How Will Terri Schiavo Die? (ABC says death by starvation is peaceful)

Though the legal wrangling in the Terri Schiavo case has been loud and contentious, the brain-damaged woman's physical response to having her feeding tube removed is likely to be very serene.

"The process of starving to death seems very barbaric but in actuality is very peaceful," said Dr. Fred Mirarchi, assistant clinical professor of emergency medicine at Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia.

"The patient's experience is really pretty benign," said Dr. Joanne Lynn, a hospice physician associated with Americans for Better Care of the Dying, a group working for improved end-of-life care. "Overwhelmingly, what will happen is nothing."

Lynn, who has worked with numerous families facing end-of-life situations, said most patients who are removed from life support will die within a matter of a few days or weeks.

"Some people can last four or five days — some people can last 20 days," she said.

Schiavo's feeding tube was removed on Friday afternoon following a contentious battle between her husband, who said his wife would not want to live in a vegetative state, and her parents, who wanted her kept on live support.

Schiavo's feeding tube was removed twice before, in 2001 and 2003. The second time, the tube was replaced after six days when Florida Gov. Jeb Bush signed a hastily passed law allowing him to intervene in the case. "Terri's Law" was later ruled unconstitutional.

The physical process of dying after life support is removed follows a pattern familiar to hospice workers. And the fact that Schiavo is in a vegetative state will likely make her death faster and less painful, Lynn said.

"It depends on whether she has the ability to swallow anything — and if that anything is offered," she said. "If she's unable to swallow anything, the course toward dying, so far as anyone can tell, is fairly comfortable."

Most patients who cannot eat or drink will enter a physical state known as ketosis. During ketosis the body begins to use fat and muscle as a fuel source.

In advanced cases of ketosis, the nervous system response is dulled, and patients rarely feel pain, hunger or thirst. There is also some evidence that ketosis can produce a state of well-being or mild euphoria.

Family members and friends are often surprised to find that a terminal patient's eyes will open and they will appear to glance around the room. "It's very confusing on an emotional level," said Lynn.

But Lynn explained that the part of the brain-controlling eye movement is actually very primitive and can remain active even after other parts of the brain appear to have stopped functioning.

"Cyclical breathing is very typical," Lynn said, adding that in some cases the patient will breathe very rapidly, then take just one or two breaths per minute.

Over time, the patient will become more and more dehydrated and will eventually develop kidney failure, Mirarchi explained.

"Patients at this point are uremic — filled with bodily toxins — and are unaware of their surroundings," Mirarchi said. "They develop electrolyte imbalances that eventually cause an abnormal beating of the heart."

In the final moments of life, the abnormalities in the patient's heart rate known as arrhythmia are common.

The efforts of caregivers may in some cases complicate the death of the patient. Giving a patient water, for example, may prolong the process. "Going without water makes it more gentle," Lynn said. "Allowing chemicals [in the blood] to cause arrhythmia is more merciful."

Tell the Truth!
by Pete Winn
A note to the news media: Stop lying about Terri Schiavo!
I have a message for the media: Stop, already! Just stop it!!
Stop saying that Terri Schiavo is "a brain-dead woman being kept alive solely on life support." She is not. She's a disabled Florida woman, who is now being murdered by medical personnel who have removed her feeding tube.
Aaarghh!!! Tell the truth! Stop saying this is about her right to die. Watch closely at the words coming out of this keyboard: T-E-L-L T-H-E T-R-U-T-H.
Terri Schiavo is not at all comatose. She is not at all on life support. She does not have a breathing tube or a respirator. She simply has been receiving her food and water — something everyone in existence needs to survive — through a tube.
What's more, though she is disabled, she probably could eat by herself — it's just too much trouble for hospital personnel to try to feed her by hand.
That's the key element here: Terri is inconvenient. She's especially inconvenient to her husband, Michael, for several reasons — not the least of which is that he's living with another woman and has children by her. Can anyone seriously trust he is operating in her best interest?
Tell the truth. The case of Terri Schiavo doesn't represent the right to die. It represents the right to live.
When murderers are sentenced to death, it comes as a result of a jury or judge passing sentence on a defendant who is sitting before them. One who has had the right to make a defense, to call witnesses and to testify for themselves, if they so choose.
But Terri Schiavo, this woman who has been incapacitated for more than a decade, has never had the right to do any of that. What's more, Judge George W. Greer, the Florida judge who seems bent on ending her life — who has more than once ordered her food and water removed — has never even seen Terri Schiavo in person.
Never seen her in person! It is inconceivable that a judge would pass judgment on a felon without ever having seen the defendant.
But then, that's the point, isn't it? If I am to believe the mainstream media — either this is about Terri's "right to die" or she, in some sense, deserves to die. After all, she's got no "quality of life," right?
Wrong. Terri is not a criminal defendant. She committed no crime. She is innocent. Her sole "crime" — and I say that with all the irony I can muster — is that she is disabled.
If anything, this case is about the rights of the disabled.
Make no mistake, "quality of life" and comfort are not the prime considerations for living, any more than parenting is about spending "quality time" with kids. Forget quality time. If you don't spend "quantity time" with children, that's when they appear to suffer, if we are to believe the research. And if a disabled person is going to be killed because he or she is "inconvenient," let's stop talking about his or her quality of life. The quality of life while being starved and dehydrated to death is nonexistent.
Let's talk about the death process for Terri if her feeding tube is not reinserted. After three or four days, she will have lost weight and will have begun to lose normal body secretions. Her mouth will begin to look dry and her eyes will appear sunken. She will look thinner because her body tissues will have lost fluid. Her heart rate will gradually go up, and her blood pressure will gradually go down.
Five to 10 days from now, her alertness will decrease markedly. Breathing will become irregular with periods of very fast and then very slow breathing.
From day 10 until death — first coma, then kidney function will decline and toxins will begin accumulating in her body. Those toxins will cause her respiratory muscles to fail. Then multiple organ systems will begin to fail from lack of nutrition.
Then, and only then, she will die.
Sure. You're right, mainstream media. That's exactly what Terri has a "right" to. That's exactly what she would have wanted.
Excuse me while I vomit.
LINK to article: http://family.org/cforum/fnif/commentary/a0035918.cfm

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