Mother pleads for Terri Schiavo's life (US House convenes at 1:00 PM EST - LIVE THREAD

Kansas City Star/AP ^ | 2/20/05 | Mitch Stacy

[Dane]

Mother pleads for Terri Schiavo's life

MITCH STACY

Associated Press

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. - Hanging their hopes on a last-minute compromise in Congress, Terri Schiavo's parents notified her hospice to prepare to have her feeding tube reinserted on Sunday, her third day without food or water.

Congressional leaders from both parties hoped an agreement reached on a bill would allow the tube to be restored while federal courts review her case. The House and Senate were expected to take up the legislation by Sunday or early Monday. If passed, President Bush planned to sign it.

SNIP

But Mary Schindler pleaded for parents nationwide to call their congressional representatives and pressure them to vote for a bill to prolong her daughter's life.

"There are some congressmen that are trying to stop this bill," she said outside her daughter's hospice. "Please don't use my daughter's suffering for your own personal agenda."

SNIP

Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Fla., issued a statement late Saturday saying he will make an objection that would stop the vote Sunday. Any member can demand that a majority of members be present to do business. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., said he was trying to gather enough votes to defeat the bill Monday

[Texas Deb]

And her family wants to take her home.

[miss marmelstein]

Disgusting site. DU is the worst, though, making horrible jokes about her; comparing her to funny vegetables...don't they know we are watching?

[reaganaut]

That SOB!

[Beeline40@aol.com]

Oh really? I was not allowed to post anymore on this thread earlier today under my other name. I am not a newbie I have been a member of this forum for 7 years. No, I dont know every little detail about this case. But neither does anybody else for that matter. I have been called names and accused of vile things today. I for one am sick of it. This forum is turning into DU more everyday. I have seen good people in this forum belittled, and marginalized for the last several months just because they have a difference of opinion. More and more good people are not coming back.

[Spunky]

Elenor Ratcliff is brain dead.

I think they should tape her mouth shut so she can't put a spoon to it.

[Brad’s Gramma]

Excerpt from Cheryl Ford, R.N., regarding Terri's Exit Protocols -- from the last episode: -- READ, CALL CONGRESS - DEMOCRAT SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES (www.house.gov; www.senate.gov)- cry, pray, pray, pray:

---

“This is a very critical piece of information from a nurse’s point of view,” Ford said. “We have a patient with no apparent signs of distress, yet enteral tube feeding is going to be discontinued on 4/20/01. This is murder. And it’s premeditated murder, because look at the dates — notes were prepared the day before the tube was supposed to be withdrawn.”

What would make the death more difficult is that Terri is a healthy woman, weighing approximately 138.5 pounds, which means she will endure longer than other patients who are in the midst of a natural-death process.

“I was an oncology (cancer) nurse,” Ford said. “These people are very weak and gaunt. Their bodies are already shutting down, and their tube feedings are withdrawn when their body systems can no longer handle it. But Terri is not a cancer patient — that’s what bothers me. She’s a healthy young woman.”

• Upon discontinuation of enteral feeding the following signs/symptoms may or may not occur. The following is a brief list of symptoms for which to monitor and recommended interventions.

• Monitor symptoms of pain/discomfort. If noted, medicate with Naproxen rectal suppository 375 mg. Q8 prn [“Q8 prn” means eight times a day as needed].

If someone in a persistent vegetative state cannot feel pain, as Michael Schiavo and his attorney, George Felos, have consistently told the world, why do Terri’s charts tell nurses how to treat her for pain?

According to Ford, that is because Terri can and will feel pain during this process — and a lot of it.

“Think about what hunger pains are like if you haven’t eaten in a while,” Ford said. “You start to get that gnawing feeling, almost a burning in your stomach. Most people don’t extend themselves into the depths of hunger. They grab a cracker or bread if they’re out shopping for a while just to make themselves feel better.”

Terri would not have this option, however. “Within several hours, she’ll start to feel this kind of hunger pain,” Ford said.

Dehydration would only add to the discomfort: “When she starts going into the dehydration stage, her metabolism will start to change. Her electrolytes will get imbalanced. She’s going to get uncomfortable and will start to writhe.

“Advance a couple days without food or water. Now her mouth is parched, her lips, her gums, her tongue will start to crack and bleed. The nasal cavities will start to dry, crack and bleed. The stomach will get dry and shrink, causing vomiting and heaving,” Ford said.

• Pulmonary (a) Inability to clear secretions — reposition and swab mouth, consider scopolamine patch behind ear every 3 days.

“When you first go into dehydration, your body will automatically compensate by making saliva. But when she gets into the stage where the stomach shrinks and nausea begins, they’re going to stick a patch behind her ear for the nausea. What the patch also does is dehydrate you by taking away this fluid.”

(b) Dyspnea — nebulize low dose 2-5 mg. Morphine sulfate Q4 prn [four times a day as needed]. “Dyspnea is when you have difficulty breathing. What they’re going to do is use a nebulizer the way you might use for asthmatics — only instead of giving a histamine to help her breathe, they’re going to give Terri morphine sulfate, which only suppresses respiration more. In the later phases she’ll start gasping for air.”

In seven to nine days, as most of her body fluids are lost, her blood pressure will go down and her heart rate will rise. The blood will be shunted to the central part of the body from the periphery of the body, so that usually two to three days prior to death, the hands and feet become extremely cold. They become mottled and have a bluish appearance. The eyes will become so dry the patient can’t move them anymore because there will be fluid in them.

