Posted on 04/06/2005 5:03:58 AM PDT by johnny7
I spent much of last Thursday trying to sort out my feelings about the death of Terri Schiavo. Had I been her mother I would have done my utmost to preserve my daughter's life, just as Mary Schindler did. I would have fought the doctors and the courts and Terri's husband, Michael. I would have railed and screamed and prayed. To watch your precious daughter die by starvation is far more painful than accepting your own mortality: this is a child you have nurtured and played with and shepherded through the turbulence of teenhood and dressed in a wedding gown.
Had I been her husband, Michael, I would have found it equally painful to watch my beautiful wife descend into a form of torpor and to remain in this state for 15 years. Michael has been vilified for starting a relationship with another woman and having children with her. But for the first years of Terri's hospitalization he did his utmost to seek special therapies for her; he bought her comfortable, stylish clothing so she would look her best; he enrolled in nursing school so he could understand the complexities of her medical care. I can't judge him for entering another relationship. He was a young man; he wanted children. Why he didn't divorce Terri, I don't know. Clearly he still felt responsible for her.
The reasons for Terri's death, however, go beyond the removal of a feeding tube and family and court battles. They go beyond medical ethics and religion. Terri suffered from an eating disorder that led to dangerously low potassium levels that led to cardiac arrest. Her brain was not fed with enough oxygen and this led to severe damage to her cerebral cortex, the seat of reason and emotion. She lapsed into a vegetative state. Her brain could make her heart beat but it couldn't make her sensible to her surroundings. Terri had been an overweight teenager, at one point weighing 250 pounds. Didn't her loving parents worry when they saw their daughter shrink to 110 pounds? Didn't her husband notice she ate very little and purged after meals? Did her family or her friends question her extreme eating habits?
It is likely Terri was complimented by how terrific she looked and this would have encouraged her to continue to deprive her body of food. It is true the bloated features in her high school class picture had been transformed; the bulimia had allowed her to become a delicate beauty. She resembled the young Elizabeth Taylor. Her weight loss was validated, at a horrible cost. Terri Schiavo's case, like that of singer Karen Carpenter who died of anorexia, is an excruciating reminder to parents to be vigilant about their children's eating habits -- even if those children are young adults and tell us to mind our own business. We need to persist in helping them. According to the National Eating Disorders Association, "anorexia and bulimia affect nearly 10 million women and 1 million men (primarily teens and young adults)." That is a huge number of our children.
If Terri's parents or her husband or her family doctor had stopped for a moment and wondered about her swanlike transformation, maybe she never would have suffered that cardiac arrest and lapsed into catatonia. But our society admires thinness -- the Rubenesque Marilyn Monroe likely would be considered too plump these days -- and so some of our children, in the quest to look attractive, may starve themselves. Even to their death. That is what Terri Schiavo's story has communicated so clearly.
For the Ad Litem to claim that the tea caused the loss of potassium is a FARCE.
"She could have had an eating disorder, but that doesn't have anything to do with the bone scan findings."
"Almost 90% of women with anorexia experience osteopenia (loss of bone minerals) and 40% have osteoporosis (more advanced loss of bone density)."
There's also a lot of info here on the hormone changes, heart problems, fertility (she was TRYING to get pregnant, no?).....
http://adam.about.com/reports/000049_4.htm
If that's not enough try this....
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=bulimia+bone+loss
Now, the next time he posts, I know not to waste my time.
Here's a test. Which of these show up in Terri's medical history.
Direct Adverse Effects of Bulimic Behavior on the Body
The following are medical problems directly associated with bulimic behavior, including self-induced vomiting and laxative abuse:
***Teeth erosion, cavities, and gum problems. (Of course this is also caused by husbands who are mean /s)
Water retention, swelling, and abdominal bloating.
***Occasionally, fluid loss with low potassium levels. This occurs from excessive vomiting or laxative use. In severe cases it can cause extreme weakness, near paralysis, or ***lethal heart rhythms.
