Posted on 04/10/2005 6:26:38 PM PDT by schmelvin
Ken: I’m the nephew of Mae Magouirk in LaGrange, Georgia. My family lives in Alabama. They’re from Addiston, Alabama and I live in Birmingham, Alabama and we love my aunt Mae very much and we can’t believe that, uh, she is being withheld substantial nourishment…
Glenn: Ken, tell me this, tell me the situation, uh, be, because your grandma has, your grandma had, or your aunt has a, um, a living will!
Ken: Yeah, she has a living will and the living will is not being obeyed. As a matter of fact her attending physician, Doctor Stadde of LaGrange, Georgia, said in probate court that even though Mae Magourik’s living will says tha, uh, that her nourishment and fluids should only be pulled if she’s comatose or vegetative, that he feels her life is such that it should be pulled regardless.
(snip)
Ken: And those of your listeners that are sitting by, complacent, thinking “oh, poor Terri Schindler-Schiavo.” And I was one of them last week. I said, “Oh it’s terrible, but it’s just a freak, it’s an anomaly. It couldn’t happen to us.”
The next day, it happened to us...
(snip)
Glenn: Let me ask you this Ken, let me ask you this. How did your, um, uh, how did your aunt’s uh, granddaughter get control of the situation?
Ken: How did she what?
Glenn: How did she get control. How did this happ…
Ken: Well I’ll tell you what. First of all she bluffed us. Uh, we went to the hospital in LaGrange when my aunt was first sick and Beth told my uncle, she said, “Uncle Buddy, don’t even start with me. I’ve got the medical durable power of attorney. I’m making the decisions.” And I said, “Beth, you know, we’re right here in front of your grandmother. Even though she’s on morphine, we shouldn’t talk about this. We should go out in the hall.”
We went out in the hall and we explained my mother’s in uh, she’s had a great quality of life for the last two years even though she was in a coma. [Ken's mother was only in a coma for 3 months, she is now living a normal, active life.] We can treat it without surgery. And she said, “Listen,” she said, she started crying, she said, “I’ve been praying about this and, and I’ve been praying to Jesus. Jesus has told me it’s time that grandmother went home to Jesus. She’s got glaucoma. Now she’s got a dissected aorta and her quality of life is just terrible and we just think she should just go to hospice.” And I said, “Beth, hospice is a synonym for death. We’ve got doctors who are ready to take care of her today.”
She goes, “no, I’ve got the medical power of attorney and that’s it.” So we thought our hands were tied, Glenn. A week goes by. Last Thursday my uncle and my mother independently started thinking, “this is wrong.” Since I used to be on Capitol Hill as a senior staff guy in Washington, I know my way around, so they said, “Kenny, get involved see what you can find out, we want to bring May to UAB hospital.” So I call hospice, I say to Frita the hospice nurse. I said, “what are my aunt’s vital stats at. She said, “well today, her blood pressure is 160/88 with a pulse of 84.” I said, “well that’s not so bad.” I said, “my aunt’s going to make it, isn’t she.” She says, “Oh no, your aunt’s not going to make it because we have withheld nourishment per geth…Beth Gaddy since March 28th.” She said, “I’ve been off the past few days. I’m surprised your aunt’s still alive.” I said, “What!”
Next time, I, she says, “call the hospice attorney.” I called Carol Todd, hospice attorney, ug, said “we’re going to be litigious.” She said, “let me check into it. Heard nothing all day, last Thursday, March 31st until 4 in the afternoon. Carol Todd called me up, “Oh my God, we made a mistake.” I said, “What are you talking about, mistake?” She said, “Beth has power of attorney, but it’s only financial, not medical durable power of attorney. And guess what? Your aunt has a living will and it says only should fluids and nourishment be withheld if she’s comatose or vegetative, she’s neither.”
I said, “Guess what, Mother, get on the phone.” Mom got on the phone. She said, “start IV fluids immediately.” They said, “we can do that.” She said, “start a temporary feeding tube just in the nose to give her nourishment and get her electrolytes back up so she can start feeding herself.” They said, “We can’t do that, you’ve gotta come in and sign the papers.” So, uh, Mom stayed here because she’s a little sick. My uncle Buddy, Aunt May’s brother and I went, the three hours from our homes to LaGrange, Georgia from our homes in Alabama. Hospice attorney Carol Todd was to meet us at 10 o’clock. She didn’t show up and the hospice head nurse talked to us, “oh, she needs to die. You know, the life’s over, no quality of life.”
