Terri Schiavo Before dehydration
Posted on 03/25/2005 2:16:36 PM PST by Southside_Chicago_Republican
Her skin is flaky, tongue dry and lips sunken. Doctors are saying Theresa Schiavo could survive another week without food or water, but she could just as easily die over the weekend.
But is she suffering? On that point, expert opinion varies widely.
Schiavo stopped receiving food or water last Friday. Because she is in a persistent vegetative state without conscious awareness, many medical authorities say she is unable to process or communicate pain and discomfort. Any reaction she shows is reflex, they say.
And as her organs fail, they predict that she is likely to pass peacefully, as if she was drifting off to sleep.
But other physicians — some of whom combine medicine and Christian missionary work — strongly disagree.
Dr. David Stevens, executive director of the Christian Medical Association in Bristol, Tenn., has worked in some of Africa's poorest nations.
He recalls watching people die of dehydration with symptoms that include thick saliva, severe cramps and dry heaving. As their mucous membranes and intestines dry out, they bleed from the mouth and nose, and begin to hallucinate.
Stevens says the quiet death that physicians often associate with dehydration comes to patients whose bodies were already shutting down from cancer or another terminal illness.
"That's a whole different thing than someone like this, whose body is in metabolic equilibrium," he said.
But in a statement, groups representing hospices said the Schiavo case has raised "erroneous medical claims" that stopping food and water causes terminal patients considerable discomfort.
"Most studies show that patients nearing the end of their lives do not experience hunger," said Ryan Walker, a spokesman for the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association. "Dry mouth is the most common symptom, but it easily can be alleviated."
Other medical authorities say a case like Schiavo's is more difficult to analyze because researchers don't have a complete idea of what a vegetative patient might feel. They still have basic functions controlled by the brain stem, including sleep-wake cycles, breathing and some facial expressions. But she is not consciously aware and requires total assistance.
And, at 41, her case is rare because of her age. Nursing homes are full of geriatric patients battling serious diseases only to suffer a heart attacks and wind up breathing on ventilators while their families weigh sad and limited options.
But Schiavo was 26 and outwardly healthy when she collapsed and her brain was temporarily starved of oxygen. The courts have ruled that the episode left her in a persistent vegetative state, and agreed that her husband has the right to disconnect her feeding tube.
"Often the issues hardest to decide are when young people who are otherwise living productive lives are struck down by an unforeseen event. They do not have a lot of other medical problems and can live for years without succumbing," said Elaine J. Amella, associate nursing research dean at the Medical University of South Carolina at Charlestown.
Currently, Schiavo is not known to face a life-threatening infection like pneumonia, for which the family and doctors might agree to withhold antibiotics and let nature take its course.
Without a national euthanasia policy, physicians said nutrition is the only medical intervention over which Schiavo's surrogate decision-makers can exercise any individual choice.
"In this case there really isn't any in-between," said Dr. Michael Weissman, director of the palliative care center at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. "Of all the things we talk about stopping in these cases, nothing more emotionally laden than feeding. Antibiotics don't mean nurturing, but feeding does."
If nutrition is denied, there is a point when death may occur even if the tube is reinserted — toxin levels are too high and the body is in too much shock. Or the patient might survive, but with additional damage to the brain, kidneys or other organs.
Ironically, when the end of life draws near, doctors say that over-hydration may pose the bigger medical problem. As the kidneys and other organs fail, fluid builds up in the lungs and the legs. This increases stress and pain, and often requires aggressive intervention.
One frequent hallmark of approaching death is the "death rattle" as patients lose the ability to cough or swallow saliva and other secretions from their throats and bronchial tubes. When they breathe, air moves over the fluids, creating turbulence.
A study by the Medical College of Wisconsin suggests that death comes about 16 hours after the rattle's onset. But patients with brain injuries and lung disease might also produce similar noises without being close to death.
Dehydration leads to kidney failure and levels of toxins and impurities rise in the bloodstream. At some point the biochemical changes in the blood become severe enough to impair the electrical system that controls the functioning of the heart. Blood pressure drops. Consciousness wanes. Respiration slows, or even stops for longer intervals.
The heart slows, then stops beating. Finally, the brain shuts down from a lack of oxygen. Death might not be immediately apparent.
In a recent New England Journal of Medicine (news - web sites) study, hospice nurses rated the deaths of terminally ill people who voluntarily stopped eating and drinking. On a scale of zero to nine, with the highest number being "a very good death," their average rating was eight.
Did you notice Michael's $600 suits and Rolex watch?
This guy is living it up on Terri's misery. And so is his mistress.
She is being murdered.
There is debate about what state she is in.
This is a travesty. Since when are we believing an estranged husband who said she wanted to die if i nthis place.
And even more unbelievable that to some the "legality" is all that matters.
