Terri's Day challenges the nation to unify

Renew America ^ | March 13, 2006 | Kevin Fobbs

[KevinNuPac]

Terri's Day challenges the nation to unify

Kevin Fobbs

March 13, 2006

Terri's Day — A Celebration of the Culture of Life honoring Terri Schiavo with a day of remembrance challenges each and every one of us to stop for a moment and ask ourselves a question, do we respect ourselves, our families, our lives?

And if we are faced with the question of the possible certainty of death, does anyone truly know, or even have the faintest clue about, our wishes? That is the greatest good, the greatest legacy that Terri Schiavo's death and an annual "Terri's Day" can bring to our lives and to the celebration of the Culture of Life.

On March 18th, we as a nation will begin to grieve again, to reach into our hearts and feel with our collective national spirit what the Schindler family felt last year at this time as each moment since Terri was disconnected from the feeding lifeline, the moments crept by like hours and hours like days.

All of us have felt in some way that pain — even if it were only in the privacy of our loved one's home, hospital room, hospice or perhaps talking with an attorney and doctor attempting to make sense out of some fleeting comments made in a conversation perhaps voiced ten, twelve or even two decades earlier — not necessarily an expression of her true feeling about an end-of-life decision but merely an incidental musing in a long-forgotten side conversation.

For at least one million Americans, and quite possibly a whole lot more, this is an opportunity to voice an opinion through a pledge supporting a resolution in each state called "Terri's Day — A Celebration of the Culture of Life." Each and every person who cares that your family, your spouse, your mother, your father, your sister or brother understands with clarity what you wish the end of life for you to be, with dignity and certainty should sign the online pledge at www.kevinfobbs.com and take the additional step to sign a Living Will — or as they call it at www.terrisfight.org, the Will to Live.

Some have asked why Americans should care about an annual Terri's Day. It is quite simple, we tend to keep turning the page on the Culture of Life because we feel it does not affect us. We tend to believe that seemingly universal belief that those who are handicapped, those who are not quite living a "perfect" life or by contemporary notion "ideal" then those lives are possibly disposable, marginal, not relevant, and part of the Culture of Death which embraces a "disposable society."

But life and our values for the Culture of Life are not disposable. Think about the young people today who would rather hurt themselves or even take their own lives rather than feel "imperfect" or the elderly person whose family is told by an insensitive health care professional while the stricken person struggles to cling to life, "she would be better off in another place," — just let her die, disconnect her from life, because her quality of life is not up to "contemporary standards. "

Why does celebrating the Culture of Life in Michigan become so essential for all of us in America? It is important for several reasons. Dr. Jack Kervorkian, also known as "Doctor Death" helped launch first in Michigan and then the nation the notion of the death culture. Secondly, and equally as important, at the May 12 event — just two days before Mother's Day — there will also be a "Mary's Moms" celebration of those women and mothers who have met challenges in standing up for some aspect of the Culture of Life.

This past weekend I sat at my cousin's funeral — or going home celebration, which more accurately describes it — thinking about the dearly departed and how she packed so much caring for others into her life even as she struggled with illness and advancing age. She was a wonderful woman who had lived through many, many challenges in her life, but in her 73 years she had met these challenges with dignity and had conveyed to her family when would be the right time to allow her to pass away.

Her daughter, who is a minister, spoke to the packed church about the times when, with all of her pain and then a stroke, the doctors had informed them that perhaps it was better to let her go. Yet that was three years ago that that occurred, and if the family had listened to the doctors and refused to see how she fought back and not only recovered but went back to volunteering at the church to feed and clothe the homeless. The medical professionals didn't care about an elderly lady who was on dialysis, but the family did and they knew better. Patricia lived three more years — years her extensive extended family considered "a gift from God."

So isn't part of the lesson of Terri's legacy and Terri's Day for families and loved ones to have a meaningful conversation with their family and to have the written document on hand as well that conveys the wishes clearly and concisely? You betcha.

As I sat in the church I thought of all of the families across the nation and the world who were sitting at their loved one's bedsides — or even standing outside of a hospital emergency room — overwhelmed with emotion, torn by what may be days of conflicting anguished decisions. I thought again of how out of death we may have the certainty of life. Terri's death reminded the nation that yes a state can and will starve you to death, and your family may be rendered helpless as you watch your loved one's precious life forces drain slowly away.

