Posted on 03/19/2005 4:30:22 PM PST by ambrose
SCHIAVO Q&A
By Palm Beach Post Staff and Wire Reports
Saturday, March 19, 2005
Terri Schiavo's case has mixed emotion and medical science into a sometimes incomprehensible blend. Here, according to medical experts, are answers to common questions:
Q: What happened to Schiavo?
A: On Feb. 25, 1990, at age 27, she suffered cardiac arrest as a result of a potassium imbalance. Court-appointed doctors have found her to be severely brain-damaged because oxygen was cut off from her brain. The doctors say she is in a persistent vegetative state that offers no hope of recovery.
Q: What is a persistent vegetative state, and how does it differ from a coma?
A: A coma is a profound or deep state of unconsciousness. The patient is alive but unable to react or respond to things going on around around her. People have awakened from comas and gone on with their lives. In a coma, the patient looks asleep and is unresponsive.
A persistent vegetative state, which sometimes follows a coma, is a condition in which someone has lost awareness of the world around her but remains in a sleep-wake cycle. The individual loses the higher cerebral powers of the brain, but the functions of the brain stem, such as respiration (breathing) and blood circulation, remain relatively intact. In this state, the patient may look as if he or she is awake.
Q: But why does Schiavo look like she's smiling?
A: Her parents say she is aware of what's going on around her and reacts to her surroundings and to people who talk to her. But experts say it is extremely common for someone in a persistent vegetative state to look alert, as if she knows what's going on. Medical experts say Schiavo exhibits extremely primitive reflexes, nothing more. For example, she might turn or jerk in response to a loud noise. These are primitive functions directed by the small part of the brain that is still intact.
Spontaneous movements may happen and the eyes may open in a response to external stimuli, but the patient does not speak or obey commands. Patients in a vegetative state may appear somewhat normal. They may occasionally grimace, cry or laugh. The court has found that Schiavo does not consistently respond to stimuli. Doctors say her actions are reflexes, not a consciously directed effort by the brain's cortex.
Q:What will happen to her now that the tube has been removed?
A: There's no way to tell for sure what will happen, but the kidneys might be the first to react. In such cases, urine output decreases and patients begin to stop secreting fluids. The mouth begins to look dry and the eyes appear sunken. Patients will look thinner because the body tissues have lost fluid. The heart rate gradually goes up and blood pressure goes down. That leads to breathing changes that culminate in the rest of the body shutting down. Depending on how strong she is, she might take two to three weeks to die.
Q: Will she feel any pain?
A: In a vegetative state, medical experts believe the higher cortical functions — those brain functions that allow us to experience the world around us — have been suspended. The patient is, in effect, unconscious. It would be difficult to know if she experienced any discomfort, doctors say, because no one can talk with her. Because the more primitive functions remain, the body would try to maintain life, so there may be some grimacing or other apparent reaction to what's happening. If she seems uncomfortable, doctors can give medicines to relieve pain and relax her. Doctors say she should not experience pain as we experience it. Usually, there are no signs of a change except a gentle and quiet transition from breathing to non-breathing. Doctors who have witnessed the procedure in other patients call it a dignified death.
Q: What if the feeding tube is reinserted?
A: If it's replaced within the first few days — as it has been done before with Schiavo — a patient can recover from dehydration. If the tube is replaced after two or three weeks, she likely would still die. Replacing the tube doesn't always lead to recovery.
I'm downright phobic of them.
Ran off the highway one time when one dropped down from my visor...
yeesh... bad convo. I'm gettin the shivers.
If I have my horror dream tonight, you're going to owe me double. lol
Intolerant too. lol
The following is from the poster HannaUSA.
This scan, taken 53 weeks after Terri's collapse revealed that Terri had fractured ribs, damage to her pelvic area, LI vertebrae, spine, both knees, both ankles, a broken femur and a broken back. One doctor commented that "somebody really worked her over."
There is that too! LOL
I feel the same. I just hope that I have what it takes when and if my mom needs me. I just moved closer to home in case of that eventuality but I'm not equipped to deal with medical aspects. Fortunately, my sister was OR tech and by golly she just knows EVERYTHING!! :)
Well, today I have been misqouted and misunderstood several times, been accused of some things I didn't do.
