The Schiavo issue

[scaeagles]

I am a right to die proponent because of some personal issues I won't go into.

However, I am sickened by what is happening here.

If she should die, then just do it. Slit her throat. Bludgeon her to death. Inject her with draino. Smother her. All of these things would be far more humane than removing her feeding tube and allowing her to starve over a few weeks.

Inhumane and sickening.

Her husband or the judge should have to go do the deed instead of sanitizing it by removing the damn tube and washing their hands while other people have to F(*&ing watch her die.

Perhaps Terry Schiavo should murder someone. Then she'd be on death row and no one would allowed to do this to her.

She is not on life support. She has a feeding tube. There is no living will.

Whoever orders her tube to be pulled should grow some damn balls and go do it themselves instead of hiding behind the facade of mercy.

I'm pissed.

[Claire]

Thank Jeb Bush and John Ashcroft. There are more humane ways to die. Ashcroft likes to step in a block any humane right-to-die legislation (stay out of Oregon, Mr. Asscroft, you are NOT welcome here) And Jeb over-stepped his bounds by stopping her death....they need to leave their personal beliefs at the door and follow the letter of the law. Whatever it is, at this point. The whole thing is so screwed up now.

I'm on the husband's side, which is difficult for me.....I watched my uncle die of MS and I watched how his wife, my aunt, suffered but stayed put. He deteriorated to the point that he was harsh and mean to her, like a small child, then pretty much a vegetable on a feeding tube until his body gave out. He didn't starve to death, but his pain was managed until he eventually died. We were lucky enough to know what he wanted to have happen in that final year. Yes, year. It took a year for him to die. It was the most horrific year of my life. Ugh.

If there's a humane way to do it, do it. The whole situation sickens me. I've been following it for years.

[scaeagles]

Originally Posted by Claire

Thank Jeb Bush and John Ashcroft. There are more humane ways to die. Ashcroft likes to step in a block any humane right-to-die legislation (stay out of Oregon, Mr. Asscroft, you are NOT welcome here) And Jeb over-stepped his bounds by stopping her death....they need to leave their personal beliefs at the door and follow the letter of the law. Whatever it is, at this point. The whole thing is so screwed up now.

I'm on the husband's side, which is difficult for me.....I watched my uncle die of MS and I watched how his wife, my aunt, suffered but stayed put.

My mom died of lupus slowly over 13 years. Died when I was 15. Ripped our family apart. In the case of my mom, the doctor threatened to sue our fmaily if we only stopped giving her her medication, as he was fearful of a malpractice suit. I have no problem with the terminally ill being permitted to do whatever.

Terry Schiavo isn't terminally ill. What she is is an inconvenience to her "husband", who could simply divorce her, as he has obviously moved on emotionally. Her parents are willing to care full time for her.

Claire, I would suggest that should you be in the shoes of her parents, you might just want to keep your child alive. If I am assuming too much, my apologies.

Claire, sorry, but to blame Ashcroft and Jeb Bush is simply ridiculous. I could go into all the reasons why, but that's not the point of the post. Bush did step in, yes, but there is most certainly governmental interests in this case related to law. I bet Terry's parents were pretty glad he did.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by scaeagles

Terry Schiavo isn't terminally ill. What she is is an inconvenience to her "husband", who could simply divorce her, as he has obviously moved on emotionally. Her parents are willing to care full time for her.

Unfortunately, there's no way to prove one way or the other if what he claims is true, but if your loved one had specifically said to you, "Don't ever keep me alive as a vegetable, would you just them over to someone to keep them alive? Assuming he's telling the truth, it's not about the expens of keeping her alive, it's about her specifically saying she would rather die than be in the state she's in. I'm have no opinion on it, because there's literally no way to know if he's telling the truth. He'd fight just as hard either way.

[Gemini Cricket]

Originally Posted by scaeagles

My mom...

Sorry about you mom, Leo. My mom and sister are in the same boat. They both have lupus.

[scaeagles]

Originally Posted by Gemini Cricket

Sorry about you mom, Leo. My mom and sister are in the same boat. They both have lupus.

I am so sorry to hear that. One was bad enough, but two at a time would be unfathomable.

[Gemini Cricket]

Originally Posted by scaeagles

I am so sorry to hear that. One was bad enough, but two at a time would be unfathomable.

They seem to have good periods and bad periods. They can go for months without symptoms and then all of a sudden they feel cruddy.
My sister gets the skin rashes symptoms, my mom gets the fatigue. My mom's has been in remission for a couple of years but my sister's seems always present some how. I'm afraid I don't know much about their issues regarding lupus because they don't like to talk about it outside of the Dr's office.

Originally Posted by scaeagles

I think so. In fact, if I recall correctly, it once before happened to this same poor woman. I think she had it removed for 7 days or so about 1.5 years ago, and another court ruled it must be reinserted.

Ugh. That just made my stomach queasy. I feel sorry for Ms. Schiavo.

[Prudence]

Modern society pooh-poohs ethics/philsophy as a meaningless, irrelevant career pursuit. And yet here we are -- huge advances in medical science leave us in these predicaments and we as a society don't know what to do.

[scaeagles]

This is why there are legal documents to cover such things.

I am having surgery on April 14. Believe me, I made my living will when the surgery was set.

He may very well be telling the truth. The point is, we don't know. It is apparent to me that he has completely emotionally divorced himself from the situation, but I could be wrong. I don't see how he could be in the long term relationship ith the other woman, having a couple of kids with her, if it weren't the case. If I am right in that he has, wouldn't it makes sense to allow someone else to make the decision, such as her parents, who are desperate to care for her and keep her alive?

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by scaeagles

This is why there are legal documents to cover such things.

I am having surgery on April 14. Believe me, I made my living will when the surgery was set.

He may very well be telling the truth. The point is, we don't know. It is apparent to me that he has completely emotionally divorced himself from the situation, but I could be wrong. I don't see how he could be in the long term relationship ith the other woman, having a couple of kids with her, if it weren't the case. If I am right in that he has, wouldn't it makes sense to allow someone else to make the decision, such as her parents, who are desperate to care for her and keep her alive?

Again, I can't form an opinion. If, in fact, she did say that to him, even if they didn't have the sense to draw up the legal document, it must be horrible to know she's suffering against her will. As for emotionally divorcing himself from her, everyone deals with things their own way and it's been so many years I can't exactly blame him for cointinuing to want to live despite the horrible stuggle he's dealing with. No matter what, IF what he claims is true, then I don't blame him one bit for fighting to grant his wife her wish no matter what he's done with his continuing life. While at the same time, IF what he says is false, then screw him. That's the one and only thing it hinges on, and the one and only thing that can't be determined. So I can't say either way what I think is right. Only he knows.