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  • A Case for Terri Shiavo

    Terri Schiavo's fight for life has been widely publicized in the media but do you know the facts?
    Terri Schindler Schiavo is a 41-year old disabled Florida woman at the center of an on-going legal despite between her estranged husband, Michael, and her parents.

    In 1990 at 26-years of age, Terri collapsed in her home when her heart temporarily stopped, cutting off oxygen to her brain and leaving her severely brain damaged.

    Terri is not dying or terminally ill; she is not brain-dead or in a coma. She is an otherwise healthy mentally disabled woman. The diagnosis that she is in a “vegetative state” is disputed by many medical experts, including neurologists. Some neurologists believe it’s possible that Terri is in a “minimally conscious state” (MCS)— a neurological diagnostic criteria first defined in 2002. 1 Researchers are beginning to test this criteria against that of “persistent vegetative state” (PVS) with other patients. 2

    Terri breathes on her own without the aid of a ventilator. Her only dependency is on a feeding tube into her stomach for liquids and nourishment. 3 She swallows her own saliva, a fact that leads some experts in speech pathology to believe that with sufficient time and therapy, she could regain her ability to swallow fluids by mouth. 4 As recently as 1997, nursing staff who cared for Terri testified that she could swallow fluids and Jello-O, follow people with her eyes and even speak. 5

    An attorney for Terri’s parents, Barbara Weller, has posted narratives on the Internet describing her recent visits with Terri. During these visits, Weller witnessed purposeful interaction between Terri, her parents and other visitors. 6

    At the time of her collapse, Terri did not have a written advance medical directive. Since her disability, medical decisions have been made by her husband, Michael Schiavo.

    Michael Schiavo won a medical malpractice case on Terri's behalf in 1992, pledging to use the money for Terri’s rehabilitation and care for the rest of her natural life. 7 The court awarded more than $1 million: $300,000 directly to Michael for his loss and additionally, more than $700,000 for Terri’s care. 8 Terri’s parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, claim that prior to the settlement a neurologist recommended progressive therapy for Terri and that Michael agreed to provide such therapy, only to deny it and confine Terri to a nursing home after receiving the jury award. 9

    It was after the settlement that Michael first claimed that Terri had previously stated that she didn’t want to be kept alive by artificial means — a statement he never mentioned during the malpractice trial. 10

    As guardian, Michael Schiavo controls the $700,000-plus trust fund awarded for Terri’s care. 11 As of fall of 2003, Michael Schiavo’s attorneys reported that the trust fund was down to $50,000, with more than $430,000 going to “pay for court costs associated with her husband’s legal battle to remove his wife’s feeding tube.” 12 Meanwhile, Medicaid helps to pay Terri’s $5,000-a-month nursing costs at a hospice in Pinellas Park, Florida. 13

    Since 1995, Michael Schiavo has lived with a girlfriend, Jodi Centonze, with whom he has two children. 14 Michael remains legally married to Terri, as well as her guardian.

    In 1998, Michael Schiavo petitioned the court to have Terri’s feeding tube removed.

    Terri’s parents have offered to take care of Terri at their own expense, allowing Michael to keep all money remaining in the trust fund. To date, Michael Schiavo has refused, insisting that Terri die from dehydration.

    Florida Sixth Judicial Circuit Judge George Greer has set Friday, March 18 at 1:00 p.m. EST as “date and time” certain to remove Terri’s feeding tube — an act that will cause the painful death of an otherwise healthy disabled person whose body processes and benefits from the nutrients and fluids she receives daily.


    TIMELINE: 15

    On February 25, 1990, 26-year old Terri Schindler Schiavo collapsed in her home when her heart temporarily stopped, cutting off oxygen to her brain and leaving her severely brain damaged.

    In November 1992, her husband, Michael, won a medical malpractice lawsuit after claiming that doctors failed to diagnose the chemical imbalance that caused the heart attack. The court awarded approximately $1 million in damages with $300,000 to Michael for his loss and another $700,000 to Michael for Terri’s guardianship and care.

    In July 1993, Terri’s parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, petition the court to have Michael removed as Terri’s guardian — a request that is denied in August 2001.

    In May 1998, Michael Schiavo petitions the court to have Terri’s feeding tube removed, claiming that Terri told him that she did not want life-sustaining intervention in the event of her incapacitation.

    In February 2000, Florida Circuit Judge George W. Greer rules that the feeding tube can be removed.

    After several court appeals, it is removed on April 24, 2001. Two days later, Florida Circuit Judge Frank Quesada orders doctors to reinsert Terri’s feeding tube.

    In October, 2001, the Florida 2nd District Court of Appeals indefinitely delays the removal of Terri’s feeding tube pending the examination of Terri by five physicians: two selected by Michael, two by the Schindler’s and one by the court. The two doctors selected by Terri’s parents tell the court that she can recover; the remaining three stated that she is in a vegetative state with no hope of recovery. The following month, Judge Greer again orders the feeding tube to be removed again. More court appeals follow.