By signing the online pledge at www.kevinfobbs.com or going to www.terrisfight.org, you can learn about how to encourage your state legislature to establish March 31st as an official Terri's Day. Hold a Culture of Life Home Party or meet-and-greet to sign pledges, share ideas and support The Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation as well as Culture of Life activities and events in your community or around the nation. Between now and March 31st you can make a dramatic difference for yourself, your family and for the nation. Stand up for the Culture of Life because one person, one life, one family can and does make a difference in America. Make the difference and be the difference today. America...The countdown for the Culture of Life has begun.

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Kevin Fobbs is President of National Urban Policy Action Council (NuPac), a non-partisan civic and citizen-action organization that focuses on taking the politics out of policy to secure urban America's future one neighborhood, one city, and one person at a time. View NuPac on the web at www.nupac.info. Kevin Fobbs is a regular contributing columnist for the Detroit News. He is also the daily host of The Kevin Fobbs Show on News Talk WDTK - 1400 AM in Detroit. Listen to The Kevin Fobbs Show online at www.wdtkam.com daily 2-3 p.m., and call in toll-free nationwide to make your opinion count at 800-923-WDTK(9385) © Copyright 2006 by Kevin Fobbs http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/fobbs/060313

[Ohioan from Florida]

Michael has a zillion different proposals about what happened to Terri, and who's at fault. Of course, it never has anything to do with him.

[T'wit]

>> TGN1412

Sounds like the next thrill for teenagers.

[T'wit]

Thanks, FV!

[T'wit]

He has already published his own (lengthy) obituary, I gather, so he is himself presumably a bacteria. Not a hypocrite, then. Just a dangerous, universally hated disease-causing pest.

[T'wit]

When I posted it earlier, I tossed in an opinion that the quote is interesting precisely because it was early (November, 1990). Therefore it was likely to be more accurate, or at least less scripted. Later versions tend to get edited, corrected, or elaborated upon, depending on how earlier versions played to his audiences. Also, simply with the passage of time, one's failing and forgiving memory tends to pretty up later versions.

Notice, for instance, how in later versions, Michael plays up his heroic and immediate response -- how he ran to her, turned her over, cradled her tenderly, instantly dialed 911 -- none of which is true, as far as I can tell.

I DO believe him when he admitted in an early version that he hadn't performed CPR. That would have been heroic. I guess he forgot. Bobby Schindler said Mr. Tender Loving Husband was having hysterics and was no use for anything.

[Pepper777]

Very interesting link, BykrBayb. I only read your snip, but plan to read the remainder later.

The Germans appeared to have been way ahead of the rest of world during the early 1900's. Good question concerning where they got their research.

[Pepper777]

I agree. His testimony should have never been considered credible by the court. I doubt a jury would have believe him and his BS about Terri's so called wishes. The law requires a murderer to be convicted by his peers, and a unanimous verdict. Terri, an innocent, was given neither.

[BykrBayb]

If this doesn't scare you, nothing will.

Research Suggests Potential to Increase Number of Lungs Available for Transplant - http://sev.prnewswire.com/medical-pharmaceuticals/20060405/NYW09305042006-1.html

[T'wit]

Pray for me. I am going to try to put the abstract into readable English.

Hypokalemia (low blood potassium) is often observed in injury patients (and is presumably the result of the injury). The authors of this study theorized that the more severe the trauma (injury), the more often hypokalemia would be found. They confirmed this by examining the medical charts of trauma patients, their lab tests, hospital stays and similar information.

The following are quoted excerpts, omitting numbers and irrelevant material. Factors with higher incidence of hypokalemia are in bold face. Terri suffered every one of them, at least at some point in time:

"[H]ypokalemia [measured when the patient was first admitted] was more frequent in those with closed head injuries ... and in those who suffered spinal cord injuries ((according to the bone scan, Terri suffered both at some point)). ... Hypokalemia occurred more frequently in younger patients. ... Glasgow Coma Scores (GCS) were significantly lower [= WORSE] ... and Injury Severity Scores (ISS) were higher ... with admission hypokalemia. Additionally, hypokalemia was a positive predictor of ISS [more severe injuries]. Hypokalemic patients more likely needed a ventilator ((Terri needed a ventilator at first)) ... Subsequently, hypokalemic patients had longer ICU lengths of stay ... and longer hospital [lengths of stay] ... [The more severe the hypokalemia, the more severe were other problems and the longer the patient had to be hospitalized.]"

[supercat]

If this doesn't scare you, nothing will.

The article suggests that lungs from truly-dead patients may be useful for transplants, as opposed to those from maybe-kinda-sorta-dead patients. Why should that be scary? It seems to me that telling doctors they can wait until a patient is genuinely dead before removing the organs would be a good thing.

