Patient wants to live, but old 'living will' mandates death

He says he wants to live. But his wife, caregivers and South Carolina state officials are so focused on carrying out a decade-old, out-of-state living will that 79-year-old Jimmy Chambers can't get a word in edgewise.

That's the account of 10 of Chambers's children and their spouses who signed sworn affidavits in an attempt to block their mother from removing his life-sustaining ventilator, which would cause his death.

It's a case that's reminiscent of the Terri Schiavo controversy which captured the attention of millions around the world, in which a fault line opened up in the middle of a formerly close-knit family, splitting it into pieces over whether to end a loved one's life or allow them to live.

"Our family has meant everything to all of us for all these years. We never thought we'd be in this place," Deanna Potter, one of the children seeking to preserve her father's life, told WND.

The ordeal began August 20 in Naples, Florida, when the "active" and "vibrant" Chambers hopped on a riding lawnmower to help out with his son's yard work. Chambers apparently took his eyes off the road briefly and by the time he fixed his gaze back forward, a hefty tree limb struck him and bent him backwards over the seat of the mower. He was found sometime later lying unconscious on the ground.

Chambers suffered a broken back, a spinal chord injury and a torn aorta. Doctors didn't think he would survive the emergency room. He surprised them.

"You just can't keep him down," Potter marveled. "My father had polio when he was younger and his legs were weakened by that, so he was getting to the point where he couldn't walk for any period of time. But he was always active and looking for things to do. He has a couple of those scooters and scooted all over where he lives."

Two days after the accident, doctors performed surgery and succeeded in repairing Chambers's back, but determined he had become paraplegic. Spinal shock left him dependent on a ventilator, and a gastric feeding tube was inserted into his abdomen.

The prognosis was grim. Doctors weren't sure whether the Yuma, Arizona, resident would ever be able to come off of the ventilator and feeding tube.

Chambers's wife of 58 years, Viola, and one daughter began advocating removal of the ventilator and ending his life, according to Potter. Mrs. Chambers presented a living will her husband signed in 1990 when the couple lived in Iowa. The document indicated that should he have an "incurable or irreversible condition that will result either in death within a relatively short period of time" it was his desire that his life not be prolonged by the administration of life-sustaining procedures.

Chambers did not designate a power of attorney or anyone to serve as medical decision maker in the event of his incapacitation. He has not been declared incapacitated, however, so the family decided to put the life-or-death question to him.

On September 8, after having been off morphine and other mind-altering drugs for 10 hours, the family assembled in Chambers's room at Naples Community Hospital. Present were Viola Chambers, 10 children and Chambers's treating physician, Dr. Kenneth Bookman.

"We all believed that daddy would elect to discontinue the ventilator," Potter told WND. "I went there with the determination that if that's what he chose, I would support him and stand there and love him and not leave that room until he left us."

"He was asked specifically if he wanted to stay on the ventilator and his answer was 'yes,'" wrote Bookman in a notarized letter documenting the event, a copy of which was supplied to WND.

"He was asked if he understood that he would likely never go home again, and would likely live in a ventilator facility, on the ventilator, for the rest of his life and his answer was, 'yes,'" Bookman's letter continued. "He was asked if he wanted to be removed from the ventilator and his answer was 'no.' He was asked if he understood that he would die if he would be removed from the ventilator and his answer was, 'yes.'"

Bookman states he felt that Chambers was off of sedation and aware enough to comprehend and make decisions regarding life support.

What reportedly happened next shocked Potter: "When my father said that he wanted to live and he wanted to be treated, my mother said to him in very emphatic tones, 'Jim, do you really want to live in this body? Don't you want to go to heaven and be with Jerry?' He's my younger brother who died. And she said it twice. And the room absolutely went nuts. Everybody was outraged that she was trying to talk him into dying. ... He just stared at her as if she lost her mind. He didn't respond at all."

According to Iowa law, a living will "may be revoked in any manner by which the Declarant is able to communicate the Declarant's intent to evoke."

Bookman, Potter and her siblings considered the Iowa living will revoked and transferred Chambers two weeks later to Anne Maria Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, a facility that specializes in rehabilitating ventilator patients, in North Augusta, South Carolina.

According to documents filed with the court, Chambers's new treating physician, Dr. Nicholas Sanito, found Chambers "awake, alert and interactive" during an examination on September 26.

"He shakes my hands. He was trying to speak, but I couldn't read his lips all that well," Sanito wrote.

Another assessment completed of Chambers on Sept. 28 by Angie Beverly, the activities director at the facility, found Chambers could see, hear and comprehend and that he "tried to communicate."

"He could sometimes make himself understood and ... tried to use tools, such as a white board and marker and a magnetic letter board to communicate. He wrote a letter on the white board, although it took tremendous effort. He has a strong desire to communicate," Beverly concluded, according to a synopsis of the assessment provided to WND.

Viola Chambers, however, informed Sanito and the nursing staff about the Iowa living will and a Do- Not-Resuscitate order and acted to enforce both. Potter asserts her mother requests morphine and another drug be dispensed to her father in such a way that he is infrequently sober enough to communicate and ordered the removal of all communication devices from his room, including his nurse call button.