I pray God takes Terri soon -- tonight. To imagine the horror of what she's gone through, to imagine the utter agony and helpless rage of her poor parents watching everyone sit idly by while their child shrivels away... It's beyond imagining for me how they are still sane. Anyone -- look at your own child and put yourself in their place. Dear Lord, please take her tonight into Your embrace.
Anyway, I know dozens of children who are profoundly handicapped. They are in the same state as Terri Schiavo. They are never going to get better. They are unable to let us know if they'd rather be dead. They all have families who love them and are willing to take care of them, and they will die if those people stop providing them with sustenance.
Should we starve them to death as well?
You're the expert on compassion, so tell me how we should kill those children. Feel free to ask God, since you're the one who insists on bringing him into the discussion.
It was while she was in the hospital, and ms was fighting for a big $$$ settlement, that her 're-scans' showed major injury/major brain damage.
Nita.... there is NOTHING about this, that can JUSTIFY , the cold-blooded murder of an innocent, less-than-perfect woman.
Have you followed the money/motives/ties? Does it smell wrong? ( you KNOW I'm not trying to be insulting... just speaking from one of those 'old' Freepers to another. LOL)
Lisa McPherson was dehydrated to death in Pinellas and it was a notorious case.
If you want to see pics of a dehydrated woman.....they're not for the weak of stomach
http://whyaretheydead.net/lisa_mcpherson/autopsy/agree.html
I know. I guess if there is anything positive about this situation is that it has smoked out this problem for those of us who, like me, had no idea how bad things were. You're absolutely right -- now is the time to stand up and fight -- and keep fighting until this evil is eradicated.
"...The lapse of time between the various offenses and the indictment of defendant on July 27, 1967, is considerable but is adequately explained by the record. The murder weapon in each case was unique, insulin. The deaths of each of these victims were initially attributed to causes other than a criminal agency. Suspicion of insulin and of defendant as the person administering the insulin was not aroused until the death of Zella in 1956. It was not until years later, after much painstaking and persistent investigation by law enforcement officers, and the discovery of advances made in {Page 3 Cal.3d 621} medical knowledge and techniques, that sufficient evidence could be accumulated to charge defendant with these deaths. Unfortunately, by then other of defendant's victims had lost their lives. This is the only known reported case of murder by insulin poisoning in the United States. Only one other, reported world-wide, occurred in England in 1956. ..."
"...Dr. Grace Fern Thomas, a psychiatrist and an expert in insulin shock therapy, and director of the insulin shock department at the time defendant was at Camarillo, testified as to the procedures on the ward. A precise dosage of insulin was measured for each person at a particular time. At a specific level that patient would go into shock in approximately two hours after the injection. Patients do not progress at the same level. Careful watch must be kept of the pulse, color, blood pressure, general condition, and neurological signs, such as pupillary changes and body motions. When a patient is going into progressive stages of coma he sweats very profusely and breathes very heavily. Saliva is secreted in large amounts, mucous flows freely and mixes with the saliva, and the patient must be carefully watched, turned, or assisted so that he does not aspirate the fluid into his lungs. Otherwise bronchopneumonia may develop, leading to death. The gag reflex and the cornea reflex are lost. Convulsions may occur, and medication is given to prevent this. The extremities may stiffen. At a relatively deep level of coma the Babinski test (scatching the sole of the foot in a certain manner) will cause a reflex known as the Babinski response (toes fan out). The patient must be brought out of the coma within 10-15 minutes thereafter. This is done by administering glucose through gastric tubes, and if this is not effective, glucose is administered intravenously to raise the blood sugar.
Yeah, that stuck out like a sore thumb. It's too bad Albert Schweitzer isn't still around. I wonder what they'd say about him.
The NEJM has long been a strong advocate for euthanasia, so I am not surprised that they had a study with such results.
That was most definitely a red flag.
I used to read that years ago when I had a job in a library, but not recently. As I replied to another poster, until recently I had no idea how far along this path we were. When I read that one line in the article "without a national euthanasia policy," I thought, my God, it's here.
Momma, I didn't really pay attention to this until a few weeks ago. You can go to my message here to see what I think of it. After I saw the movie of her responding to commands, that pretty much did it for me. And hearing all these nurses coming forward, too.
And I wouldn't be surprised to later find out many more of those 'money' connections, either.
And don't even ask me what I think about her bigamist "husband."
It was a dead giveaway, wasn't it? Sad, but I think they caused her to suffer in order to make the point.
I have to go find it again, but back in the mid 1980's at a right to die world conference, a speaker said this was exactly what needed to happen. That when we became repulsed enough by causing death from dehydration, we would finally agree to the lethal injections.
Even if he had intervened in the Schaivo case I wouldn't vote for him anyway. Two Bushes are more than enough.
Amen, that was my prayer all last night, and it still is.
Well...I believe that...I don't want to see anyone do anything illegal...especially Jeb. Let's leave that stuff for Janet Reno and Hillary. I would hope Republicans would be better than that....if you don't like the law...change it...don't break it.
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