There is something about dying many people do not understand. When someone is ill, there is something in that person's soul which says it is time to go. You have to expirience it to know the truth, but each and every patient I have seen die (and there have been many) choose the time to let go.
Sometimes they will hold on until that last child gets a chance to say goodbye. Sometimes they will wait until the family leaves. Sometimes it is as simple as saying "It's okay to let go."
I have seen patients hold on until after a birthday or a holiday. Every nurse who reads this will back me up.
Terri may have made a remark when she was 20. Hell, I have said it. But look at Terri today. Her body is not in the stages of dying. She is not lingering. She is not being forced to endure the effects of a terminal illness.
If allowed to live, Terri will die when it is time for Terri to die. She is not a "vegeatable." We cannot decide to end someone's life on the basis of vegetation.
Her husband and Judge Greer are hell bent on killing her. They want her dead yesterday.
Legally, I realize Greer has the power. But they are using the law to sanction ending the life of a healthy person who has suffered brain damage...
Very well stated.
.Her body has been in the stages of dying for 15 years now.
Terri's wish was for her not to live life like a vegetable.
Thanks for your very perceptive post. Countless times, I have seen this occur as a professional. Never was it more clear to me than when my own father held on until I flew 14 hours home with urgent news he was hospitalized. Upon my arrival the following day,he was alert, oriented, and we talked at length until he asked me to leave so that he could get some sleep--and suggesting that I needed rest too. He never regained consciousness, and died a few days later.