    On October 15, 2003, Terri’s feeding tube is removed for a second time.

    October 20-21, 2003: the Florida State Legislature passed legislation (dubbed “Terri’s Law”) allowing Governor Jeb Bush to intervene, ordering the reinsertion of Terri’s feeding tube — six days after it was removed.

    May 6, 2004 — January 24, 2005: Various courts, including the Florida Supreme Court, strike down “Terri’s Law” as unconstitutional; the U.S. Supreme Court refuses to hear the case.

    March 2005: Members of the U.S. Congress and the Florida State Legislature introduce legislation to intervene on behalf of Terri and other medically vulnerable patients.

    1998 Firebird . 1989 Firebird XS . 1986 Fiero GT

  • #2
    Morning of March 22nd, 2005:

    Federal judge refuses to order the reinsertion of Schiavo’s feeding tube. The parents of Terri Schiavo quickly file a notice of appeal.


    My heart goes out to that poor woman. People are playing with her life.
    <a href=\"http://www.cardomain.com/id/1995birdman\" target=\"_blank\">http://www.cardomain.com/id/1995birdman</a>

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    • #3
      That is interesting and all, but really she died many years ago.

      What I find most interesting is that people like Frist, who is supposed to be a doctor, is using this whole thing for political gain. I also think it is interesting that the same people who should believe in an afterlife are so interested in keeping her body alive indefinitely. Her parents are in denial. Her husband may seem like a real piece of work, but that is largely irrelevant. I am not happy that the executive and legislative branches decided to overstep their own Consitutionally defined bounds.

      Saying that she is a healthy disabled person is purely propaganda with no basis in reality. She has no higher brain function. Last I heard, imaging shows that her frontal lobes have completely necrosed. She will not die a painful or agonizing death. There is no consciousness to experience those feelings. Her body may have rudimentary functions, but we would call Terri Schiavo has not existed for 15 years.
      Matt<br />2000 Firebird<br /><br /><a href=\"http://www.fullthrottlev6.com/forums/index.php?\" target=\"_blank\">FullThrottleV6.com</a>

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      • #4
        I say,pull the plugs...

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        • #5
          This is still debatable. Just last week I did saw her in TV. She was responding to her mother's call. Her eyes would move and her head turn slightly.

          She would smile a little bit when someone is touching her face. She does have kind of brain function going on. She is capable of swallowing her saliva and such. Not sure if she is continence.

          What Congress want is for her to be brought to panel and be closely observe to show some of her functions.

          Terri Shiavo's case is not unique though. We do have a lot of people that are in that state. In some cases, I think she is in far more better shape than some.

          I use to work in a Nursing Home as a Monitor and I did help out CNA feed motorcycle and car accident young men with little brain function and are dependant on life preserving machines. Also elderly people who come to that state as well.

          1998 Firebird . 1989 Firebird XS . 1986 Fiero GT

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          • #6
            Putting money and politics aside, they have to realize that a person's life is at stake here. I have mixed feelings about this. I understand the grieve that her parents are currently feeling right now. No parent ever wants to let their children die. But they have to start questioning whether keeping her alive is either helping her or affecting her (or will affect her when and if she ever recovers). Her parents are keeping there hopes up in my opnion for the reason that they see their daughter make certain facial expressions and bodily movements. But that could possibly be only bodily fluids or nerves making those reactions for her. For instance, with corpses, bodies sometimes twitch and make movements due to chemical reactions.

            She's lost more than 15 years of her life. Could anyone ever recuperate from that? It's like saying you went into a coma and waking up 15 years from now. How will life be like then and how will it affect you. I'd sure as hell wouldn't like it. She'd be waking up to an ex-husband who is now married with someone else. Talk about waking up into a deep depression.

            While I do not agree with removing the feeding tube and basically starving her to death, I would rather see her die peacefully and move along to the after-life.

            One thing I am curious about is if by removing the feeding tube, if it has changed Terry's facial expressions from smiling and laughing to sad and possibly crying. In that case, I would immediately re-insert the tube.

            [ March 22, 2005, 03:43 PM: Message edited by: InZane4all ]

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            • #7
              What's to say she won't come out of it someday? Miracles happen, techonogy advances...

              This is enough to keep her alive in my opinion, "Terri breathes on her own without the aid of a ventilator. Her only dependency is on a feeding tube into her stomach for liquids and nourishment. 3 She swallows her own saliva, a fact that leads some experts in speech pathology to believe that with sufficient time and therapy, she could regain her ability to swallow fluids by mouth. 4 As recently as 1997, nursing staff who cared for Terri testified that she could swallow fluids and Jello-O, follow people with her eyes and even speak."
              1998 A4 Pontiac Firebird

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              • #8
                people are taken off life support every day. Its not her parents, congress, president bush's, or anyone else but her husbands choice. She's not "alive" she's been a vegitable for the last 15 years, she's not in a coma, she will never get better. her docters testified before congress or the courts or somewhere and showed images of her brain, its shrunk and will never be normal again.

