Terry Schiavo's so called husband

[Stick]

- found on the side of the road in a custom Cougar XR7 just outside of Lagrange, Ga. - is breating but seems unconcious so an ambulance is called for while a check is made on the ownership of the car. Ambulance arrives and - is transported to the nearest hospital but he is unresponsive. Another police department is made aware that a car registered in their town has been found and they need to check out whether the car has been stolen. After a short time the other police department calls the Lagrange police back and they are told that the car and the owner of the car is missing. Identifications found with the now comatose driver reveals that he is the owner of the car. -'s wife is notified that her husband is in a Lagrange hospital. What should the hospital do? - is transported to a hospital in his hometown where it is determined that they don't have the capibility to care for a person in a deep coma. - is transported to a much larger hospital in Atlanta. - is unable to feed himself since he doesn't even chew his food. His brain doesn't tell his jaw to chew and if food is placed in his mouth he chokes and can sufficate. A feeding tube is inserted and - remains in the coma for three and a half months. When - wakes up the first thing he sees is one of his grand-daughters standing at the foot of his bed who says, "Grandpa. You don't remember me do you?"
I didn't but I'll hug that little girl every chance I get.

[catman]

Gentlemen...Not sure what to think of this one. I had to sign the DNR for both my Mother and my Father. Think this is and should have remained a family issue not to be drug through the news, political system and or court system.

Guess I will get back to taking care of me and mine.

Trav

[39mto39g]

The reason people are killed all the time (medically) is because we have the technology to keep a person alive even though the person is literally in 6 different peaces. The body can be on life support until it rots away.
The sanctity of marriage give the right to the husband not the parents.
Just think, if you and your wife/Husband talked about not wanting to live as a vegetable and the time came for you to pull the plug and your spouse parents stepped in and through the courts stopped you from doing something that you hated to do but you know the other person would want.
Some guy was on TV complaining about it being a slow painful death (starving) I agree, it would be much better to put a gun to her head but we can't do that.
There are arguments for both side and getting a DR. to say what ever you want him to say is just a matter of paying him.
The parents don't want to lose a daughter, thats understandable, the husband didn't want to lose a wife, He made the decision to "pull the plug" Thats his right.

Ron

[Keith_Hixson]

This isn't a simple black and white issue.
The Conservative, religious right are very concerned about the right to life. They are very worried that if the courts can demand a plug to be pulled when will they begin pulling the plug on the rest of us. So . . . . they are concerned that the Dr. Kevorkians of this world will be encouraged by this decision and as soon as we become non productive to society, give us a shot and bury us. The fear of the conservatives is that liberals will run with this. And so they are fighting for parent's decision to extent the "life" of their daughter.

I certainly wouldn't want to live in a vegetated state and add thousands of dollars in bills to my family's financial stability. The ethical question is: How far do we go in extending life by extreme means (means that if they were stopped the patient would die, ie ventilators and feeding tubes). When do we allow folks to die with dignity and when do we give up hope they'll ever come out of a coma?

I am not critical of either the parents or the husband. They both have concerns and issues which are valid. Its just too bad that they haven't been able to work this out in a reasonable compromise. My heart goes out to both. Its a sad story.

Keith

[PHO127]

Discussions is that people make comparisons of Fact based on putting their mouth in gear without engaging the brain. Comparing a person in a deep coma to a person in a brain dead vegetative state for reasons of an argument for Terrys case is is is, well it makes me wonder about your sanity. (general application not person specific)

[Arrow]

Sid....

To the indifferent observerthe person with a morphine drip in their arm is "comfortable" but when you are aware of what is happening to the body as it shuts down andyou are saying good bye to your own for me it's a whole different story. And then you have someone like my bro who gave up the bottle in 98 and determined he would not die drunk on morphine.We had a morphine drip in his arm but he knew what was happening to the end. RIP bro.

Stick....

Glad you made it brother....

Scout....

Right on.....

Here's hopin' I die with my boots on....

Arrow>>>>>>

"As far as I'm concerned heforefited his right toany say in her life or death when he crawled in the sack the first time with another woman."

[PHO127]

VEGETATIVE STATE seem to elude you. If you want to compare cases do so where there is a reasonable basis for comparison. A functioning brain Vs a non functioning brain or deep coma Vs Vegetative State is not comparable data.

I Watched a friend of mine with a daughter with cerebal palsey go through this. She died last year at the ripe old age of 10. She looked much like Terry when she passed. Living with her destroyed the family. The last year of her life she spent in the childrens hospital in Atlanta. My thoughts were how could you be so heartless to let this go on. Why occupy critical care bedspace in a hospital when the space could be taken by someone with a chance at recovering from a disease or illness rather than someone with no hope.

[SuperScout]

.... since it has been determined by minds much more lucid than mine that death by starvation is painless, why don't we just withhold food from all those currently occupying death row cells, and save all that money of feeding them, including their usual request of a Last Meal. I can just hear the screams of protest from the ACLU.

[PHO127]

Can inject Terry with the same injection that we give prison inmates on death row. I am sure that an argument could be made for either.

SO JUST FOR THE SAKE OF ARGUMENT, Why has no one posted about my reason for Terrys husband not being the Bastardly wife abuser that has been claimed. "If he wanted out all he had to do was turn over rights to the parents and walk away. He has stuck to his beliefs and fought for what he felt his wife wanted" Anyone have a REASONABLE thought on the matter.

[SuperScout]

Earlier, I commented on what a low-life Terri's husband seems to be. If he really had her best interests at heart, what harm would have been to let her parents have full care and custody of her? What harm could have come to him, with the possible exception that if she regained any verbal capacity, she might be able to tell the world what really happened, and how he had abused her. And maybe even caused her to be in the stage she currently occupies.

As was reported last night, if Terri was serioiusly contemplating divorcing him for abuse andother reasons, do you think she really confided in him of her desires to not be maintained with a feeding tube? Couples in that deterioated state of marital non-bliss don't usually have such deep conversations. I think his claim about her wishes are as phony as he is.

Maybe this is why he really wants her dead. If he really wanted to just get on with his life, as apparently he already has, why didn't he just divorce his wife instead of trying to have it both ways? There have been innumberable opportunities for him to have provided better care for Terri, but he has opted not to. Either don't provide the care, and divorce her, and let her parents take care of her, or provide the care she could use, for certainly there is plenty of cash to accomplish this. Just check the money trail.