And finally, we listened to this for about an hour and a half, and I said, “This is B.S. We want my aunt out of here now. I have world-class doctor Raed Agel of UAB’s cardiovascular unit arranging life-saver helicopter.” They kept inching us on out, Glenn, until Carol Todd the hospice attorney showed up and gave us a piece of paper. Turns out hospice had told Beth Gaddy the granddaughter that we were coming over, that she no longer had durable power of attorney and she went before the probate judge that morning and got a temporary emergency guardianship.
(snip)
Glenn: Oh, I gotta tell you, you can go to all the law schools, you say everybody on the Supreme Court, everybody on the 11th circuit court, everybody down in Florida, they all passed the bar and I gotta tell you man. Just because you went to school and, and passed the bar and you are an attorney and then you become a judge, doesn’t mean that you have common sense. I’m sick of these judges, man, sick to death of these judges. So let me ask you, did they put, did they, so they didn’t put the feeding tube back in. Was she, did, uh, did, how long has she been without food and water?
Ken: No, but they did have an IV in that we ordered on last Thursday and it was in her Friday, April 1st. But when the hospice person gave us this emergency decree from the probate judge, they took the IV liquids out right in front of us.
(snip)
Glenn: But, how much, how much time does she have?
Ken: That’s why I couldn’t wait on this compromise. It was supposed to be 24 hours from Monday. I waited all the way till Thursday. But how much time does she have? I don’t know. Because she’s 81 and the worst thing about it, you know, it’s bad that she’s not getting adequate nourishment or adequate fluids, but this is a little thing that, that may not mean anything to anybody but me or my aunt. But she, she has glaucoma. She can’t produce tears. She has to take drops to keep her eyes lubricated. She hasn’t had those drops in the last two weeks. She’s blind practically now. Opening her eyes is, is a terrible pain. And they won’t give her the drops.
(snip)
You can read the entire interview here:
http://www.aclearvoice.org/archives/2005/04/transcript_of_g.php
What part of denied don't you understand? He didn't say reduced hydration or partial hydration. He said nourishment and fluids are being denied. The following statement was reported well after the April 4th hearing where an agreement was reached. Mullinax is pulling your chain.
"Your web page didn't show on my computer! I have MS-XP, IE version 6, a gig of ram, all the security junko turned on, and it's still a no-go. Gotta chat with Bill Gates next time I see him."
I don't know if you know this, but security for your computer and what you are able to see have an inverse relationship. The more security, the less you can see, the more you can see, the less security you have.
My elderly mother is also a rabid Dem and very upset about what happened to Terri and almost happened to Mae. She needs to go in the hospital for a minor procedure which will require anesthesia but now is too afraid to go.
WE WILL PRAY FOR HER!
She was not terminal. Rather than treat her condition (a condition that is able to be treated, BTW) she was sent to a hospice to die.
e.g. How would you like it if you had appendicitis, but instead of being given an appendectomy, the hospital neglected to treat you and sent you to a hospice instead?
Cheer up! The old lady is in a hospital receiving good care and with a bit of luck and good medical management will live for several more years. Isn't that what it's all about? Why are you so upset?
Yes-- The strong that fight the battle...
Thanks for sharing!
I often think about how in my granma's last hours- my uncle said- it's okay-- you can let go-- she squeezed his hand HARD-- and shook her head "NO!"
can't go on.. my heart aches..
LOL!!
Not working!
Aren't you the clever one! I forgot to tell you, hit the Preview button before you hit reply and then you'll know for sure that the piccie will come up...but you did it!
LOL!!
YES I DID!!
THANK YOU!
Right, I have now read most of your comments In Forum and I know where you are coming from, you were a pain in the butt on every Terri thread, so thanks for nothing.
NAHH!!
C'mon!
Don't you think you are being a little EASY on the GUY!?
Yes, the grandaughter in this case certainly had an agenda.
The way my post read may have been deceptive. When I talked of baby Sun I was talking about a recent case in Texas where a 5 month old baby was withdrawn from life support.
He was born with tiny lungs that could never support him.
I have lost both parents to cancer. We had wonderful Hospice support with my Mother. My Father was in the hospital and fought like your Grandfather did. It's never easy. This grandaughter was deliberately killing her grandmother!
I have my standards! A conservative must never stoop to their level. (But what I'm thinking is another matter.)
And you were easily duped, then and now. Surprised the call for Dr. Hammesfahr hasn't gone out to cure Mae of her neurological problems. Come on you guys, he's the best. Do your pal, Mullinax, a favor and get a real doctor.
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