Acute stomach distress.
***Problems in swallowing. This is an area of possible concern because of repetitive assaults on the esophagus (the food pipe) from forced vomiting. It is not clear, however, if this problem is common.
Rupture of the esophagus, or food pipe. (Cases have been reported with forced vomiting but are not common.)
Weakened rectal walls. In rare cases, walls may weaken to the extent that they protrude through the anus. This is a serious condition that requires surgery.
***Irregular periods.
(It should be noted that menstrual irregularities in patients with bulimia do not have the serious effects, particularly bone loss, as they do in patients with anorexia.)
http://adam.about.com/reports/000049_3.htm
What other x-rays? Do you have a link?
This Deposition by Walker says his testimony is based on an x-ray report from 2/5/91 and a bone scan dated 3/5/91.
"For the Ad Litem to claim that the tea caused the loss of potassium is a FARCE."
For him to claim it or for him to report what the doctors mentioned?
I'm not gonna sift through all the posts to see if someone's brought this up, but people with eating disorders tend to indulge them in secret.
All that info is nice but where's a doctor that examined Terri and diagnosed bulimia? Michael testified that it was never proved.
How is your sister doing? I used to listen through the bathroom door, making sure my oldest wasn't barfing up her food. Her trip was exercising. She ate ok, but she exercised up to 4 times a day. My second oldest was huge, until she shot up 3 inches in height, and dropped 50 lbs when she was around 16. My boy has always been skinny, and the youngest one is a little chubby, but nothing to worry about. I was chubby at her age.
You know, even though the "husband" denied an eating disorder existing, he is a pathological liar. Did he deny to get the insurance money?
6/27/1990 X Ray Report Dr. Stone ***no ablormailities***
8/23/1990 X-Ray Report Dr. Pruit
Images taken left knee - Reason for exam - H.O. ***No fractures or dislocations, moderate amt of heterotrophic bone formation along medial aspect of the distal femur. Small amount along lateral aspect of distal femural shaft.***
2/5/1991 X-Ray Report Dr. Ricciardello
2 views each, right knee, left knee. ****No fracture or subluxation. There is severe osteopenia and degenerative change.
3/8/1991 Progress Notes Dr. Carnahan
Bone Scan reveals subperiosteal area of right thigh - most likely reflects H.O. Other areas not explained by disease ? Infection. Neoplastic is rare probability.
3/12/1991 Progress Notes Dr. Carnahan
Question if arthritis or bone involvement was related to Dilantin (?)
5/6/1991 MS Journal Sits real good (sic) in her chair, moves her head back and forth while laying in bed. Right Knee swollen, ***Dr. thinks its fluid, taking X-rays
(She sits real good in a chair.........WITH A BROKEN BACK. I think not.)
6/21/1991 Progress Note Dr. Alcazaran
X-Ray of right arm - bone negative. Shows less agitation, less posturing. Suspect related to stimulator.
6/24/1991 X-Ray Report Dr. Durance
2 views right humerous, ***no evidence of fracture***
7/8/1991 Progress Note Dr. Alcazaran
Husband asking about casting ankle. On exam, fixed contracture - tendon shortening.
A bit more on Walker's testimony. Q=atty A= Walker
Q Okay. Were you looking for heterotrophic ossification when you read the bone scan and the radiographs? Do you know?
A I think that's in our mind when we see a rehabilitation patient because we don't know from
the history how old the injury was. And, of course, heterotrophic bone is something that occurs
***particularly in people who are immobilized for long periods of time.*** So that would be something that we
would mention were we to see a typical pattern for that, yes.
Q Okay. The abnormalities in the multiple bilateral ribs, could that have occurred during an
attempt at resuscitation by the paramedics or hospital staff?
A A vigorous resuscitation could do that, yes.
Q Do you know Dr. Donald Durrance?
A Yes, I do.
Q Do you know what kind of a physician he is?