Mrs. Chambers also denied her husband medical treatment for pneumonia and ordered he only be given "comfort care," according to Potter.

While their father's lungs slowly filled with fluid and his extremities began to swell, Potter and her siblings mobilized to save his life, which meant knocking heads with their own mother.

"I can only say that she is not well," Potter said, adding that she believes her mother suffers from the adult version of the mental health disorder, Munchausen by Proxy. "She's on a mission now. I don't think there will be any reasoning with her in this process. The power is simply going to have to be taken from her hands."

Following South Carolina law, the nursing home staff considers Viola Chambers to be the person with the authority over the patient and the person they need to answer to. The Adult Health Care Consent Act gives the spouse the highest priority to make medical decisions in the absence of a health care power of attorney.

After Potter and her siblings filed a police report accusing their mother of "elder abuse," the state agency designated by the Department of Social Services to investigate such complaints looked into the matter. Susan Garen, the regional Long Term Care Ombudsman, confirmed Viola Chambers had the authority to direct her husband's care. After consulting with the State Long Term Care Ombudsman, Jon Cook, Garen concluded no investigation would be done.

"Mr. Cook determined that it is not within the scope of the long term care ombudsman to determine if the decisions made by the medical decision maker were in the best interest of the resident or not," Garen wrote in an October 6 report.

"No agency gets involved in family disputes. If there is a family dispute then we ask that they settle that in court to determine guardianship," Cook told WND. "On cases where there's a legal representative, we really have to do what they say. Especially when there's a living will that hasn't been revoked."

When WND informed Cook that family members assert the living will was revoked, he replied: "That's up in the air. I haven't seen anything that says it's revoked. Nobody can prove it is. That's why I wanted the probate court to handle that. We just can't get involved."

The hands-off approach to the case by state agencies charged with the responsibility of advocating on behalf of the vulnerable was similarly experienced by those seeking to preserve Terri Schiavo's life.

On October 6, Randall Chambers filed an emergency petition seeking appointment as temporary guardian of his father. Six days later, according to court documents, Viola Chambers countered with her own petition.

"As his wife of 58 years, I am far more intimately aware of my husband's wishes and desires as it pertains to his health care treatment than any of my children," stated Viola Chambers in the petition. "I therefore object to the appointment of my son, Randall Chambers, as temporary Guardian for my husband as his appointment will undermine and deprive my husband of the healthcare he wishes and desires and which he has expressed to me on many occasions and also in writing."

The court appointed an independent guardian ad litem, Paige Weeks Johnson, to investigate the case and make a recommendation to the court on behalf of Chambers. In her preliminary report, Johnson recommended the court order the ventilator and feeding tube not be removed until further order of the court, and until she has the opportunity to speak with the treating physician. Still, the authority to make other treatment decisions rests with Viola Chambers.

As their father crept closer to death in the absence of antibiotics, according to Potter, the siblings trained their sights on the treating physician at the nursing home. They faxed him a letter asserting their mother had breached her fiduciary responsibility to their father. They attached Bookman's letter along with the 10 affidavits from family members all swearing Chambers had revoked the living will and wanted to live.

"We told the doctor, 'We will sue you if anything happens to our father.' We believe that has gotten him to be a little more involved," said Potter.

Chambers was subsequently transported to the hospital where he is now receiving treatment for the pneumonia. Meanwhile, the guardianship battle continues.

"I can't believe what you have to come up with in order to preserve this life – this vibrant, strong man who wants to live," said Potter. "It's incredible."

He does know it all about this case, Hildy. He is Jimmy Chambers's son and my brother. Your insults and vicious attitude about what happened to my Dad are becoming disgusting. In your private email to me, you blamed it all on BykrBayb and you said you would discontinue. I have been out of town for 3 days, expecting to catch up on this thread and all I see is your vicious rant. What is wrong with you? Hildy, you have made GROSS assumptions about this case and you are wrong on every one of them. You have attacked me and attacked my family. I'm asking you to stop, but somehow I doubt that you will. You have singlehandedly turned a debate into a hurtful, vicious screaming match. What on earth is wrong with you?

I truly don't know what you're talking about. I wrote a very nice note to you on the public forum and to make sure you read it, I sent you this, privately. I'm posting it because I want everyone to decide for themselves if this constitutes a vicious attack here at FreeRepublic.

I hope you read my last post to you...I can't post anymore because Bykrbab has a habit of stalking me. And I'm just too tired to play her game anymore. I meant what I said. I know what it's like to lose a Father you adore. I cry every single day. This thread shouldn't have become a political one,and I'm so sorry if I said things that added to your pain. The next few months will be awful for you and I pray you will find it in your heart to forgive. Anyway, I wanted to make sure you saw that last post and not the ones with bykerbab. Good luck to you.

To the Moderator, is that a scathing letter in your estimation? I don't know what the vicious attacks I said about you and your family were. I said I wouldn't post anymore because everytime I post to someone, bykrbabe injects herself into the conversation and it was growing tiresome. That is not vicious, that is just the truth.

