Posted on 06/15/2005 9:18:16 AM PDT by blogblogginaway
LARGO, Fla. -- An autopsy on Terri Schiavo backed her husband's contention that she was in a persistent vegetative state, finding that she had massive and irreversible brain damage and was blind, the medical examiner's office said Wednesday. It also found no evidence that she was strangled or otherwise abused.
But what caused her collapse 15 years remained a mystery. The autopsy and post-mortem investigation found no proof that she had an eating disorder, as was suspected at the time, Pinellas-Pasco Medical Examiner Jon Thogmartin said.
Autopsy results on the 41-year-old brain-damaged woman were made public Wednesday, more than two months after Schiavo's death March 31 ended an internationally watched right-to-die battle between her husband and parents that engulfed the courts, Congress and the White House and divided the country.
Thogmartin also said she did not appear to have suffered a heart attack and there was no evidence that she was given harmful drugs or other substances prior to her death.
She died from dehydration, Thogmartin said.
He said she would not have been able to eat or drink if she had been given food by mouth as her parents' requested.
"Removal of her feeding tube would have resulted in her death whether she was fed or hydrated by mouth or not," Thogmartin told reporters.
He also said she was blind, because the "vision centers of her brain were dead."
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Thats funny, not wanting Jesse Jackson anywhere near you...I agree...when it comes time for my end of life decisions, I have already made my wishes clear in writing, and my son and husband already know what I want...they have instructions to never listen to some twerp who thinks they know better, and for whatever selfish reason want to prolong my life, when I dont want that...
I saw enough of that from supposed do-gooders, when I had to make decisions regarding my mom, my dad and one of my own sons when they were at the end of their lives...there is always someone who thinks they know better, and want to interfere and want their wishes carried out...family does for family, outsiders are unwelcome...
And you KNOW that how? Are you psychic or something and you were able to communicate with someone in a persistant vegetative state? Michael says she she wouldnt want to be kept in such a state. So did several other witnesses. The Schindlers could care less what her wishes were, they were going to keep her as their personal pet regardless.
OK, here is an example you may understand. Paul Volker just did an independent audit of the Oil For Food program and found Kofi innocent. Did you accept that as gospel?
And add in to the equation a bunch of wacko activists quick to use this case to further their agenda....which as well know was not really about Terri, but ultimately about abortion.
There is no mystery about the bone-softening. It's a fact of 'use it or lose it' and is a common problem with bedfast patients. That is why 'weight-bearing exercise' is promoted to help prevent osteoporosis. Given Terri's significant weight loss, it's entirely likely that calcium rich foods were a neglected part of her diet and that her body had been robbing calcium from her bones before her collapse. Then, she became a bedfast patient and assumed all of the attendant risk of bone loss from the fact of being bedfast.
Worth noting is that the Schindlers & Schiavo cared for Terri at home...Sept-Nov 1990. It's entirely possible that the bone abnormalities that showed up in the '91 bone scan occured in that time frame, were unintentional, and were a result of inexperience in handling a bedfast patient.
Pertaining to bedfast patients:Musculoskeletal problems, especially decreased range of motion and strength: Disuse leads to loss of function. This is a loss in and of itself, and also has other consequences. Loss of musculoskeletal function does not result in flaccidity, but rigidity. When range of motion decreases, the body, especially arms, hands, legs, and feet may develop contractures or become frozen in a flexed position. This leads to increased opportunities for skin breakdown, pain, and difficulty moving. Osteoporosis also occurs or, if already present, advances more rapidly. There is also an increased chance of stress or pathological fractures.
To all, I'm sorry for the vague and faulty post.
I've never believed that Michael strangled her, I don't have any idea what caused her original collapse.
The low potassium/ bulimia angle of the article I posted from Commentary seemed logical, but it seems that that also has been discredited.
I was referring to the quote from the article:
'It also found no evidence that she was strangled or otherwise abused.'