[T'wit]

>> In the very early years of transplantation lungs, and other organs were obtained from NHBDs. The introduction and acceptance of brain-death criteria opened access to organs with better function capacity and NHBDs were rendered obsolete.

Score one for dear old Harvard, inventor of those "brain-death criteria" that start the carving! Cutting up the so-called brain dead patients (PVS, comatose, blah blah) met the heart-lung transplant demand for awhile and supplied fresher organs. AND, it made big bucks for the hospitals. (Thank God Haleigh Poutre escaped -- barely.)

Now they are saying they missed some good organs from heart-death patients so they can cut them up too and get more lungs. I'm sorry, this puzzles me. It seems to me that heart-death patients are waiting for new hearts while lung patients are trying to get the lungs from the heart death patients. Is that fair? Why should the lung patients get to carve up the heart patients? How about letting the heart patients carve up the ones with useless lungs and take their still beating hearts? Hmmm?

[Wampus SC]

I grew up Southern Baptist, and I'm also surprised the Baptist Witness worded it that way. When I learned about how God answers prayers, I was taught exactly what you said.

The board of the Southern Baptist Convention has made many doctrinal changes in the past few years, so who knows? It's not the church I grew up in. I'm going to leave it at that, and not discuss doctrine further.

[Wampus SC]

"Jeb Bush finally came out for illegal immigration. He forgot to go on tv in a sombrero but give him time. He's such a sellout. I apologize for helping him get re-elected."

I saw that immigration thread you pinged me to. I came, I saw, I ranted. :) Apology is good at times like this. When I apologized for campaigning for Lindsey I felt so much better aftward. It was a good feeling. So good that I'm going to do it again.

Starting in the fall of 2003, I said some very positive things about Jeb. I apologize for that.

[Wampus SC]

"Again. We fund them at the State Level too "partnerships" "aging and elderly" coalitions, the "bioethickers". So, Florida is in the business of killing people (death care system) and then sticking the taxpayers with the bill for promoting the culture of death."

Florida sounds like the pilot program for the rest of the country. We couldn't just adopt the EU model of euthanizing the useless eaters, because the EU model is an outgrowth of the EU's socialist medical system. We'd have to have a different model that works with the US's very different medical system. Thus a pilot program is required.

[Wampus SC]

"You may have a big, BIG sale of that Zyklon-B to a Dr. Eric Pianka. Dr. Pianka recommends killing off 90% of the human race, in great agony, with Ebola virus. Heck, good old gas chambers are 100% efficient, and much more humane. Plus you can salvage a lot of gold teeth and stuff from the bodies."

Before Earth experiences a near-extinction level pianka, some thoughts. I remember reading an article in the early 90's about fears that Russia was trying to develop a weaponized strain of airborne ebola for biological warfare. Would DHS be interested in someone who thinks Earth's population should be subjected to a biological agent? Just askin'....

[Wampus SC]

I had thought it was something new Mikey was saying. Thanks for the additional info to clear that up.

[Wampus SC]

"Well then, which group is he in? The group that should be exterminated, or the group that should be mutilated?"

Does he have the b*lls to do the mutilation to himself? I'll bet a skink and a komodo dragon that he doesn't.

[8mmMauser]

Here is someone to watch, a real devil's advocate bent on spoils and harm...

Just an excerpt from a revealing article from the North Country Gazette...

Last week, Eisenberg filed a complaint against the Schindler family with Florida’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services which oversees charitable organizations, alleging that Terri’s family have used the Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation Inc. to collect tax exempt contributions for the Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation Center for Health Care Ethics, a lobbying group.

EDITORIAL - The Rule of Terri----Selective Investigation

8mm

(this includes Ohioan from Florida's ping list, update to 3/27.)



Terri on the road to recovery before the second stage began.

[8mmMauser]

Speaking of Devil's Advocate, this piece is from the Devil's den as well, Eisenberg from their cheering section.

Eisenberg identified a "three-tiered structure" that included "seven foundations...fourteen think tanks and other religious Right organizations ... and eighteen foot soldiers" behind the case:

The battle over the legacy of Terri Schiavo

8mm

[8mmMauser]

Florence Thompson never woke up.

Nearly 10 years after a street racing Corvette driver named Monty Gill smashed into her car on Kendall Avenue and left her in a vegetative state, her husband and family have decided to take her off life support.

Doctors disconnected her ventilator and feeding machine last week and placed her on a morphine drip.

Now she is dying. Slowly.

Nearly 10 years later, injured driver taken off life support

8mm