Michael Schiavo's side of the story [sicko' barf-ola ALERT]

MSNBC ^ | 3/27/06 | Matt Lauer

[XR7]

CLEARWATER, FLA. - Michael Schiavo...has decided to tell his side of the story...

Schiavo invited us to his home in Clearwater, Florida to talk...It’s all in his new book “Terri the Truth.”

Matt Lauer: I guess you could’ve written a book to honor Terri. After reading it, it’s not really the book you wrote. This is a book that in some ways settles some scores, doesn’t it?

Michael Schiavo: Oh yes, it does.

Lauer: You did think about writing that honoring Terri book?

Michael Schiavo: Oh yes, many times. This book does honor Terri in a way. It sets her free. It tells the truth...

Lauer: You were her first date.

Schiavo: Uh-huh.

Lauer: You were her first kiss.

Schiavo: Uh-huh.....

But the medical examiner was skeptical...and could not conclusively determine just what caused her collapse 16 years ago.

Lauer (at Terri Schiavo’s grave site): How often do you come to her grave?

Schiavo: I try to get out here at least two or three times a month. I drive by a lot though.

On this day, approaching the one year anniversary of Terri's death, someone had left a crucifix by her grave, a grave marked with three dates: her birth date, the date of her collapse, and her death, with a final note from Michael: "I kept my promise."

Lauer: Why was it so important to put that in there?

Schiavo: It was from me to her — it had nothing to do with anybody else. It was very important for me.

Lauer: Do you ever come here Michael and wonder how she feels about this promise, so many years afterwards? Do you think it was it as important to her as it was to you?

Schiavo: Definitely, definitely. She's up there praising me right now… and saying thank you.

[BagelFace]

Other people have recovered from conditions that were, by every appearance, just as bad.

I don't agree.

Also, I would posit that if you treated a newborn the way Michael treated Terri, after 15 years that child's apparent mental state wouldn't be much better than Terri's.

I can't understand the point - sorry. But I do appreciate your dedication to your principles, which seem honorable.

[bjs1779]

Probably someone impersonating a doctor. We just went through that with a cop. : )

[BykrBayb]

What ever happened to that one? Did we ask too many questions? : 0

[retMD]

Then you should know that Wolfson urged that Terri should have another swallowing test. If I remember correcly, that was not done.

I believe you are correct that a fourth test was not done. If it was, I can't find mention of it.

In the GAL report Wolfson suggests among other ways "to create common ground" among the parties:

"The GAL will select competent, neutral, clinical specialists to make a formal determination about the feasibility and value of swallowing tests and therapy for Theresa."

So he suggested that specialists decide if another swallowing test was feasible and would be valuble. Anyone know what happened with this?

[bjs1779]

I believe you are correct that a fourth test was not done. If it was, I can't find mention of it.

Well, maybe you aren't so bad after all. I was hoping that would be the case!

[retMD]

Is it impossible that someone good improve on their own over say the next decade or so with no treatment? 1993, yes, that was the year Michael got the rehab funds. Correct?

I would consider it very unlikely that someone who had failed a swallowing test every year for three years would spontaneously improve, especially coupled with the CT scan posted on the net. I'm not a swallowing expert, however.

[bjs1779]

I would consider it very unlikely that someone who had failed a swallowing test every year for three years would spontaneously improve, especially coupled with the CT scan posted on the net. I'm not a swallowing expert, however.

Of course, you are telling me that the all of the caregivers who said she could are full of sh@t, right?

[retMD]

The key element is the kid was re-heydrated, Terri was not.

Sorry, but that's just not correct. The pathologist found damage from lack of oxygen and that the nerves were completely gone. Dehydration for two weeks before death won't look the same. If you want to argue that the feeding tube shouldn't have been pulled, I can respect your position. But if you're deliberately trying to ignore the facts, confuse two different things, argue that the pathologist didn't know what he was doing, and insist that she was tracking the balloon with her eyes, count me out.

[bjs1779]

Sorry, but that's just not correct. The pathologist found damage from lack of oxygen and that the nerves were completely gone.

But my dear Doctor, the only substance that carries oxygen in the body is water.

[retMD]

But my dear Doctor, the only substance that carries oxygen in the body is water.

