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Terri Can Eat With A Spoon
World ^ | Bob Jones

Posted on 10/17/2003 2:03:11 PM PDT by mr_griz

AFTER ALL THE YEARS, ALL THE fighting, all the bitter recriminations, there were remarkably few tears on Oct. 15 when Terri Schiavo finally had her feeding tube removed. Maybe the crowd of 80 or so gathered outside the hospice facility in western Florida were too angry to cry, or too numb.

For her part, Carla Sauer was just too tired. "I've been pulling for Terri since 1995," she said as she sank uncertainly onto a three-legged stool to rest the sandal-clad feet she'd been standing on for five hours. "I still can't believe it's come to this."

"This," apparently, is the end of the line in the long fight to keep Ms. Schiavo alive. A Florida judge on Oct. 14 refused two final appeals from her parents, clearing the way for the removal of the feeding tube that's kept her alive for a half-dozen years. Without the tube, the 39-year-old will slowly starve to death. It should take about 14 days.

That's precisely the outcome her husband, Michael, has been pushing for. Claiming that Terri has been a vegetable since she collapsed after a heart attack in 1990, Mr. Schiavo says he is simply honoring a request made by his young bride: That he not allow doctors to prolong her life through artificial means.

Terri's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, doubt she ever made such a request. But even if she did, they argue that a feeding tube is not the same as artificial life support. Her vital organs function on their own, she smiles and laughs at the sound of her loved ones' voices, and she has no terminal illness that threatens her life. If she simply has someone who cares enough to feed her, she could live for another 50 years—a condition not terribly different from that of thousands of other severely disabled persons.

"She's not a vegetable," Ms. Sauer insisted as she rested her tired feet. "She knows voices, she responds. She can follow commands, and she tries to communicate by blinking her eyelids 'yes' and 'no.'" And then there's the most important detail of all: "We used to feed her with a spoon, and she swallowed on her own."

That was seven years ago, when Ms. Sauer was a nurse at a rehab facility in Largo, Fla. At that time, Ms. Schiavo was getting physical therapy and full-time attention from skilled nurses. But the facility charged $4,000 a month, as Ms. Sauer recalls, and Mr. Schiavo soon chose to discontinue his wife's therapy and move her into the much cheaper hospice system. She's languished there for six years, tethered to a feeding tube while a fierce legal battle swirled around her.

The Schindlers argued that they should be named as Terri's guardians, in part because Mr. Schiavo now has a new girlfriend and a young child. Just because he's ready to move on with his life, they said, he should not be allowed to end Terri's. When a series of judges sided with Mr. Schiavo, the Schindlers appealed to the court of public opinion: They smuggled a video camera into their daughter's room—against a judge's orders—to show the world she could still laugh and smile and respond to affection.

With Terri now dying slowly, that video may be the Schindlers' final memory of their daughter. Rather than watching by her bedside, they are parked in a camper across the street. Bob Schindler has been charged with contempt of court, and he and his wife cannot visit their daughter without Mr. Schiavo's permission—or his lawyer.

The family tragedy, as painful as it is to watch, is only a part of a larger picture. Advocates for the disabled fear that Terri Schiavo's death could set a chilling precedent. "This is deplorable," Joni Eareckson Tada told WORLD in the midst of a whirlwind of press conferences and rallies. "What's happening here is just a part of a larger effort to class persons with severe cognitive disabilities as non-persons. Terri is not brain dead, she's not in a coma, she's not terminally ill. We have people who attend our weekend retreats who are more severely disabled. Yet the courts have washed their hands of this. Medical personnel are forbidden to deliver any food or water. She's being denied her right to humane treatment under state law.

"This case is a watershed for people with disabilities," Mrs. Tada said. "Removal of the feeding tube means you are promoting active euthanasia. As a quadriplegic woman, that's a frightening precedent."


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: caneat; notincoma; schiavo; schindler; terrischiavo; terrischindler; thanksrobertdrobot
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To: huck von finn
She's not a vegetable," Ms. Sauer insisted as she rested her tired feet. "She knows voices, she responds. She can follow commands, and she tries to communicate by blinking her eyelids 'yes' and 'no.'" And then there's the most important detail of all: "We used to feed her with a spoon, and she swallowed on her own."

