Posted on 03/28/2005 6:41:56 PM PST by Former Military Chick
PINELLAS PARK - Jennifer Johnson, barefoot and in her pajamas, ran to her grandfather's bedside once a hospice worker said his death was moments away.
She got there - one minute too late.
Johnson said the chaos surrounding the hospice where Terri Schiavo lies dying kept her from saying goodbye. When Johnson arrived, a police officer demanded identification; she had none. And after a hospice employee cleared her, another officer halted her for a metal-detecting search.
The delays lasted three to four minutes - the last minutes of her grandfather's life.
"It's a terrible, extra obstacle to put in front of a family. . . . Everything is about Schiavo," Johnson said. "It's all about her and in my family's case, it cost us dearly."
Woodside Hospice has 70 patients in addition to Schiavo, whose parents have been desperately trying to have her feeding tube reinserted. Dozens of protesters have arrived from around the nation since the tube was removed March 18; at least 22 have been arrested, prompting a police barricade around the facility and unprecedented security measures.
Family members visiting patients must pass through a police checkpoint to park, then show identification outside the door before another security screening inside. They also must walk by scores of signs decrying Schiavo's "crucifixion," "torture" and "starvation," plus navigate around hordes of media who have been camped outside the facility.
"To have to maneuver through all of this and have a hostile environment outside when all they want is peace and quiet and to enjoy those few days they have left with a loved one is a horror," said Dr. Morton Getz, executive director of Douglas Gardens Hospice in Miami.
Getz said many people with a family member in a hospice have to make the same excruciating decision that courts have made for Schiavo.
"It's causing a lot of grief and questions in their own mind on whether they did the right thing," he said. "It's unconscionable to have a family member to be near the end stages of life and to get there, you have to walk through signs that say, 'Murderer.' "
Most protesters direct their signs and their chants against the courts and Michael Schiavo, Terri's husband who insists she would not want to be kept alive artificially. But walking through a hostile environment can only add stress to what's already an emotionally draining situation.
"It probably has the same psychological effect on the residents' families as it does on someone who is walking into an abortion clinic and facing signs and aggressive behavior," said Elizabeth Foley, a Florida International University law professor who specializes in bioethics. "And unfortunately, that is the price you have to pay in a free society."
Over the past few days, as Schiavo's parents' attempts to have their daughter's feeding tube reinserted repeatedly failed, signs outside the hospice have grown more desperate. Messages compare Michael Schiavo to the likes of Scott Peterson, convicted of killing his wife and unborn child in California, and John Evander Couey, who has been arrested on charges of kidnapping and murdering a 9-year-old girl in Homosassa.
well I studied WWII in ROTC quite a bit.....and you are making a huge leap to what the Nazi's wanted to do which was exterminate an entire race.....and why not a valid comparison......well, for one, there was a trial here which you didn't get in Germany and there were multiple appeals here which of course was not possible in Germany....if you don't believe me, go look at some of the high powered conservative blogs like Powerline, or LGF or Instanpundit and they will also say, that as bad as this is, it is in no way analagous to the Nazi's.......let me ask you....how do you feel when activist's hold up "Bush is Hitler" signs?..do you feel they are justified?
Too bad. Terri is being murdered. These people--even the families of the dying--should get a little perspective. At least their own family members are not being murdered by the Governor. Maybe they should ask themselves if they really want their relatives being "cared for" in a murder facility.
I agree, the only logical place is the capital.
The seen at the hospice has become fly paper for freaks
correct.....Randall Terry makes "Christian right" look like Jesus freaks.....my posts here are primarily about the anarchy and insulting and Nazi analogy's being bantered about which is ludicrous....so of course I"ve been called a death worshiper and Nazi etc just because I think some have gone to far advocating circumventing the law or calling the Bush's coward.....remarkable BS
Even when we have Presidents in Bethesda, the gaggle of media types are kept at a distance not only for the safety of our president but for the other patients who are desperately trying to recover.
I just feel bad that I had not considered them, like the young gal who lost her grandfather. Why cannot we not have compassion for Terri's fellow patients at the hospice?
Their loved relatives are dying and you think they should "get a little perspective". Really, you don't have much empathy for others to really think that.
alot of "hate" being culled here by well meaning Christians...too bad because it just gives ammo to the looney left
Ditto.
The reporter (and the MSM, generally) is playing us like a fiddle.
No. Just letting folks know that there is already another thread that was posted first. Often moderators then direct folks to the original thread.
I'm not sure what the other questions you're asking mean.
P.S. What is the WPPFF?
Thanks.
Pity that. Terri has been forbidden to see the natural light of day let alone be taken outside in a wheelchair these many years. Maybe those who can't take their loved ones outside for a day or two might stop and ponder poor Terri's denial of any type of stimulation.
...can't sleep because of the bullhorns.
Can't disagree with you about the bullhorns at night.
Actually it is considered an extraordinary measure - prolonging life through artificial assistance.
Yes
That is just coldhearted. Those other people who are dying have absolutely NOTHING to do with Terri. Nothing.
It's the ugly face of everything we stand for when you make comments like that.
My daddy died in at my parent's home on May 25th, 2004 (he was 79, and had terminal lung cancer), in the same room he slept in as a boy. The hospice folks urged us to do everything we could to make his last days more comfortable. I was there to give him sips of water or Pepsi until the end.
I've been somewhat confused with everything I've read on here the last few weeks. I looked at our local Hospice staff as angels, being there, comforting our family, and seeing to our every need.
However, I don't agree with Terri's death by starvation, as she was not terminal. I don't understand how the Hospice folks can go along with that.
Like I said, I guess I'm just confused.
It seems when reporters have to scream into the camera so they think that they can be heard it obviously must be loud.
Shouldn't those in a hosptial, hospice be afforded as much quiet and comfort as one possibly could have.
Things happen. I understand. But, I do think it has been a distraction for those who are patients, those who are working there, those who are visiting in general those around the facility.
I know we can protest. I support that opportunity I just think, and because it occured to me today, that maybe they should be a bit further away.
It is an observation. Take it or leave it.
What other facility is so well connected to the judge, the lawyer, and the husband? There are definite reasons for the location.
My prayers to you and your family.
This discussion really has become so unbelievably warped. Sorry for all the grief you get for having to make such a difficult decision.
What thread? I responded to this post about the demonstrators.
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