This is sad
For somewhere around 15 years, this woman has been kept alive by a feeding tube. She is brain damaged to the point of essentially living her life in a coma. She is awake, but she is not coherent. She doesn't know what it means to be alive.
Her husband has been trying for a number of years to disconnect her from the feeding tube so she may die. Her parents are fighting it. They are critical of the husband who wants to remarry, according to the news story.
Why wouldn't he want to remarry? She has been in a vegetative state for more than 14 years. I think the guy deserves a life. This is so tragic and I wouldn't want to be in either position. I suppose if it were my daughter, I might want to keep her alive, too. But to what point? She doesn't acknowledge them. She can't be "happy" to live that way, however, I doubt that she can experience any emotion and that is sad. At some point, I would think you have to let it go. It isn't fair to anyone and it is so sad. I hope I never have to know what any of them are going through, but it just seems sad.
I'm going to find a living will form to fill out and put in my fire safe. I don't want to put my family in this position should anything EVER happen to me. Put me and the rest of the family out of our/their misery.
Her husband has been trying for a number of years to disconnect her from the feeding tube so she may die. Her parents are fighting it. They are critical of the husband who wants to remarry, according to the news story.
Why wouldn't he want to remarry? She has been in a vegetative state for more than 14 years. I think the guy deserves a life. This is so tragic and I wouldn't want to be in either position. I suppose if it were my daughter, I might want to keep her alive, too. But to what point? She doesn't acknowledge them. She can't be "happy" to live that way, however, I doubt that she can experience any emotion and that is sad. At some point, I would think you have to let it go. It isn't fair to anyone and it is so sad. I hope I never have to know what any of them are going through, but it just seems sad.
I'm going to find a living will form to fill out and put in my fire safe. I don't want to put my family in this position should anything EVER happen to me. Put me and the rest of the family out of our/their misery.
10 Comments:
At 4:26 PM, January 24, 2005,
Anonymous said…
I think you are a bit off base on this one. By many accouts that I have read, she does recognize her family when they enter the room. I don't know that you or anyone else for that matter can make the statement that she doesn't know what it's like to be alive. We don't know what she does or does not know.
I don't have too much of a problem with her husband wanting to marry although the words for better or for worse do run through my mind. That being said. Why can't he divorce her and let her parents take care of her and have "custody" or whatever it is called, of her?
Spacebunny
At 5:32 PM, January 24, 2005,
Gadfly said…
Yeah, that's about the feeling I got. The husband is a self-serving creep who wants the insurance money, and the parents are self-serving creeps who want to keep a blob of protoplasm alive for decades, at the cost of millions of dollars of taxpayer money. They should ALL be euthanized.
At 5:59 PM, January 24, 2005,
Anonymous said…
According to my sister (who is the Nurse Manager of a Critical Care unit), a living will isn't worth the paper it's printed on; even with a living will, if there's *one* family member who wants extreme measures taken, then taken they shall be. Why? Dead people don't sue; living relatives do. So go ahead and do the living will if it gives you a warm and fuzzy, but more important is to make sure that your entire family is on board (and threaten to haunt them if they don't comply).
Kathleen
http://www.baggage-and-blathering.com
At 6:16 PM, January 24, 2005,
Uzz said…
I am on the fence on this, but the husband and his attorney are bona fide creeps. Glen Beck came to national prominence championing this woman's case...the video is scary...she is awake...can hold her head up somewhat and can respond to family members...she is not a lifeless mass in a coma. They basically want to starve her to death while she is coherent and looks around the room...it would not end in a matter of hours...it would end in a matter of a week or so. She can breathe on her own, but she cannot swallow on her own.
I agree that the husband should be allowed to marry, but instead of divorcing her and remarrying, he wants her to die so he can inherit her estate and then get re-married...you can tell right there that the guy is greedy.
To see some creepy info check these...
Husband's Attorney Denies Last Rites to SchiavoWas Terri Schiavo Beaten?However this ends up, the fact remains that this woman will be starved to death and that is not a humane way for a person to die. I agree that she does not have much of a life, but her husband could EASILY divorce her and marry the woman who gave birth to their child awhile back...instead...he wants all that cash...nice guy.
Uzz
At 6:19 PM, January 24, 2005,
Uzz said…
Here is the other link...
Was Terri Schiavo Beaten?
At 12:00 AM, January 25, 2005,
Army of Mom said…
I haven't seen any video of the woman. If she is, indeed, coherent and alive, by all means the dude should simply divorce her and go about his life to allow her parents to continue this vigil and let them pay the bills for it.
I would NEVER want to be a blob in a hospital bed.
At 5:49 AM, January 25, 2005,
Anonymous said…
Yep, it's a different story if you are truly in a coma and on life support, but that just isn't the case here. I like the idea of a living will too, but I've heard about the problems. Maybe the best thing to do is to have a living will and make sure your next of kin, whether they be your kids, parents or spouse, knows about your wishes.
Spacebunny
At 10:49 AM, January 25, 2005,
Army of Mom said…
Just glad on so many levels that it isn't me who has to make that decision.
At 11:52 AM, January 25, 2005,
Arielle said…
Terry is an infant. The way she is described sounds very much how my son was upon our arrival home with him. My son could not walk, talk, or feed himself; he also had very little recognition, and no understanding, of what was going on around him. If I had let him starve, I would have been guilty of a gross murder. If they let Terry starve, it will set a precedent which will mean life is held more cheaply in the future.
It breaks my heart to think of this poor woman being starved to death. She will be in just as much pain as you, I or my baby would be if we starved to death.
Yes, the husband wants her estate which is why he's persisted in his efforts to have her feeding tube done away with. I'm praying about this case, to be sure.
At 10:21 PM, January 25, 2005,
Army of Mom said…
I tend to see this a little differently than comparing her to an infant - although I think you're making a valid point.
Would you WANT to live that way? Would you want your child - as a 30-something-year-old adult to have a life like that?
I'm not saying it is right or wrong. I tend to think it does seem to be a cruel way to let anyone or anything die - starving a dog to death is equally awful to me - but it just seems like an exercise in futility.
And, I guess the big point here is that this has dragged on for so long that it almost makes it worse.
I don't wish death upon this woman. I feel sorry for everyone involved. It is awful. I wouldn't want to be in this situation from any angle.
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