The fact of the matter is that I'm the only one being attacked here. I just wanted to set the record straight.

To me the interesting thing is this..... it seems a lot easier to sit in the recliner or the lawywer's office and say "I don't want to be connected to any ole' life support systems when it's my time to go".... than it is to say that when it may be your time to go.

You have attacked me and attacked my family.

I would guess that the word "attack" has different meanings to different people. For instance, I could never consider things that people might write about me on a web site as an "attack". Now if they broke into my home and tried to "attack" me... that would be an attack.

I'm certainly not the person who can set things straight... except to say that I think some people may need a little more to do in life for a period of time. Something to keep themselves busy.... so they can avoid being "attacked". :)

I'd say that yes, "attack" is the right word and that Dadsgirl nailed it on the head. She was viley and rudely attacked, as was her brother.

"at·tack ( P ) Pronunciation Key (-tk) v. at·tacked, at·tack·ing, at·tacks v. tr. To set upon with violent force. To criticize strongly or in a hostile manner. To start work on with purpose and vigor: attack a problem. To begin to affect harmfully: a disease that attacks the central nervous system." from dictionary.com.

Yes, I'd say that was the right word.

As for your last paragraph, that's disgusting....she just lost her father, possibly to murder, and you're telling her to go do something else instead of what she's doing, which is perfectly satisfactory for her to be doing.

If you don't agree with her, fine, then leave her and her family alone.

I believe I have discovered what the problem is. Hildy, you didn't either read my post, or you didn't comprehend it. What I said about your private email to me was correct----you blamed the nature of the conversation on BykrBayb, just as I said. You also promised to stop this bickering, but when I returned, I see that you just won't stop. The nature of your comments are personal and hurtful, beginning with your post to me asking if I would visit Dad every day. The insinuation that I had no right to fight for his life in such a sarcastic question was absurd and intended to denigrate. Besides that, your question came after his death and you hadn't even bothered to read enough to find out that he had passed.

I did appreciate the nature of your email to me, but it is certainly different from the posts that you have put in this thread. I don't know why you can't discuss the issue without the attacks, but I personally will no longer respond to you. I honestly don't know what is wrong that you can't seem to debate the question without the hurtful rhetoric.

This is the problem...after I wrote that personal email to you, I didn't post again. You went back and read posts from before my last one to you. Old ones. And I said I wasn't going to post anymore because bykerbayb always reponds to my posts even when they're not directed to her, and she does that to inflame already heightened passions. I'll say this for the last time, because I've said it before. I AGREE WITH YOU. I BELIEVE YOU. You even wrote me back and thanked me! I feel nothing but sorrow for what you're going through. You can choose to believe me or not. But let's just end this, ok?

If you don't agree with her, fine, then leave her and her family alone.

You see... this is how misunderstandings get put in place. I've only posted one post to her in this whole thread. But someone who might stumble along and read your post to me..... well they might think that I've been harrassing somebody. Leave her and her family alone???? When in reality I posted one thought to her (that you disagreed with )..... and that wasn't really to you. And I dont' mind discussing with you, but should I feel like your attacking me now???

My point is this.... it's the internet guys. Nobody is making anybody be here, post, or read posts. Everybody that is here is here by choice.

I think it's a little silly to say "leave her and her family alone" when you read this whole thread and find only one post from me to her. In fact... if you read the entire database of freerepublic, I'm pretty sure you'll find only one post from me to her.... and none to her family that I know of.

I'm sorry her father is gone too. I remember when my father passed away. I had better things to do then than argue with people on the internet. But that's just me.

You guys have a great day.

Your alleged one post to her was odious enough.

There is no misunderstanding in what you said.

Don't you have something better to do than post on the internet an insolent post(s) to a woman grieving for her father?

Your alleged one post to her was odious enough.

LOL..... :) Odious enough for what? To be considered criminal intent? To be considered harrassing? To be considered attacking? To warrant the police coming to my house and questioning me? Or just odious enough to warrant a response from you? :)

Grieving for her father? It sounded more like she was arguing with other posters about whether or not she was being attacked. I'm not saying she isn't grieving.... but I am saying that wasn't what the post was about that I responded to.

Just so there is really no misunderstanding what I said.... let me put it this way. It looks like she joined FR a few days ago so that she could discuss and or argue with people here who were discussing a news article about her father. Am I missing something?

To start off with you need to look up the word "odious". It has nothing to do with criminal intent nor harrassing.

I wasn't accusing you of any such thing.

I just think that a little respect should be shown to one who so recently lost her father.

I don't know if you've been following these "pro-life" threads nor if you know the history of some of the posters.

I looked at your profile finally and I guess I can forgive you for now since you are a fellow Okie.

:) No problem ....

Go Sooners!! ??

You know I'm very much pro-life. I think pro-life is pretty well described in John 11: 25-26.

Best wishes and have a great weekend!

You've summed it very well. I've been absent for days, and she's still blaming me for her bad behavior, without so much as a courtesy ping. I'm not going to bother giving her one either. I hope she stumbles onto this, and gets offended all over again. She seems to thrive on that.

You remain in my thoughts and prayers.

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