[ambrose]

Terri Ping

(don't be offended if I left you out, I don't keep ping lists)

[tallhappy]

What a creep.

These bloodthirsty freaks are nasty.

They want to torture people to death because they are seriously injured.

If they want to kill her just do it. Why the torture of long drawn out starvation? It is a fig leaf to hide their nakedness.

[EllaMinnow]

A BUMP for clarity. Thank you, ambrose.

[TheAngryClam]

BTTT

[Gringo1]

Double bump.

You cannot face the "lets make her suffer for another 13 years" crowd with firm medical FACT, they prefer to operate only on emotion(they become liberals when it comes to interfering with the lives of others it seems).

[MarMema]

posturing in response to noxious or other external stimuli.

In watching the short video clips and the much longer one that was circulating here for a time, I have yet to see even the slightest glimpse of posturing in Terri.

[TrebleRebel]

I have yet to read anywhere what the prognosis might be of anyone who has already lived this long in a PVS.

The article defines in a cogent and clinical manner the exact definition of a PVS. But it still doesn't present a decent argument for ending or continuing a patient's existing state of living.

[Dog Gone]

I don't think this story is going to have a happy ending for the hundreds of Freepers who been actively supporting Terri and her parents.

I suspect that the recent law sparing her will be ruled unconstitutional, but even if it isn't, she's not going to ever get better. Perhaps I'm wrong on both counts, but I think there is a lot of hoping going on that has led to some false expectations.

[Luke Skyfreeper]

So is Terri Schiavo still alive? The odds are way against it. It's time that her long-suffering parents and the grandstanding politicians let her go in peace.

OK, well, let's assume this writer is correct, and Terri really isn't "there."

In which case, "letting her go in peace" doesn't have a lot of meaning either.

In other words, no harm is done by continuing to feed her, except the continued expense of her upkeep. Schiavo was given the money for that. Granted, he's probably blown it all by now, but I'd be willing to bet the funds for Terri's upkeep could be found somewhere.

If she isn't there, then she doesn't give a damn whether her body is maintained or not, so there's no harm in maintaining it, whereas there could be great harm in failing to maintain it: the murder of a human being. In this case, it's... money on one side... versus... the (arguable) life of a human being on the other side.

Undoubtedly I don't know all about the case, but from what I at least think I know, it seems clear to me where Mr. Schiavo's priorities lie.

[JennysCool]

Writers who are so uninformed that they miss the other side of the story -- that Michael Schiavo may well be a money-hungry nut who may have had quite a lot to do with causing Terri's condition, and is desperately trying to "dispose of the evidence" -- are most definitely irrelevant.

[FITZ]

Good link!! But you left some parts out. I'm sure you didn't mean to:

Is there any treatment?

Once an individual is out of immediate danger, the medical care team focuses on preventing infections and maintaining a healthy physical state. This will often include preventing pneumonia and bedsores and providing balanced nutrition. Physical therapy may also be used to prevent contractures (permanent muscular contractions) and deformities of the bones, joints, and muscles that would limit recovery for those who emerge from coma.

[TheAngryClam]

Want to bet that when the Terri Troopers show up, someone notices that this is from Reason Magazine and turns this into a WOD thread?

[FITZ]

You missed this too. I'm just helping you:

"Some patients may regain a degree of awareness after persistent vegetative state."

[The Old Hoosier]

her eyes do not really track visual stimuli

That's not what I saw on Fox News.

[FITZ]

Those really were pretty good links you posted:

Individuals with locked-in syndrome are conscious and can think and reason, but are unable to speak or move. The disorder leaves individuals completely mute and paralyzed. Communication may be possible with blinking eye movements

[Drango]

I can't speak for Terri. May she find peace.

As for me, my right to die, is MY right and does not belong to the state, the church or the courts. *IF* I'm unable to communicate my wishes, my spouse is the person that speaks for me. A pox on those who would turn my death into a circus for their own cause. A pox on those who would attack my spouse for attempting to carry out MY wishes. A pox on the legislature and the courts that would require extensive forms and documentation for an event (death) that is as natural as birth.

I claim and retain MY right to "death with dignity"

[shhrubbery!]

This article will NUKE yours:

NY Times: What if There Is Something Going On in There?
(inside the minds of patients in 'persistent vegetative state)

[Moonmad27]

Keeping her alive in that horrible state is cruel. This author is right in one point - the family wants to keep her alive until...what? How awful it would be to be trapped in her own body the way she is. I can't imagine a family wanting to keep someone that way.

[APFel]

Somehow I doubt the person dies a peacefully as claimed. Going without water does some nasty stuff to the insides which I understand is quite uncomfortable. Sometimes ill patients are just unable to express their pain and therefore it is deemed "peaceful".

So, if "peaceful" is judged by the reaction the patient physically shows during their ordeal, I suppose if someone smothered her with a pillow it could seem peaceful as well. Maybe stuff her windpipe with packing peanuts. That'd be "peaceful" too.

No, starving or dehydrating a patient to death just absolves any one person from blame, that is all. Since it is done in a hospital setting with many people around, it is a-okay. Starve a parapalegic or brain damaged individual to death in your basement, and you'll be sent up for murder sure as pidgeon poop.

Sure, I understand that a lost cause is just that-- a lost cause. However in this case, there are many people, not just the immediate family, who have taken interest in keeping this woman alive, and I am sure the cost of sustaining her indefinately would easily be paid by her family or people sympatheic to her situation (the public at large, and probably more than a few FReepers). So, what is the damage here?

The zeal that her husband has to make sure she goes to her eternal reward is suspect. Despite the overwhelming coverage that this case has received, I don't have a clue as to why the husband wants to let her go so badly. My wife and I discussed this, and as a nurse, she has seen a few lost causes waste away from malnutrition or dehydration. She seems sympathetic to the notion, actually (I am trying to reform her, honestly I am). But a few days ago, a man a little older than I came to her ward who suffered from a bleed originating in the brain stem. Not fatal, but he would never, ever recover. He would live, but he would never be aware. She admitted that, while caring for him and dealing with the family who was hopelessly optomistic, she didn't know if she would let me go if I was lying there in that bed, in a state between life and death. This is a guy who, short of an act from God himself, would never utter another word. His brain was dead, but his heart still beat. The woman in Florida is displaying more signs of life and signs of awareness than this gentleman did (or ever would). Why wouldn't a husband, a loving husband interested in his wife's well being, abandon her while she needs him the most? He is in the position to show compassion, so where is it?

I have read the various threads on Free Republic and have been crushed by the other media sources that cover this case. I have heard the "murderous plot" theories and the rhetoric coming from the usual leftist suspects. What it all boils down to is... Does he love his wife? After all, my wife and I have dealt in hypothetics and we seem to agree that niether one of us could allow such a "treatment" to be performed on either of us.

So, hubby, where is the love? So, leftists, where is the compassion?

APf

[Cicero]

Does this guy walk around town pushing little old ladies in wheelchairs under busses?