                Its a family matter and i belive everyone should just back off, it should be the husbands choice to make.

                I for one, b/c of the shiavo case, that if i am ever brain damaged to the point i will be a vegitable for the rest of my life, to take me off life support.


                edit - her doctors have also said that removing her feeding tube is not an inhuman way of ending it. She is brain damaged to the point that she has no feelings, including that of hunger.
                RedlineVSix

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by HAZ-Matt:

                  Saying that she is a healthy disabled person is purely propaganda with no basis in reality. She has no higher brain function. Last I heard, imaging shows that her frontal lobes have completely necrosed. She will not die a painful or agonizing death. There is no consciousness to experience those feelings. Her body may have rudimentary functions, but we would call Terri Schiavo has not existed for 15 years.
                  So does this apply to the severely retarded people who cannot function without complete dependency on a caretaker? Or the Alzhiemer patients who are completely lost in their own minds and only sit and stare at the floor?

                  Do we stop feeding them because there is no solution at the moment?

                  [ March 22, 2005, 03:55 PM: Message edited by: Th3 RiCk ]
                  1998 A4 Pontiac Firebird

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                  • #10
                    Please get your facts straight:


                    PERSISTENT VEGETATIVE STATE

                    This term is commonly, but incorrectly, referred to as "brain-death." It can follow a coma.
                    People in a persistent vegetative state cannot think, speak or respond to commands and are not aware of their surroundings. They may have noncognitive functions and breathing and circulation may remain relatively intact.

                    They also might move spontaneously and even grimace, cry or laugh. Some people might regain some awareness after being in a persistent vegetative state, but others might remain in the state for decades.

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                    • #11
                      I consider myself to be a decent Christian man, however, if I were in this state for such a long period of time, it's time to let me go. I do not side with the right on this. I think the doctors who've had her under their care have tried long enough and it's time to let nature take it's course. I know it sounds terrible, but the poor lady isn't living any more. I feel sorry for the family and the husband, it should never have come to this. I think both sides need to realize that bickering over this will do no one any good, make amends, and allow this woman's body to rest in peace.
                      Geaux Tigers

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                      • #12
                        Wait, congress will meet on a saturday to save a persons life (we have to pay for all of congresses travel and other things), but we still have the death sentence? Why are repulicans taking power away from states? Religion and politics should not be mixed together.

                        It doesnt sound like people are playing with her life, it sounds like people are playing with everyones rights. Who is the govt. to tell me when I can die?

                        Yeah, my heart goes out to her too, for having to suffer for 15 years....its time to let go...
                        Black \'94 Trans Am A4- SLP CAI & Loudmouth<br />Red \'93 Firebird A4- Ram Air under the WS6 hood, !cat, exhaust.

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                        • #13
                          the guy wants money, girl's parents want her to live... im suprised they havnt offered to buy custody of her from the guy. he could have his new woman and be happy with his dollars - the parents could continue waiting for a miracle.

                          96 V6 A4 Camaro and 99 Z28 A4 Camaro
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                          • #14
                            I really wish they would let the poor woman die...
                            \'99 SSM Camaro V6 M5<br />(mod list on cardomain site; too long to list here)<br /> <a href=\"http://www.cardomain.com/id/v6cam99\" target=\"_blank\">http://www.cardomain.com/id/v6cam99</a>

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                            • #15
                              Here's what gets me, most people ignorantly say "Pull the Plug" when there IS NO PLUG TO PULL! She isn't on life support folks, she relies on a feeding tube! If you think it's a humane way to let someone die by saying "remove the tube and let her starve" you're a cruel and horrible person.

                              Let me make my thoughts on this perfectly clear: The life she has is no life to live, but the death they want to give her is a death noone should have to experience.

                              We don't even let RAPISTS AND MURDERERS die cruel and unusual deaths, but we'll let a woman guilty of nothing die of dehydration and starvation? Imagine if we were going to let a pet die by that standard? PETA would bomb the White House! As for those who say "she won't feel a thing because her brain is gone and she has no higher brain functions" I say "How do YOU know?" Our science has been wrong before! We don't even know if a Lobster feels pain when it's slowly boiled to death!

                              Please don't think that I'm a tree-huggin, tofu-farting hippie because I'm not. It's just the best way to relay the situation. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but don't you think there's a better way to let her die?
                              Check out my stable of supercharged W-Bodies <a href=\"http://www.fullthrottlev6.com/forums/vbgarage.php?do=view&id=136\" target=\"_blank\">HERE</a><br /><b>\'97 Pontiac GP GTP Coupe</b><br /><b>\'98 Regal GS | L67 3800 Series II</b>

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