I also made that same mistake in my posts to some other posters.
I'm almost even. HOW'S YOUR DAY?
The appeals court overturned that decision and ordered that she be examined by 5 doctors: 2 chosen by the Schindlers, 2 chosen by MS, and one agreed to or appointed by the court. The subsequent trial and appeal happened in 2002.
Bookmarking!
And their opinion was 3/2, in other words it was not unanimous, and there is still an uncertainty, so why not err on the side of life, especially since Terri's parents are willing to care for her and assume all responsibility for her?
I know.
The top half of the article mentioned hyloid bone damage and windpipe injuries.
Did Terri have any of those show up?
It looks as if he generally brutalized her many time before actually going for a kill.
The thing is, if it's done to you quickly and you aren't expecting it, you'd be amazed how -fast- you're totally immobilized before you even have a chance to think about thrashing around.
I know whereof I speak.
A lot of good, factual information at:
http://www.terrisfight.org
Yup - It's an emotional issue - everyone's on edge, huh.
My day's fine now - really should be in bed rather than posting this late, though - dangerous. lol
Your link didn't work, because of a typo, but here is the actual link:
http://www.sweetliberty.org/bulletins/terri/bonescan.htm
But thanks for posting it, I was not aware of this site, a lot of other good info.
We all have. And a long weekend. And it ain't over yet.
Maybe it would help if every poster on all the Terri threads took a second to take a breath, and realize that everyone is stressed, tired, and has concerns one way or the other and has the right to discuss and debate those issues.
Although we all have strong convictions, and tempers have flared, it is not because any of us are "BAD", or "EVIL". It is because we are all human.
Terri's case has brought forth a SUITCASE full of issues, which bred 'factions' during our discussions.
We have:
The Judicial Court Issue
The Euthanasia Issue
The State Law Issue
The Federal Law Issue
The Hospice Staff Issue
The Roman Catholic Church Issue
The women's hygiene Issue
The Money Issue
The Medicare Scam Issue
The Right to Life Issue
The Right to Die Issue
The Right to decide for others issue
The Right to have no decision issue
The Right to be tortured Issue
The PVS/Coma/Braindead Issue
The hearsay/heresay/whosay/Isay Issue
The gastronomy tube/Life Support Issue
The Heart Attack/Cardiac Arrest Issue
The Diet/Bulimia Issue
Terri Schiavo-Schindler
Judge Greer
Michael Schiavo
George Felos
George Bush
Jeb Bush
Dr. Gambone/Hammersfahr/Wolfson/etc.
The Schiavo Family
The Schindlers
Rush Limbaugh (how'd he get in here?)
The Florida Attorney General
The Pope
Moose
Cheese
(Help, someone stop him.)
The biggest problem we have is we all think we are talking about the same thing, and yet poster A seems to be discussing ISSUE X , with poster B who is discussing ISSUE Y.
It's remarkable that posters heads don't explode after a while.
Biased nonetheless, everything else is either false (media) or hearsay (Micheal).
Me= No court in the land would allow me to starve myself; I would be put in a mental hospital if I tried.
You= That comment is especially ironic, given that the reason Terri had the problem in the first place is that she was severely anorexic (not eating).
She did starve herself, and now everyone is arguing about feeding her.
BTW, I do not think courts should involve themselves with the medical treatment for anorexics, either. Any court interference in our medical care is just too much.
1. It has not been proven that her eating disorder was the cause of her illness.
2. I agree with you to some degree about gov getting involved, BUT if abortion is a gov. issue then this should be too. This door was opened a long time ago, and here we are.
Yet, you want all of us to listen to the nonsense you spew.
"You sir or madam are a hypocrite of the highest order."
I have been called much worse.
Why does her husband so fervently want her dead? Why doesn't he sign over custody to her parents?
I agree. But I was hoping that we could get gov't out of the abortion issue. This is just giving them more control over what should be personal decisions.
What comes next? The fat police?
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