That was seven years ago, when Ms. Sauer was a nurse at a rehab facility in Largo, Fla. At that time, Ms. Schiavo was getting physical therapy and full-time attention from skilled nurses. But the facility charged $4,000 a month, as Ms. Sauer recalls, and Mr. Schiavo soon chose to discontinue his wife's therapy and move her into the much cheaper hospice system. She's languished there for six years, tethered to a feeding tube while a fierce legal battle swirled around her.

These things require a cerebral cortex in some kind of working order as would the videos I have seen with my own two God given eyes.

Why would Ms. Sauer lie?

181 posted on 10/17/2003 7:11:44 PM PDT by jwalsh07
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To: wirestripper
"Well, I'd shoot the bastard so that the legal custody goes to her mother, even though I'd go to jail."

The sentiments of many, I am sure.

182 posted on 10/17/2003 7:12:11 PM PDT by paulsy
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To: jwalsh07
The accusations that he tried to strangle her aside, and if the facts were presented that there is no finacial interest with her death, what motive would there be to go though all this and put your new family though this as well?

Could it be that he is only tring to do what he thinks she would have wanted? She will never talk. She can't write or comunicate.

What other motive could there be to go through this kind of torture.

I am not convinced the he is not being entirely truthful.

183 posted on 10/17/2003 7:12:31 PM PDT by Cold Heat ("It is easier for an ass to succeed in that trade than any other." [Samuel Clemens, on lawyers])
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To: wirestripper
I am not convinced the he is not being entirely truthful.

It doesn't matter what you think or the Judge thinks regarding his truthfulness.

In America, we don't starve disabled people to death because we THINK there husbands have pure motives.

184 posted on 10/17/2003 7:14:16 PM PDT by jwalsh07
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To: wirestripper
"The accusations that he tried to strangle her aside"

Damn little details...

185 posted on 10/17/2003 7:15:58 PM PDT by paulsy
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To: iowamomforfreedom
Unfortunately, I don't think we will ever get to know this. Michael Schiavo has requested that Terri be immediately cremated upon her death.

While that might sound unfortunate or evasive, she does have medical records. They have not been released.

There is a huge amount of concern from various quarters in this sordid matter to warrant further study, and it is probably forthcoming. So I think we'll know.

186 posted on 10/17/2003 7:16:19 PM PDT by huck von finn
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To: TheOtherOne
You offered, "If there is abmiguity, life should always be chosen." I for one, and many others at FR would agree wholeheartedly with your assessment. It is because there is a judge who has seen fit to do just the opposite, for reasons none of us have yet devined, that we are so outraged at the execution of Terri Schindler Schiavo. Terri is a severely disabled person, but her response level on a Glascow scale is well above that of comatose or even persistent vegetative state, the condition Michael and his euthanasia attorney, George Felos claim for Terri. In winning a malpractice lawsuit over Terri's disability, Michael and his then attorney calimed she was in persistent vegetative state but also claimed that Michael would require millions to give Terri the necessary rehabilitation she would require. Promptly upon receiving a large settlement, Michael began withholding any thewrapy for Terri and sworn testimony has established that he would ask her caregivers 'when is that bitch going to die?'

[Incidentally, the will to live is a presumption all alive individual human beings are afforded, and it is only the clear statement to the contrary that should be basis for arguing the right to die. By stating your question to Don Joe the way you have, you are arguing that there must be legally established the right to life.]

187 posted on 10/17/2003 7:16:45 PM PDT by MHGinTN (If you can read this, you've had life support from someone. Promote life support for others.)
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To: TheOtherOne
Respond to my post to you, please.
I answered a question you posed.
I met several members of the Schindler family two days ago.I have spoken to two of their lawyers.I stood outside the hospice where she is being murdered,and observed police guarding the facility,and an array of media vans camped out like vultures to feed the entertainment needs of the "debating" public.
This is not a "right to die" situation.
You can lie to yourself that you are a "death with dignity" proponent, but you are actually a mind numbed robotic voice.
I have prayed for Terri Schiavo for many years.
I am fully aware of the erroneous details that leak out to the public, and am able to separate the wheat from the chaff, of the various agenda driven media reporting.
But then again, I care deeply about this issue.
And your excuse for talking trash is what? Your right to prove your abject and willfull ignorance under the first ammendment?

188 posted on 10/17/2003 7:17:54 PM PDT by sarasmom (Pray for Terri Schiavo..Feeding tube removed from disabled woman10/15/03.You or I could be next.)
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To: wirestripper
"what motive would there be to go though all this and put your new family though this as well?"

Because 20 years to life would be worse.

"What other motive could there be to go through this kind of torture."

