has died, leaving her in what is known as a persistent vegetative state. She feels, sees and hears nothing and what appear to be responsive facial expressions and vocalizations are reflexive behavior and not communication, most doctors say.
Peggy Guin, a nursing instructor at Shands Hospital at the University of Florida, said her experience with patients taken off feeding tubes shows that even those who can feel pain do not, because of preventive medication.
Studies have shown that as people get closer to death, they lose any sense of hunger, Guin said. Still, she said, the one- to two-week process can be tough on loved ones.
``Family members get very disturbed when their dying relatives do not want to eat,'' she said.
Because it is impossible to be sure a dying patient does not feel hunger pangs, pain medicine is provided to people who have been taken off feeding tubes, Guin said.
Removal of feeding tubes is a common practice that became accepted after thorough debate by medical ethicists, said Kenneth Goodman, director of bioethics at the University of Miami School of Medicine and a co-director of the Florida Bioethics Network.
Soon after nourishment is denied to the brain, it begins producing chemicals that act as a natural anesthetic, the professor said.
``She is not going to feel a thing,'' Goodman said. The artificial pain medication that Schiavo will receive ``is to make sure that if there is [pain] it is adequately handled,'' he said.
``There is nothing unusual about terminating hydration and nutrition,'' Goodman said. ``The reason why Florida law allows it, and the other 49 states allow it, is obviously that this can be done in a way that is pain-free and dignified. That is why it is legal.''
Guin said Schiavo's caregivers have an obligation to take steps to keep her comfortable as she is dying.
At first, Schiavo will display a decrease in activities such as yawning or swallowing, Guin said. Then, her kidneys will gradually shut down and her breathing and heartbeat may become irregular.
She will likely lose weight and her lips and mouth will become dry while her skin becomes taut, Guin said.
To counter that, caregivers should coat Schiavo's lips with balm and change her position frequently to prevent bedsores, Guin said.
I found this in my inbox, courtesy of a Google Alert. At first, I thought I was still dreaming. You can't have a nightmare when you're awake, can you?
But no, it's real.
It's real frightening.
It's real sick.
It's real insane.
It's God-damned insane. LITERALLY.
Welcome to 1939.
Tighten your seatbelts, folks. Long, bumpy ride ahead. And remember: Arbeit Macht Frei.
After all, if you can't lift a spoon, you're hardly in a position to do much in the 'arbeit" department.
Here's a get rich quick tip: start investing in the futures market. I see big money ahead in lampshades, candles, soap, and "aftermarket dental gold."
Now why would they want to prevent bedsores if she feels no pain?!
Whether painful or painless may modify it somewhat, but doesn't really address the morality of the underlying issue, which is whether or not the tube should have been removed.
Yeah right. I've heard that same line lots of times from my dentist, and he is wrong, too.
This is murder. We also wouldn't think of euthanizing our animals in this cruel manner. This entire episode is appalling in every respect!
EXACTLY!!! What a bunch of BUNK!!!!!!!!!!!
WON'T WORK!!! Evil will not prevail in the end. They can say what they want, God will have the last word!
We are on our way out as a civil society, when we begin to base ALL our wisdom on " experts"!!....
You mean the same legal system that has kept cop killer Mumia alive for decades and made him a celebrity? That legal system?
Synopsis: "Vegetables" CAN feel pain. But that's OK, we'll just dope them up. And besides, starving to death really *is* a pleasant process. Don't take *our* word for it -- ask a Leading Medical Ethicist. Why, even Herr Doktor Mengele agrees! Killing the unwanted is a Good Thing!So there. It's been decided. The hurdle has been past. And speaking of "past", *welcome* to the past. We're gonna party like it's 1939.
Enjoy the ride. And tighten your seatbelt, because there's no getting off *this* ride.
Some diseases really *do* need to run their course.
No, I'm not talking about Terri's "health issues."
I'm talking about Western Civilization. We seem to have crossed the point of no return -- and done so with an enthusiasm that must have generations of *earlier* "medical ethics" pioneers like Mengele waxing proud.
Except, doesn't wax kinda tend to *melt* where he is?
I guess we'll find out soon enough, now that we've invited that venue to step in and save us from our last vestiges of sanity.
Welcome to 1939.
Welcome to Hell.
God, this is unbelievable...
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