Posted on 02/01/2006 7:29:10 AM PST by Ohioan from Florida
In the court (and courts) of life and death, a little 11-year-old Massachusetts girl named Haleigh Poutre could be the next Terri Schiavo. For those who have not heard the tragic story, Haleigh was beaten nearly to death last September, allegedly by her adoptive mother and stepfather. The beating left her unconscious and barely clinging to life.
Within a week or so of the beating, her doctors had written her off. They apparently told Haleigh's court-appointed guardian, Harry Spence, that she was "virtually brain dead." Even though he had never visited her, Spence quickly went to court seeking permission to remove her respirator and feeding tube. The court agreed, a decision affirmed recently by the supreme court of Massachusetts.
And so, no doubt with the best of intentions, a little girl who had already suffered so much was stripped by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts of even the chance to fight to stay alive. If she didn't stop breathing when the respirator was removed, which doctors expected, she would slowly dehydrate to death.
Close Call
Then came the unexpected:
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalreview.com ...
He is so pathetic.
The guy wouldn't even return Terri's ashes to her parents, after insisting she be cremated. How cruel can a person be? How co9uld it be more obvious that he's a total jerk?
You must have learned a lot about life from working at a nursing home. Some young people would not want to do that.
Thankfully, all my dad's young grandchildren love him and "baby sit" with him, including spoon feeding him, and are understanding when he has mood swings.
I adjusted just fine and grew to dearly love my patients.
And they could be so endearingly funny!
That's a good point.
I guess they were totally brainwashed first, but they should be able to use their own minds and rise above that.
You say that you regard caring for another as a burden, a toll, an imposition.
Let me suggest that the people who inspire us in life see the opposite. They see caring for a loved one as a joy and fulfillment in life. These are the quiet heroes. Yes, they bear a real burden, but bearing that burden is their glory, not something to grumble about.
For instance, we all know of some young couple who gave up their own comforts and recreations in order faithfully to nurse and comfort a disabled child. It doesn't matter whether the child is doomed to die, or may always be handicapped, or will eventually recover. For parents like this, love will not waver. It will shield the child whatever the future brings.
Equally inspiring -- and we often see this -- is an elderly couple taking care of each other, one perhaps pushing a wheel chair for the other, coping with life as they can, still devoted to one another near the end of a long life together. They are going down one of life's toughest roads, as Art Linkletter reminded us with his book, "Old Age Is not for Sissies." But they bear it with love, not with complaints.
There are, of course, many more examples like these. I'll just mention one more to think about: the nursing profession is built on the kind of love that money can't buy. God love dedicated nurses! They give more than anyone could ask. They take home far more than their paycheck.
I am sorry to hear about your father and will pray for him!
Speaking from experience, I would say it is an HONOR to care for a sick loved one. I would gladly do it again in a heartbeat! : )
Hey, now, Hildy, wait a minute. I took a little gander back through the posts. Here's a view of the reverse.
Your post 236 was the reply to Sun's 228.
Sun's 228 was the reply to your 170.
Your 170 was in reply to my 168. (This is where you mentioned my selfishness)
My 168 was in response to your 166, which you directed to syriacus.
Here's what you posted in 166:
****Would you fight to live like Terri lived for 10-12 years? Let's say what the autopsy said was true...blind...almost no brain activity (Ill giving your side the benefit of the doubt on that one). Would you beg to live like that? If you walked into a hospital and saw Terri in a bed, would you turn to your partner and say, Hey, if I'm ever in that condition, make sure no matter what happens, you keep my body alive? Please, please be honest.****
You were not referring to people who were clinically dead, you were referring to Terri. She was not clinically dead until March 31, 2005.
You were talking about people with severe disabilities and whether or not someone would want to live like that. I responded that I would want to be kept alive, and loved and cared for. You remarked that was selfish on my part, because of the burden I would be to those caring for me.
Just because there's a lot of space in between each of these posts, don't forget there's a *paper* trail. Don't try to change what you were talking about. None of us were talking about clinically dead people.
"I will never forget the day I was given my first tour. It was quite jarring. I wondered if I would be able to make it.
I adjusted just fine and grew to dearly love my patients.
And they could be so endearingly funny!"
That's nice to hear, especially since you were so young, and they were not your relatives.
And thanks for the prayers for my dad. He can be endearingly funny, too.
I'm not going to debate Schiavo again. I'm just telling you that 99.9% of people would not want to live like her. And mostly because they would want their family to go on with their lives. Just ask any lawyer what people say.
I'M TALKING ABOUT WHAT THE PATIENT WOULD WANT. THE PATIENT. THEIR RIGHT.
Just watched an old charmer of a movie, FIVE LITTLE PENNIES, about the cornetist great, Red Nichols. The film is 200% Hollywood hoke with a fabulous cast -- Danny Kaye, Barbara Bel Geddes, Louis Armstrong and a very young Tuesday Weld. Lots of good music. Under all that, however, is a deeply moving story of Nichols and his wife nursing their little girl after she was stricken by polio. He dropped out of his stellar musical career, worked in a shipyard, in order that he and his wife could care for the child day after day, year after year. The last scene will bring you to tears.
It's a good thing you posted that. I missed the earlier one because of a meeting. I've got it set to record in case I fall asleep before then.
Would they also want to die like that? No food, no water, not even to quench their parched lips? Did you even bother to ask that?
The comment about asking lawyers is priceless. I probably trust lawyers even less than I do doctors. What a lawyer thinks has absolutely no meaning for me.
I disagree with your assessment. Most patients want to live. Almost everyone wants to live. It's built in. It's even built into animals. Not to want to live, except for a few at the very end of life, is mental illness.
Thanks for the background.
You're not listening to what I'm saying.
Oooh, that sounds like a good movie! I am going to have to check it out. Was it on cable, or did you rent it?
Bought a video. I don't believe it's been issued on DVD, but you'd better check that on your own, I just don't remember. It won't disappoint you! 1950s film.
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