Most of the time, the issue around feeding tubes for dementia patients, is that they refuse to eat. They just quit eating. Have you noticed that old people, usually but not always, get thin. At some point they start to fade, to get smaller. Families are in a fix at this point. Because the person simply does not want to eat so many are loathe to subject their demented older parents to a surgery.
It is not as simple as your post suggests. For some, when a person with Altzheimers refuses to eat and starts to fade away, it is as if this is the way nature deals with it. Terri's case is different.
Yes.
Felos is loathe to subject Terri to this procedure. He exaggerated the seriousness of he procedure and actually said it would be making her die twice. I'm not sure what he meant by that but much of what he says sounds peculiar.
Not to offend, but when someone has lived a long and full life and then chooses to go home by giving up food, they still drink water, and other beverages of choice until their trip to the LORD begins. Those who are in a state of dementia, from whatever cause, forget to drink. That is when a tube is appropriate. Those persons have lost the ability to reason for themselves, and are at the mercy of their caretakers. Those who are disabled, from whatever cause, are not able to take nutrition for themselves, and in extreme cases cannot make their wishes known, and are appropriately cared for by providing such nutrition as is needed. Now, where does Terri fit into this explanation? She has not lived a long and full life and decided it is time to answer the LORD's call to come home. She is not in a state of dementia such that she would forget to eat or drink, at least as far as we know. She is disabled and not able to take nutrition for herself. So was Christopher Reeve, so is Joni Earickson Tada, so is Stephen Hawking. But in Terri's case she is an impediment to the wishes of her caretaker. And he is not willing to make the committment necessary to provide the care necessary for her to live.