(Untitled)

[choco_orangutan]

Over the years, many people have been kept alive through the use of gastrostomy tubes and nutritional support. At no time did the question of recovery enter into the decision to feed the patient unless their underlying illness would be fatal without mechanical or pharmacological support or they were brain-dead, neither of which applies to Ms

Comments

[corto]

strong convictions... well explained... and considered.

thank you for this post.

I've read somewhere, posted via link from an RN about what was actually wrong with Terry's brain and how there was / is / no sane way to judge her anything but totally brain dead. No chance for recovery... no chance to return to conciousness... no thinking... and based on that assessment I agree with letting the patient pass away.

However... that assumes a great deal about her (Terry's) condition.

2 Points

[calisaurus]

1)Your rights are legally protected by having a guardian or power of attorney who will make decisions on your behalf when you can't make them anymore. I think that Schiavo's husband is the best judge of what Terri wanted. Even if it isn't what she wanted, it doesn't matter because he has the legal right to choose for her. She wasn't alive - her brain wasn't working. She wasn't living as an invalid. Living as an invalid would be like having no legs or something like that. When your brain ceases to function - at all - you are not alive. You are a vegetable and lose all reasoning and functioning skills. Terri Schiavo didn't know what dignity was, she didn't know what her own hands were