• Multifocal myoclonus or terminal agitation [sometimes caused by electrolyte imbalance]. Consider diazepam rectal administration 5-10 mg. May repeat in 4 hours if not resolved then daily — twice daily as needed. Multifocal myoclonus means seizures taking place in various parts of the body. “Because of the electrolyte imbalance, Terri will begin to have seizures,” Ford said. “She’ll start to twitch. You don’t see this in an oncology patient because they’re already dehydrated. Even the elderly, who are going into the natural process of death, their bodies are doing what God created them to do — slow down.

“Our job as health-care professionals at this point is to understand the death process and to oblige the process God has given these people to help them in comfort measures — palliative care — not to enhance death. But Terri’s not terminal,” Ford said. “What they’re doing here is starving a healthy person to death. This is the only reason why she’ll go into multifocal myoclonus.”

• Grand Mal seizure, which is highly unlikely given current conditions and lack of contributing factors (meds) [medication]. Recommend diazepam 15 mg. rectally as indicated in seizure management orders.

“If she happens to make it into a grand mal seizure, they will give her 15 mg. of valium. … The valium won’t make this easier, it will just help to bring her to death faster, because she won’t have the ability to fight her way out of it,” Ford said. “Her body will not be in good shape at this point. You wouldn’t look at her and say she was comfortable. She’s been without food and water for a long time. She’s pretty much withered, her skin is broken down, her metabolism is broken down, her kidneys haven’t received anything. Her body is reacting to the lack of food.”

At this point, death is imminent.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1365111/posts?page=3675#3675

[Guenevere]

#335..Weldon is a good guy.

He's my representative from FLorida.

[MarketR]

If I were even reasonably convinced that she had expressed those wishes I would not favor Congressional intervention.

That's the problem, isn't it. No one knows what she wants for certain. And, in that twilight of uncertainty, the Congress is contemplating removal of the most basic right of an individual, to determine ones fate or provide for a person who you wish to determine for you.

[Txsleuth]

Eleanor totally misrepresented Terri's condition--if people like her are willing to lie, or too lazy to check the facts, then they shouldn't be allowed on TV---

BUT, you notice Gregg Jarrett and Rich Lowry, neither one tried to correct her, when she said she couldn't breathe on her own and that she is brain dead---

I don't get it--why have a debate on TV if you don't have the correct facts, and won't correct the wrong facts---

BTW, did you hear that Michael Schiavo has now taken away the Schindler family's visitation rights to TErri?

[angelwings49]

I know it has not been proven [yet], but if the HINO's actions throughout this ordeal aren't proof that he is responsible for Terri's condition, I don't know what is! It's pretty obvious to me and others (including Terri's family) that he ceased ALL therapy on her years ago for fear that she would regain her speaking ability and reveal that HIS abusiveness caused this. Why else would he have discontinued ALL therapy for so long????

And now, he's cut off Terri's parents visitation rights. This man not only lacks a heart, he lacks a soul.

[Clara Lou]

Terrible! /understatement

[kpp_kpp]

>
> for myself, yeah...let me go meet my maker.
>

maybe you were answering a different question on purpose. or maybe i wasn't clear with my original. is it ok to starve and dehydrate someone to death in this country on purpose? regardless of the legal/constitutional/personal issues surrounding the decision of death itself.


but, thinking about it some more, maybe I should recind my posted opinions. we in this country seem perfectly content allowing "incapacitated" babies to be chopped up in a mother's womb so i suppose i shouldn't be all that shocked about the idea of starving incapacitated adults to death.

[Vor Lady]

There has been speculation that her husband tried to strangle her. A scan she had showed some strange injuries to her neck bones.

[Mo1]

BUT, you notice Gregg Jarrett and Rich Lowry, neither one tried to correct her, when she said she couldn't breathe on her own and that she is brain dead---

I don't know why they didn't correct her .. they only thing I can guess is they are not aware of all the facts

[reaganaut]

Thanatology is literally the "study of death". It encompasses a wide area of studies; everything from the grief process, to the biology of dying, to pandemics, to the social views on death. My area is historical/anthropological. I study cultural views on death and how they are reflected in death rituals (funerals, wakes, etc) and social structure. So in a way, this case fits perfectly within my area.

Many people accuse me of being pro-death because of what I do, but I am a thanotologist because I have a great respect for life. Death is taken way to lightly in our society, there was a time when the death of a person was a communal event where the person was celebrated. Today, we are so surrounded by death we become desensitized to it. It is a great shame.

[kpp_kpp]

was she getting too upset and trying to tell them that she wants to live? (rhetorical)

even with all that we do "know" there is SO much to this story that we are not seeing. the media is puting her to death just as much as that judge is, or more.

where is the accountability that the media demands in cases of much less importance?

[Txsleuth]

I don't understand how you can be so open about skirting the "rules" of Fr---if you were "thrown out" under a different screen name, just today, then why do you feel that you should be able to come back under a new screen name, and pick fights with other posters---

Everybody, I know that I am relatively new here, but is it kosher to get kicked off under one name, and come back the same day with a different name?

[Thebaddog]

I read some other post that seemed a little feverish, but I am curious about the assertion that the husband is denying her the ability to eat solid food orally. The round table on Fox today was bringing out the fact that rehabilitation has been denied her by the husband.

Has anybody been looking into him at all? I'm a little late coming to this subject.

[Churchillspirit]

Anyone know what is the significance of the vote being taken after midnight?

[WhistlingPastTheGraveyard]

If Lowry isn't aware of the facts, he shouldn't be representing Terri's side in a nationally televised debate. Period.