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
I asked you a question on #106. Why are you so upset that a little old lady is now in hospital receiving the care she needs?
By the time Grandma's story hit FR, she had been receiving nourishment and it was already decided that she was going to Alabama. All the chest thumping was Mullinax getting himself some attention. He is a campaign/media guy for the Democrats in Alabama you know.
Let me know when Mae wakes up and thanks Mullinax. Aorta dissection often causes severe brain damage. Her directive may be vague on terminology but the granddaughter has been the closest one to her. Their conversations on end of life issues were likely guiding Gaddy. She tried to do what Grandma wanted but had the good sense to give up when confronted with certain legal expenses. Again, that was last Monday.
So what you are saying is, the entire situation was a matter of money?
Transcript of Glenn Beck Interview with Ken Mullinax:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1381143/posts
Fred Nerks wrote: No eye drops allowed for an old lady with glaucoma?""
I just shook my head when reading about the eye drops. Those hospice workers are not any form of angels, other than Angels of Death. This is just another example of the ridiculous BS about the so called painless death, George Felos loves to talk about, while his snake tongue twirls around his lips.
Precious Terri was tortured beyond belief by those ghouls, as was Mae Mullinax. So glad she was saved for now. Hope the grand-daughter doesn't get another chance to do it again. They don't give up easy.. ie.. Michael Schiavo/Felos.
More info on the story of Miss Mae:
http://straightupwsherri.blogspot.com/2005/04/more-info-on-story-of-miss-mae.html
It's one of the leading cardiologist hospitals in the country. Also one of the top teaching hospitals as well.
They were great with my grandmother as well. All the nurses were very caring.
Thanks for the information.
Be careful, now, Fred.....you may end up having a monster on your hands! : )
lol In the movie Cool World, there is a scene where detective Frank Harris is in a nightclub setting. The telephone speaks and in one scene it's dashing around the club frantically yelling, "FRANK, FRRRAANNK, FRANK, FRRRAAAANNNKKKK!!!"
What you wrote Schmelvin made me crack up laughing thinking of her phone chasing her around the house, yelling, "Beth, Beettthhhh, BETH!" all night.
No, I don't think our bubbly eeevil one did!! I almost choked on my toast. LOL. My brain immediatly said, "whoa, hold on there pilgrim " in this John Wayne voice. I think perhaps it was meant for another poster??
*waving hands in the air*
OH! please, please, Misses Eeevil, add me to your ping list.
LOL!
Looks like ya done good!!
TWO HANDS CLAPPING.
That was AWESOME!!
Way to GO!! I'm still working on colors. Just graduated out of the Primary ones! LOL. What a cute baby pup.AWWWW, He or she looks soooo soft.
RGSpincich:I think you showed up to yank on some chains here.
Yes, as Fred Nerks pointed out, there are people who are so defensive about having made the "tough decision" to starve/dehydrate one of their own non-terminally ill relatives to death, they insist we all must agree it was The Right Thing to Do.
Their greatest fear must be to see the patient recover enough to vocalize.
Hence they become dead-set, so to speak, on "seeing it through to the end."
Perhaps Beth Gaddy will be deterred by the negative publicity, however. It's not too late for her to back off -- though it was for Michael Schiavo after Judge Greer put the state's imprimatur on Terri's "wish" to die in 2000.
Somewhat reminds me of the fervor and strident way that the Homosexual Lobby insists that they have no choice and it is a natural and healthy alternative lifestyle. I guess starvation/dehydration is a natural painless alternative deathstyle.
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