And another article about Terri...

[agilebrit]

PVS, my ass.

Dude, if they were going to treat a prisoner at Abu Graib like this, withholding food and water, everyone would be up in arms demanding the heads of anyone who would suggest such a thing. We'd be screaming about torture and "cruel and unusual punishment." I guess it's okay to do it to Terri because she can't speak for herself and because she hasn't committed any crimes. Her so-called husband's assertion that she wouldn't want to be alive in this state seems self-serving at best and criminal at worst.

And all these people saying "Oh, it's not so bad to starve/dehydrate to death! Really!" What crack are they smoking? How would you like to go out like this:

Their skin cracks, their tongue cracks, their lips crack. They may have nosebleeds because of the drying of the mucus membranes, and heaving and vomiting might ensue because of the drying out of the stomach lining. They feel the pangs of hunger and thirst. Imagine going one day without a glass of water! Death by dehydration takes ten to fourteen days. It is an extremely agonizing death. (St. Louis neurologist William Burke)

Or this:
After seven to nine days [from commencing dehydration] they begin to lose all fluids in the body, a lot of fluids in the body. And their blood pressure starts to go down. When their blood pressure goes down, their heart rate goes up. . . . Their respiration may increase and then . . . the blood is shunted to the central part of the body from the periphery of the body. So, that usually two to three days prior to death, sometimes four days, the hands and the feet become extremely cold. They become mottled. That is you look at the hands and they have a bluish appearance. And the mouth dries a great deal, and the eyes dry a great deal and other parts of the body become mottled. And that is because the blood is now so low in the system it's shunted to the heart and other visceral organs and away from the periphery of the body . . . (Minnesota neurologist Ronald Cranford--who has testified that Terri's feeding tube should be removed)

Yeah, gimme some of that. This is what they're calling "death with dignity"? Above quotes are from this site--which also has a narration of someone whose feeding tube was removed for eight days and lived. This woman was diagnosed as being in a PVS as well, but has recovered. Her story is chilling.

I love this phrase from the ABCNews website:
...whether she should be permitted to die or kept alive through the feeding tube.

"Permitted to die." Like it's a privilege we're affording her, like we're doing her a favor to "allow" her to starve and dehydrate to death. Don't do me any favors like that, k?

"Kept alive through the feeding tube." You mean, kept alive by being fed. Which is something we do for people who can't eat on their own. If they can swallow, someone spoon-feeds them. Is this "artificial"? They're not eating on their own, after all. Let's please remember that her husband has denied permission for swallowing therapy that might make the tube unnecessary.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: This isn't a "right to die" case. It's a "right to live" case.

Comments

[midnightsjane.livejournal.com]

I haven't commented on this before, because my feelings are very different from yours, and I don't want to get into any kind of kerfuffle over it. I just want to say that as a nurse, there have been times when I have cared for people in chronic vegetative states, and many of them grimace, and move and may seem somewhat aware. However they are locked in bodies that don't function, totally dependent on others 24/7. Not a great life, in my opinion. I have no idea what this woman wanted, nor if what her husband says is what she wanted. I just find it very sad that a woman's tragedy is being used to persue other people's agendas. I also think that if she has been in this state for 15 years, the chance of her recovering is slim to none. I also have cared for people who in spite of our best efforts for cure them, cannot do so. In those cases, we change our focus to care for comfort. What that means is that we don't feed them, but we give them enough analgesic and sedation so that they are not suffering. I have been at the bedsides of these people. They die with dignity, and they are not suffering from any of the things you describe.

[agilebrit.livejournal.com]

Oh, I don't want a kerfuffle, either. :-) I'm just saying, if you're going to err, err on the side of life. To steal hope from her parents in favor of her very-suspicious-acting husband is, to me, a crime. They think she's responsive. Their lawyer thinks she's responsive. She apparently became agitated enough and made enough noise, when her parent's lawyer tried to get her to speak, that the lawyer was removed from her room. And part of the reason she's in the state she's in is because her husband has denied her any therapy that might make her better.