I just thought that a black and blue mark would have totally healed over the decade plus years that have passed, and thought that the article was a bit too hasty to rule out ANY abuse.
That said, I think that even in the best of circumstances, ie. that her husband had nothing to do with her original coma, still there is no justification for forced starving, and the Commentary article clearly explains the slippery slope that led Terry's husband to go from actively trying to cure/heal his wife to murdering (annhialating) her.
Thanks for your corrections.
Sarah
Oh, they will be.
Look a little further than this space and time.
Sum: In my opinion, based on those claims, there is a significant likelyhood that Micheal Schiavo caused injury his wife that night in their home that resulted in her condition.
Second Pleading: If it is the case that Mike Schiavo did NOT directly cause injury on that night, he is still accessory to murder. Why? By complicity and action in bringing forward the case before the Murderer Judge Greer to have her murdered.
For she was murdered. That is a fact.
Oh, believe me - it happens.
The osteoporisis means that bones soften and resorb into the body and waste system. Stress, steroids and pregnancy cause the same thing -- softening of bones. Was Terri in a period of stress at her home that night? Was she pregnant? IIRC, she wasn't found to be pregnant, but pregnancy in early stages can be weird. The point is why are so many -- most -- of domestic abuse strangulations missed?
Possible hypothesis of mine as suggested is that the stress contributes to changes in body and bone condition that make stranmgulation signs less evident. For example: softer bones, for example less ability to tense the muscles.
Reindeer fly!
And your basis for this is??
Her x-rays showed some signs of what might have bruises acquired by an abusive spouse.
Support for this claim?
Mike Schiavo is a hot head.
And your basis for this is??
The record of her care and the case show a pattern of heartlessness on the part of Mike Shiavo.
According to whom?
Mike Schiavo is said to have been a control-freak about his wife's activities.
Yes, insofar as he insisted on her receiving the best care.
In my opinion, based on those claims, there is a significant likelyhood that Micheal Schiavo caused injury his wife that night in their home that resulted in her condition.
An opinion spun out of unsubstantiated rumor and insinuation.
How come the insurance company never claimed that Terri was abused as part of their defense in the malpractice case? How come Terri's initial hospitalization records indicate NO evidence of abuse? How come the autopsy reiterates that her initial collapse was NOT caused by abuse? How come the Schindlers never floated the abuse claims until a DECADE after the fact, after they and MS had had a falling out? How could they have missed this alleged 'abuse' when MS and TS were living in the Schindlers' home?
Good grief. Circular logic.
Oh, and Terri wasn't "murdered". The court ruled, and was upheld at every level of the state and federal judiciary, that Terri's wish was not to live under those circumstances. Florida does not require a written living will, and people have the right to refuse medical treatment.
Sworn Affidavits of nurses and aides. Public statements of her relatives.
Not testified to in court, under cross-examination. Meaningless.
He made threats to Philadelhpia talk-show hosts.
Did they accuse him of being a murderer, perhaps?
His publicly recorded actions and statements regarding his wife's parents and siblings. Demeaning, threatening and heartless.
Without any provocation, I'm sure. </sarcasm>
So yes, I think it is entirely within reason that he could have assaulted his wife on that night.
No, that is NOT reasonable. There is NO substantive evidence whatsoever to support that assertion.
And it is a fact that he conspired to murder and did assist in that murder.
Not merely false, but libelous.
Regading the days and years between the collapse and the insurance case -- there is an obvious benefit to Micheal to have undertaken what is *normal* care for his striken wife, such caring behaviour induces a greater windfall in reimbursement. It is less obvious the need for good relation with the Schindlers during that interval, yet while the insurance outcome was yet then certain, such cordial relations would have worked on his behalf to minimize any risks to the content of depositions arising out of an intra-family squabble or fights over who would be the caregiver, the POA, etc. And too -- if the initial event was an outburst or accident -- he may actually have had remorse or some approximation of remorse in that time frame and thus would be more genuinely solicitous of her care.
True. And by that truth immune.
We'll see.
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