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The Life of Pink
Not really much here to report on anything new since the weekend.
Which now brings me to...
Time for a Rant...
Yesterday's little spouting stemmed from death... well, Death, actually.
Today's perspective comes from life and death. One person's struggle with it: Terri Schiavo.
Yes, you know the name. She's the top story in all of the national news at the moment. However, in case you've been living off-world for the past few weeks, allow me to sum up with a quick precis: this woman has been in a vegetative state since a cardiac arrest and subsequent coma had somehow managed to destroy all but the autonomic control system in the brain, namely the brain stem (or as some are wont to call it, the "lizard brain"). She is, for all intents, purposes, and observations completely unaware of her surroundings. She is conscious, only just. Several years ago, a feeding tube was implanted in her, since she was unable to swallow food or water. Her ex-husband was given Power of Attorney over her health care. Thus, her life was at his whim.
Late last week, under orders from her husband and after a long court battle to prevent it, her feeding tube was removed, thus paving the way to her death by starvation.
Death by starvation. Let's just stop a moment and ponder that idea. No food or water. At all. We've seen the effects of this, especially by an incarcerated IRA operative some twenty years ago, when he went on a hunger strike. (I don't recall if he died from it, nor do I recall his name. I would like to say it was Barry Sands, but I'm most likely wrong in this case.) It's a horrible and torturous way to go.
That's right, I said torturous. This isn't a mercy death. This isn't quick. It's a slow, agonizing death.
From what one doctor said, though, with her lack of awareness of what's going on (including with her own body), it will be a peaceful death.
Peaceful, but certainly not quick.
To me, this is not evidence of mercy by anyone's actions. This is more like cruelty.
I don't care what kind of state you're in -- alert or vegetative -- but starvation is not the way to go.
You would think they would want her to go peacefully and quickly. Starvation is slow, and for most people agonizing. Wouldn't it be more merciful if Doctor Jack or one of his followers was brought in to help? (And where is Dr K these days? Haven't heard a peep about him in a good while. Can't remember if he's in prison or pushing up the daisies.)
It's hard thinking about something like this. It must've been even harder to consider this action. Then again, I don't know what's going through her husband's mind concerning this. I believe he just wants it to be over and done with, which is why I wonder he didn't consider the Dr K method.
Now the US Government has stepped in with a special voting session to force a federal court in Florida to hear the case once more. The judge has already decided not to reattach the feeding tube, even as a stopgap while he makes his decision. At the rate that the human body would pass on after staving to death, His Honor may not have much time left to say yes or no. She could go anytime between now and the weekend. She's been off the tube before, and survived a few days, but everyone's giving her a week after the tube's out.
I know she didn't leave a living will. Her husband is the only one who claims that she said that she didn't want to continue living in such a state.
And let's take a look at her parents. Obviously, they want to keep her alive. They believe that even after a decade of living in such a condition, she could recover. Experimental treatments have been done. Most doctors say that after five years of a vegetative state, the odds against recovery are astronomical. While I admire their dedication and loyalty to family and life, there may be a time when reality has to intervene.
These two parties have been fighting over Terri for years. Both sides want what they think is best for her.
Question is... which side is right?
Nothing more to report.
Carry on.
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From:
no subject
What do you think is more cruel, taking the feeding tube out, or taking it out and putting it back in several times.
I hope that whenever it happens, she ends up in a better place.
From:
no subject
She had a heart attack in 1990. The heart attack was due to a potassium deficiency caused by bulimia. She died and was recessitated. She never regained consciousness.
Most of her cerebral cortex is gone, replaced with spinal fluid.
In 1998 legal proceedings were started to determine what her wishes would be in this case. The court appointed a guardian, it was left to the courts to decide. The decision was made in 2000, and that was that she would not want to live like this.
Since 2000, there have been numerous appeals, and when the appeals finally ran out, there have been various end game runs by various lawmaking bodies that have no business second guessing the court system.
In my opinion it is cruel that the parents want to keep her alive. I also think it's cruel to allow her to starve.
From:
Bobby Sands MP
"Starvation" in this case is much more rapid than the effects it has on conscious, aware people.
In a case like Terri's, the small part of the brain that is left functional goes without blood glucose for a very short period before shutting down the few, minute functions it has retained. It is not a prolonged, agonized, wasting-away as experienced by persons enduring famine, ED, or hunger strike.
Most people without a medical background do not understand how this works and are understandably horrified at their perception of what is happening; however, it is their lack of information and ignorance of the medical truth causing the uproar.
From:
no subject
Volare brings up a really good point about those of us who don't have the medical training and background to understand what she would go through. That one doctor on ABC News did state that it would still be a peaceful demise for her.
As for the cruelty, well... doing the yoyo/flip-flip/in-out thing is definitely the cruelest option out of the three.
I'll admit that this entry probably wasn't as well formulated as it could have been. Not one of my better moments in something like this. Best to research before spouting off, eh?
From:
hmm
Is it torture? If she were in a coma then she couldn't feel the pain of starvation. She is awake, or at least she seems to be in the photos on CNN. I would say it probably is torture.
Should she be starved to death? I would say no. Give her a lethal injection or something similar. If I were in a state like that I would hope that Emily would have enough sense to put me down. I would prefer something quick and painless(poison, bullet to the head, etc), but you take what you can get.
From:
Re: hmm
According to the court documents at the link in my previous post, those are reflex actions, and not under any kind of conscious control. These can mimic, on occasion, a person in PVS reacting to other people.
A statistic at another site I read indicated that ~92% of parents want to believe that their kid is reacting and has hope of recovery when they are actually in a PVS.
From:
no subject
Is that a quality of life any of us would want?
I can only imagine how hard a decision it would be, to decide to let a loved one go. But being in denial and dismissing the opinions of physicians and still hoping for a miraculous cure is just not realistic, or fair to the person you're talking about.
I wouldn't want to be like that.