Please learn more about this if you want to talk about the medical issues. Until then, I'm out of the conversation.

[bjs1779]

Please learn more about this if you want to talk about the medical issues. Until then, I'm out of the conversation.

Are you a fake? If not, try 13 days without water. Fair enough?

[supercat]

I can't understand the point - sorry.

Children need certain types of structured stimulation in order to develop the ability to process and react meaningfully to things around them. A child who's kept locked up in a room with no company and nothing to do isn't going to develop much brain functionality that way.

Brain-damaged adults often become in many ways like babies, having to relearn even the most basic skills. Even when recovery is possible, it will generally not occur at the same pace as with a baby, because adult minds are not as quickly malleable.

Once Michael had the malpractice funds, he forbade all further efforts at therapy for Terri. That she did not improve in the following years does not in any way imply that she could not have improved had therapy been given. Why was Michael so adamant that Terri not receive any therapy, unless he was hoping to sandbag her condition?

[CaptainJustice]

You know, the Terri Schiavo case is why I stopped coming to Free Republic and why I switched churches. The disgusting display of religious conservatives, their complicity in the deceptions coming from the Schindler side, and the outrageous and uninformed frothing just turned me off.

Over a decade of PVS, scores of doctors, scores of failed tests, and an autopsy that proved Michael Schiavo was right all along, even after all that many of you are still carrying on this hideous death cult for Terri. I usually pride myself on being a conservative because we are the most informed and most logical of the pack. But this case has cause many in conservatism to enter their own persistent vegatative state and never recover from the ignorance and the lies of the Schindler's and people like Hannity. I won't listen to Hannity any more. He lost all credibility with me. So did many on this site and many in government.

And now, after all this time, the death cult continues. It sickens me, the willingness of conservatives to believe in lies. Isn't that what we always accuse the left of? Isn't that why we campaign against the democrats and the liberals, because they believe lies and deliberately spread false info? Well, apparently some on our side are just as bad. Many people in this thread are the exact same way, willing to buy the lies.

[marajade]

She couldn't medically take in water and food. Give it up.

[BagelFace]

Sounds like a great conspiracy theory - oh, and thanks for the psych 101. But after a certain number of years, MS was justified in giving up with recovery (what part of "there was no hope" to people fail to grasp?) and moving on. Although he may or may not have done everthing exactly as you have done -- at least on paper -- "let he who is without sin cast the first stone." I see no point in making MS the object of your intense anger - let liberals do something similar with Bush - cathartic for them, but is this for you? It is like picking painful scabs after a while.

[bjs1779]

And now, after all this time, the death cult continues

You were on a roll there, then it went downhill. Present the facts, that's all any of us can do.

[supercat]

Sounds like a great conspiracy theory - oh, and thanks for the psych 101. But after a certain number of years, MS was justified in giving up with recovery (what part of "there was no hope" to people fail to grasp?) and moving on.

The parents encouraged Michael to divorce Terri and give her over to their care. Why did he instead take all efforts to ensure that she not receive therapy? Note that it wasn't until later--after it became clear that Terri wasn't going to die of neglect--that Michael suddenly "remembered" Terri's supposed wishes.

Call it a "conspiracy theory" if you must, but if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it's obviously a loving husband, right?

[bjs1779]

You know, the Terri Schiavo case is why I stopped coming to Free Republic and why I switched churches

Sure : )

[BagelFace]

You've got the entire story I see, every last detail, under your blet. You've checked all the facts carefully, you've examined motives, statements, autopsy reports, and you've deduced that they can only mean one thing: cold-hearted, calculated, willful murder for financial gain (not to mention the fun of watching someone close die). Not a bad year's work! Thus, it is society that has failed in recognizing, as a whole, what you have so dutifully discerned. You have clearly risen to the uppermost stratum of moral clarity. Well, except for one small detail: it all can be explained much more readily by coming to a completely different conclusion. Other than that, I'm all for hanging the dude in public. Would you like to pull the lever?

[Dante3]

It was hilarious when Michael Schiavo walked out on the Nancy Grace Show, not wanting to answer her questions. His lawyer, the creepy Felos, then said he left because he was too distraught over Jessica Lunsford being dead. What nonsense.