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Living Wills would seem to be the answer, but in so many cases, a person's desires, as expressed in their living will are discarded because a loved one can't stand to let go or are pressured by doctors.

The doctors seem to be more than willing to disregard a persons Living Will requests and that is what's so ironic about Terri. Schiavo, Greer, and her doctors are going against what would normally be suggested even for an elderly person.

In our experiences, the doctors wanted to place feeding tubes and ventilators in my in-laws even though they had expressed otherwise in their living wills.

The Health Care Surrogate documents, we had, made it legal for my husband to insist that his parents wishes be carried out.

That is the slippery slope, because life does end. A feeding tube in every patient that is terminal does nothing but prolong suffering and put money into the doctors pocket (it must also be noted that a feeding tube makes it much easier for medical staff...instead of spending a half hour trying to get a person to eat a bit of nourishment, they can accomplish the same thing in minutes with a feeding tube.)

When my MIL and FIL were dying, we visited them 3 or 4 times a day, trying to coax some nourishment into them, because since we had refused the feeding tube, it didn't seem like the hospital staff had the time to spend to accomplish the task.

IMHO, feeding tubes have their place, but not in the terminally ill.

I don't categorize Terri as terminally ill, so I agree that removal of the feeding tube and denial of hydration and an attempt to feed her, could be deemed intentional euthanasia.

Three years ago, my Grandfather became seriously ill. He was in an out of consciousness, and fading fast. He had a living will that declared DNR, and included no feeding tubes. He had been very adamant about this fact, because during Grandpa loved life more than anyone I have ever met. His favorite activity was travel, and the eating associated with it. In fact many of his vacations revolved around restaurants he had heard of and wanted to try out. He loved good culinary experiences more than anything else. He stated that if he couldn't enjoy the food he was getting then it wasn't worth it (hence the no feeding tube decision he made).

Towards the end, he was unable to swallow, and began choking on even the most pureed foods. One day, in the presence of my Grandma, and the doctor, he stated that he wanted a feeding tube put in. The doctor was unsure of his mental capabilities at this time, and took Grandma aside and explained to her, that he would transfer decisions to her (she was listed as Health care POA). The doctor explained to her that it was easy to put in a feeding tube, but legally, and morally much harder to remove it. Grandma had just heard her husband say "put it in", and of course followed his wishes (this conflicted her).

For the next two months, she went through a living hell. Due to the feeding tubes Grandpa became diabetic, in fact at times his blood sugars went up into the 600 range, the doctors would then stabilize his insulin, and he would go in and out of diabetic comas. Grandpa had never been a diabetic before the tube was inserted.

Two months later he died, but now Grandma remembers those last days with horror, not with the wonderful memories that she should have of the life they shared together.

I guess my story points out that feeding tubes can be "bad" things in some situations, and I applaud your families courage through your tough times.