By DAVID SOMMER dsommer@tampatrib.com
Published: Oct 23, 2003
CLEARWATER - Terri Schiavo was in stable condition late Wednesday and able to be released from the hospital. But it will be several days before doctors know whether the 39-year-old woman's kidneys were damaged by going almost a full week without liquid nutrition supplied through a tube inserted in her stomach, said Deborah Bushnell, an attorney for husband Michael Schiavo.
The tube was reinserted on Gov. Jeb Bush's orders late Tuesday, Bushnell said. But the process was difficult because Terri Schiavo's treating physician resigned as soon as she was admitted to Morton Plant Hospital to be treated for dehydration and undergo the operation needed to insert the tube, the attorney said. The quest for a new physician was complicated by a warning issued by Michael Schiavo on Tuesday that he intended to sue any doctor who inserted a feeding tube or gave intravenous hydration to his wife, Bushnell acknowledged.
The lack of a treating physician also delayed Terri Schiavo's return to a Pinellas Park hospice until Wednesday evening, Bushnell said....