Posted on 03/24/2005 6:28:20 PM PST by wagglebee
Is pain a factor for Terri Schiavo?
While some news stories have suggested her starvation is painless, the head of the Christian Medical Association is debunking what he calls "the myth" that it does not involve pain.
"Contrary to those that try to paint a picture of a gentle process, death by dehydration is a cruel, inhumane and often agonizing death," said Dr. David Stevens, who says most so-called experts have never seen someone die under such circumstances.
"Unfortunately, having worked for 13 years in Africa, where the most common cause of death in children is dehydration from gastroenteritis, I have seen hundreds if not thousands of patients with dehydration and some of them so far gone, that despite resuscitation attempts, they died."
Stevens, who represents a group of 17,000 physicians, explained what happens with starvation:
As dehydration begins, there is extreme thirst, dry mouth and thick saliva. The patient becomes dizzy, faint and unable to stand or sit; has severe cramping in the arms and legs as the sodium and potassium concentrations in the body goes up as fluids go down. In misery, the patient tries to cry but there are no tears. The patient experiences severe abdominal cramps, nausea and dry-heaving as the stomach and intestines dry out.
By now the skin and lips are cracking and the tongue is swollen. The nose may bleed as the mucous membranes dry out and break down. The skin loses elasticity, thins and wrinkles. The hands and feet become cold as the remaining fluids in the circulatory system are shunted to the vital organs in an attempt to stay alive. The person stops urinating and has severe headaches as their brain shrinks from lack of fluids. The patient becomes anxious but then gets progressively more lethargic.
Some patients have hallucinations and seizures as their body chemistry becomes even more imbalanced. This proceeds to coma before death occurs. The final event as the blood pressure becomes almost undetectable is a major heart arrhythmia that stops the heart from pumping.
But Stevens' statement is contradicted by other doctors.
"The cessation of eating and drinking is the dominant way that mammals die," Dr. Ira Byock, director of palliative medicine at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire told the Los Angeles Times. "It is a very gentle way that nature has provided for animals to leave this life."
Dr. Robert Sullivan at Duke University Medical Center told the Times that after 24 hours without any food, "the body goes into a different mode and you're not hungry anymore," he said. "Total starvation is not painful or uncomfortable at all. When we were hunting rabbits millions of years ago, we had to have a back-up mode because we didn't always get a rabbit. You can't go hunting if you're hungry."
Stop eating and drinking for a few days and you'll have your answer.
"You can't go hunting if you're hungry."
One can't go hunting if you are dehydrated either and suffering from heat stroke. What a maroon.
Terri will pass, no way to stop it. But then Congress of the US should start an investigation to determine if the justice was administrated properly. All parties including the judge should be required to testify. Once Terri passes all records, including medical, can be subpoena by the Chairman of the investigation. Come on, Republicans, get some ba@@s. It would drive the court system to panic and the Democrats would go ballistic.
Having been in just a training situation where water was rationed to less than a half pint a day for a week..... all I can say is it is not something anyone wants to go through.....ever. It hurts. It makes ya really sick. A sick feeling that you'll never forget.
Prayers for this lady, her family and friends......
Whoever is in with Terri, (hospice staff, I presume?) have they made a statement yet as to whether she looks peaceful or not? (Just askin' because I would like to know)
Bones
All those who died in Nazi death camps were really happy after all according to these experts.
Liberals should all accept the new protocol for legally enforced death sentences, no more painless lethal injections, two weeks of no food and water for those on death row. At least they committed some overt act to bring on their fate.
Perhaps we can no longer EXECUTE Lee Boyd Malvo because he was 17, but we can confine him to a windowless room with no food or water until he expires.
Reagan80
Perhaps Ward Churchill is right. America IS filled with 'little Eichmanns'; except he cited the wrong buildings. They're not in office buildings, they're in courthouses.
Reagan80
Whoever is in with Terri, (hospice staff, I presume?) have they made a statement yet as to whether she looks peaceful or not? (Just askin' because I would like to know)
George Felos says she looks peaceful, Mikeys brother says she looks peaceful, but her dear sweet mother had to leave the room because Terri wanted water. Theres nothing peaceful about it. She's been drugged up to where she can't fight anything. It makes me sick.
Bones75
I wasn't being sarcastic to you at all. Hope I didn't come off to you that way. If i did I apologize.
Yeah, that's real tasteful..
If someone's brain is too far gone to experience hunger and thirst, it's too far gone to experience euphoria, too.
Im sick of hearing starvation is painless, I have never experienced what Poor Terri is going thru But: I did a 3 day fast with my church one time many years ago in my younger days, I was a young healthy 21 yr old. It was actually a 21 day fast but i could not make it past 3 days.. I was miserable, sick nausoues weak dizzy etc.. So to say starvation is painless I DISAGREE !!!!!!!
Haha! We'd also save on electricity.
I always thought, now if the army had only starved the Abu Grahib prisioners there would have been no scandal!
I didn't know that putting a barking dog in front of them was much more evil than starving them to death!
Well then Dr. Sullivan, perhaps you would be so kind to explain why we have so many instances of isolated survivors of a calamity turning to cannibalism instead of just lounging around, enjoying euphoria? If the pain of hunger and thirst didn't drive them, then what did?
If Terri is a "vegetable", then by definition she can experience neither pain nor pleasure and she is incapable of knowing peace or fear. However, the left is putting an unending stream of "experts" on TV to tell us that this death will actually be "euphoric." The fact that the pro-death crowd is even discussing how she will feel as she dies is indicative that they know SHE IS NOT IN A VEGETATIVE STATE! If she were in a vegetative state, then these "experts" would say that she is incapable of feeling pain, fear, peace or joy, and it really doesn't matter -- but they're not saying that because they are lying.
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