Excellent summary of significant medical professional support of Terri's positive prognosis.
Q. Have you considered turning the guardianship over to
Mr. and Mrs. Schindler?
MS: No, I have not.
Q. And why?
MS: I think that's pretty self explanatory.
Q. I'd like to hear your answer.
MS: Basically I don't want to do it.
Q. And why don't you want to do it?
MS: Because they put me through pretty much h*** the
last few years.
Q. And can you describe what you mean by h***?
MS: The litigations they put me through.
Q. Any other specifics besides the litigation?
MS: Just their attitude towards me because
of the litigations. There is no other reason.
I'm Terri's husband and I will remain
guardian. After his attorney "talked" with him, Michael added, "Yeah. Another reason would be that her parents wouldn't carry out her wishes."Others (namely her parents and brother) have contradicted Michael’s assertion that his wife would want her feeding tube removed. In addition, Cindy Shook, who had an affair with Michael shortly after Terri's "incident", gave a startling deposition. Regarding what Terri would have wanted she claims Michael said,
"How the h*** should I know we never spoke about this, my God I was only 25 years old. How the h*** should I know? We were young. We never spoke of this."
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Q. Why did you want to learn to be a nurse?
MS. Because I enjoy it and I want to learn more
how to take care of Terri.
Q. You're a young man. Your life is ahead of you.
When you look up the road, what do you see for
yourself?
MS. I see myself hopefully finishing school and
taking care of my wife.
Q. Where do you want to take care of your wife?
MS. I want to bring her home.
Q. If you had the resources available to you,
if you had the equipment and the people,
would you do that?
MS. Yes, I would, in a heartbeat.
Q. How do you feel about being married to Terri
now.
MS. I feel wonderful. She's my life and I wouldn't
trade her for the world. I believe in my
marriage vows.
Q. You believe in your wedding vows, what do you
mean by that?
MS. I believe in the vows I took with my wife,
through sickness, in health, for richer or poor.
I married my wife because I love her and I want
to spend the rest of my life with her. I'm going
to do that. [emphasis added]
(Note: In January of 1993, a jury awarded Michael $350,000 for loss of consortium, and $750,000 went into a medical trust for all of Terri's future rehabilitative care, which was based on the testimony of Michael stating that he wanted to care for Terri for the rest of his life. If Terri should die, Michael would inherit the balance of the trust fund. Not only did Mr. Schiavo not provide Terri with rehabilitation, he has denied his wife any and all therapy, against Doctors' recommendations, since the 1993 malpractice award.)--------------------------------------------------
Q. What was her bladder condition?
MS. She had a UTI.
Q. What is that?
MS. Urinary tract infection.
Q. What did the doctor tell you treatment
for that would be?
MS. Antibiotic usually.
Q. And did he tell you what would occur if
you failed to treat that infection?
What did he tell you?
MS. That sometimes urinary tract infection
will turn to sepsis.
Q. And sepsis is what?
MS. An infection throughout the body.
Q. And what would the result of untreated sepsis
be to the patient?
MS. The patient would pass on.
Q. So when you made the decision not to treat
Terri's bladder infection you, in effect,
were making a decision to allow her to pass on?
MS. I was making a decision on what Terri would want.
Q. Had the bladder condition been treated?
MS. Yes.
Q. And was...what was the reason that the bladder
condition was treated?
MS. Sable Palms Nursing Home said they could not do
that by some Florida law which wasn't stated.