I don't trust the guy; I think he has ulterior motives. In the absense of anything written, with only his word on the matter? In the face of her Catholic faith? I still think you err on the side of life.

Which just goes to show, be careful who you trust with your medical decisions. And write stuff down. If she'd left instructions, then we wouldn't even be having this discussion.

[midnightsjane.livejournal.com]

And write stuff down. If she'd left instructions, then we wouldn't even be having this discussion.
I agree with this completely. So often in ICU, the patient's wishes aren't known, because no one has ever talked about the possibility of catastrophic events happening. If we all had living wills, it would make end of life decisions easier on everyone.

[dragonflymuse.livejournal.com]

Their lawyer thinks she's responsive. She apparently became agitated enough and made enough noise, when her parent's lawyer tried to get her to speak, that the lawyer was removed from her room.

See my comment below regarding that.

Caring for patients (children) who exist as she does, I have come to the early conclusion that life at any cost is not a kind or compassionate option. This woman doesn't have a life: she exists, marginally, within a universe she can no longer interact with nor understand. She has no quality of life. She is simply being maintained in a living state. Diapered, fed with tubes (or, if she could even pass a swallow-study, which I sincerely doubt she could, by spoon), living with intractable contractures and some constant source of discomfort, is not living with dignity: it's subsistance, to serve the emotional needs of her family. They have had 15 years to make peace with the loss of their child (and it is unrealistic to expect her to recover from this type of brain injury), and have not done so. So, they fight to maintain the shell of what is left of her, with no real due paid to the reality of the situation.

The husband aside, I would not be condoning the family's actions. JMHO.

[dragonflymuse.livejournal.com]

I'm a nurse too (paeds), and I agree with you 110%. I've cared for children who were so 'absent', that the mere assumption there was a quality of life was ludicrous. What people see as 'responsiveness' is most usually lower-level brain reflexive activity: 'talking' or appearing agitated is just a non-specific response to a stimulus that is perceived as negative. She possibly became 'agitated' by the lawyer's attempts to get her to speak simply because it was a negative impact on her now-rudimentary cognitive system - it doesn't mean she understood what was being asked of her.

[midnightsjane.livejournal.com]

Exactly. I remember a film I saw many years ago called "Johnny Got His Gun". It was about a soldier in WW1 who was left blind, deaf, and limbless, but still was mentally aware. He was locked in his dark, silent world, until a nurse figured out that he could blink in morse code. What he kept saying over and over again was "kill me". At the end, she blocked off his breathing tube, but a doctor stopped her. The soldier's torment went on. I was absolutley shattered by this film, and whenever I nurse someone in what is obviously a vegetative state, I think about that. Would I want to be left in the position of Terri S., even if I was aware? My answer is a huge no. There are worse things to me than dying.

[dragonflymuse.livejournal.com]

Most definitely.

One inside joke regarding nurses (ie: the 'You know you're a nurse if...' memes) is that we all want 'DNR' tattooed on our chests. Well, darn right. After participating in codes, I definitely know that it isn't something I want to go through if I'm circling the drain.

Not to start an arguement, just a few notes from my observations on the case...

[illmantrim.livejournal.com]

Actyually, every expert who hasnt been found to be in some way influenced or unreliable has expressed no doubt whatsoever that she was in a vegetative state, and the facts are that noone has ever come out of one if they are still in it after a year.

Also the court documents reveal that the courts have investigated anc contrary top what the parents have said the husband sdid indead arttempt not only reguialr treatm,anets early on but took her to several other states where they attempted more expiramental treatments. Everything failed.

Also on the issue of her wanting to not be preserved if this were to happen. the last court finding quoted at least six people having been told this fact by Terri previous to her accident, so it isnt just his word on the case. I know you and I disagree, but I just wanted to include those facts from the articles I have read and news shows I have seen on this in the last few days.

Whatever the husband's opinion or motives the evidence seems to be piled against the things the parents and their lawyer want to say and want others to think.