A He's a diagnostic radiologist with a specialty in neuroradiology.
Q His report indicates there that his impression is "no evidence of fracture"?
A That would be what it says, yes.
Q What do you understand that to mean?
A It means he didn't see an alteration of the radiographic anatomy that would suggest that
there was a broken bone there.
Q So he's saying he didn't see any evidence of a fracture in her right upper arm?
A He's saying not only did he not see any evidence of a fracture but that the soft tissues
are, quote, intact, yes.
Q Are you familiar with Dr. Ricciardello?
A I am.
Q What kind of a physician is he?
A He's also a diagnostic radiologist with a specialty in neuroradiology.
Q And his report indicates, as far as the left knee conclusion, "no acute injury," and right
knee conclusion, "no acute injury."
A Correct.
Q In that affidavit, Dr. Alcazaren gives
his interpretation of the radiologist's report dated
March 5, 1991 of the bone scan as an indication of
"heterotrophic ossification, not trauma." Do you
see where it says that?
11 A Yes, I do.
Of those areas that were imaged, the only area that showed what was a
clear fracture was L1.
Q The radiographs did not show any fractures of the right femur. Correct?
A It would be safe to conclude that those areas which were actually imaged did not disclose
any additional abnormalities.
Q Okay. And because there is no comment in your report of any abnormalities in the head, neck? or shoulder area, that is an indication that either those images were taken and you observed no abnormalities or that those images were not ever taken. Is that an accurate statement?
A Yes.
Q But in either one of those events, you did not observe any abnormalities to the head, neck or shoulder area?
A To the extent that they are not described in the report, I would say yes.
Q So we don't know whether her ribs were broken?
A We don't. And I don't believe that they were imaged, based on that report.
http://www.theempirejournal.com/02230551_medical_observations_sh.htm
Fractures hurt like hell.
I can vouch for the ribs getting fractured before her collapse. You don't tell. To this day, my right lower jaw still hurts. It happened over 18 years ago, and no I didn't go to the hospital, or call the cops. I hid in the house for 6 weeks.
As for the rest of her broken bones, MS could have beaten her while she was in the hospital. This bone scan was done 53 weeks after her "collapse".
"All that info is nice but where's a doctor that examined Terri and diagnosed bulimia? Michael testified that it was never proved."
To be fair, the doctors diagnosis could best be described as suspected bulimia.
Of the documents available, the mention of an eating disorder shows up in her discharge papers dated may 1990.
"Further history revealed she has apparently been trying to keep her weight down dieting by herself, ...drinking liquids...
Her discharge was on the Terri.org site but gone now.
The bulimia is referenced in the GAL report here
http://www.miami.edu/ethics2/schiavo/wolfson%27s%20report.pdf
or here if you'd like a text version
http://home.comcast.net/~trinity_tx/wolfson.htm
The additional info on bulimia comes up in the mal-practice trial and the failure to diagnose it as the basis for the suit.
That and Man's desire for the perfect woman.
Didn't her loving parents worry when they saw their daughter shrink to 110 pounds?
I read somewhere that Terri was 5'4" tall. That's a healthy weight for that height.
I just started paying attention to Terri's tragedy about a month ago. Do you know any info about the malpractice suit? I read another poster say that the doctor that was sued was later cleared. I'm not a Wolfsen fan. I think Pearse was more honest.
It's a shame there are broken links on Terri's Fight as there was good info there.
I researched that about 12 years ago. You don't get those kinds of fractures lying in bed, driving to work, or cooking dinner. Bones just don't fracture themselves. People would have noticed leg fractures, so maybe she got worked over in the hospital. Ribs are easier to hide.
It was a blessing that Terri didn't get pregnant.
The cause of the imbalance was not clearly identified, but may be linked, in theory, to her drinking 10-15 glasses of iced tea each day.
"may be linked, in theory" is medical opinion, not medical fact. I work with research scientists and proofread their papers all the time, it basically means they have no friggin' idea what caused it.
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