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I think in the throes of the realization of impending death, sometimes we wish for the death not to occur.

Had your grandfather foreseen what the feeding tube would have done, had your grandmother foreseen the results, would either have chosen differently?

That's the problem with feeding tubes, IMO. They truly are medical intervention and preempt what God may have meant to happen.

Why can people not accept the natural progression? Why do we fight to have procedures that may be worse than the "cure"?

I think that Grandpa was not mentally capable of making this decision, and the doctor agreed, but my Grandmother heard her husband say that, and emotion took over. For the last three years my Grandmother has suffered great episodes of depression because of Grandpas last few months, but she thought she was doing what he wanted.

I beg people to think about this when they are making out living wills, and remember that every single situation is different. I also know that the Shindlers have admitted that they would do everything to keep Terri alive, and I have to believe (given my personal experience), that even if they heard Terri say "I don't want to live like this" they would continue down this road.

I don't blame the Shindlers, just as I don't blame my Grandmother for trying to preserve their daughters life, I am just saying that many times emotion overrules common sense and that people who are screaming "murder" should think what they are doing to each and every person who has ever been in this position.

I am now going off on a different tangent, but I feel that I have the right to speak my mind. I know that my husband has said many times this past week that I am to "remove the tube", if he ever gets in Terri's position, I also know that my Mother in Law would do every thing that the Shindlers are doing to keep him alive, even to the point of demonizing me and exploiting his life on national TV. I would refuse to divorce him and fight just like Michael Shiavo is doing to keep my promise to him, and I would have thousands on Free Republic questioning my motives (we both have very large life insurance policies).

These end of life decisions are each unique, and until we walk in the others shoes we have no right to speculate.