Reasonable minds could fathom many, many motives for this man.

189 posted on 10/17/2003 7:18:06 PM PDT by paulsy
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To: jwalsh07
The starving thing is hard for me to accept as well, but because of our screwball system, that is how they have done it in the past and the accepted way of doing it now.

It has been my experience that doctors usually handle this without fanfare by using a overdose of pain meds.

My mother was saved from her agony in this way. It was not known by me until much later. Her sisters made the aggrement with the doctor. I was very angry at first. I understand death much better now.

190 posted on 10/17/2003 7:20:18 PM PDT by Cold Heat ("It is easier for an ass to succeed in that trade than any other." [Samuel Clemens, on lawyers])
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To: huck von finn
I'm still curious as to how you asserted that Terri no longer had a frontal cortex, if the medical records have not been released? Have brainwave studies been released for her specific case ... I could find nothing specific to Terri Schiavo at the New England Journal Of Medicine website with my archive search.
191 posted on 10/17/2003 7:21:25 PM PDT by MHGinTN (If you can read this, you've had life support from someone. Promote life support for others.)
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To: wirestripper
She will never talk.

She already has talked.

Will the lies never end with you?

192 posted on 10/17/2003 7:21:31 PM PDT by SwordofTruth
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To: paulsy
"what motive would there be to go though all this and put your new family though this as well?"

In fact the easiest route, following your logic, would be for him to simply declare with a breath: "I leave, so She lives."

193 posted on 10/17/2003 7:22:54 PM PDT by paulsy
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To: jwalsh07
These things require a cerebral cortex in some kind of working order as would the videos I have seen with my own two God given eyes.

From what I have read, she has little cortex left now. The deterioration was caused by a lack of oxygen to her brain after the incident in 1990. The brain stem, which is still intact, regulates some movements. As for the videos, I can't agree with you, though I'd love to.

Why would Ms. Sauer lie?

This is the first I've read about Ms. Sauer, and I have no idea as to whether or not she did. There's no reason to believe that she did.

194 posted on 10/17/2003 7:23:27 PM PDT by huck von finn
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To: SwordofTruth
She already has talked

Could you point me to the quote?

!

195 posted on 10/17/2003 7:25:15 PM PDT by Cold Heat ("It is easier for an ass to succeed in that trade than any other." [Samuel Clemens, on lawyers])
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To: NautiNurse
May God have mercy on us all.

Indeed. We are ALL guilty if this woman is allowed to be murdered. It remind me of the otherwise dreadful Demi Moore film "The Seventh Sign" when the "murder of the innocent" (the boy about the be executed) brings about the end of the world (which is then prevented by Demi Moore's self-sacrifice). I feel like if we really have fallen to such a repulsive state as a nation, where a woman can be murdered by her husband with the Courts as an accomplice, then one wonders how far off the Judgement can be.

196 posted on 10/17/2003 7:26:22 PM PDT by montag813 (Fire Tenet...Jail Joseph Wilson...Rally 'Round Our President, Dammit!!!)
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To: wirestripper
"Could you point me to the quote?"

With her eyes and expressions. What do you think of her responsive gestures and moans? Are they not a language? Are they something to make fun of? What method would you use to communicate were you equally disabled?

197 posted on 10/17/2003 7:27:34 PM PDT by paulsy
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To: shadowman99
Jeb Bush is an accomplice to a murder in progress. I will never vote for him to be my president.

What a destestable statement about a man who has no power to fight this legal obscenity, and who in fact is doing everything within his power to help the family.

198 posted on 10/17/2003 7:28:58 PM PDT by montag813 (Fire Tenet...Jail Joseph Wilson...Rally 'Round Our President, Dammit!!!)
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To: wirestripper
What other motive could there be to go through this kind of torture.

He doesn't want his crime to ever see the light of day.

The criminal statue of limitations for his attempted murder of her may be up, but not for a civil case brought by the family. If she ever implicated him as the reason she is in this condition it would wipe his sorry a-s out for the rest of his miserable life.

199 posted on 10/17/2003 7:28:58 PM PDT by SwordofTruth
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To: shadowman99
Jeb Bush is an accomplice to a murder in progress. I will never vote for him to be my president.

What a destestable statement about a man who has no power to fight this legal obscenity, and who in fact is doing everything within his power to help the family.

200 posted on 10/17/2003 7:28:59 PM PDT by montag813 (Fire Tenet...Jail Joseph Wilson...Rally 'Round Our President, Dammit!!!)
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