LAT: Thousands of Families Facing Similar Decisions (Schiavo)

[DeepModem Mom]

Thousands of Families Facing Similar Decisions
By Thomas H. Maugh II, Times Staff Writer


At any one time, as many as 35,000 Americans — up to 10,000 of them children — are in a persistent vegetative state similar to that of Terri Schiavo, medical experts said Friday....

***

A persistent vegetative state is..."sort of like being in an awake coma," said Dr. David A. Goldstein of the Keck School of Medicine at USC. Patients' eyes are open, they have sleep-wake cycles, and it often appears that they are interacting with visitors, which makes it hard on families.

The brains of such patients are functioning only at a very rudimentary level, said Dr. Kenneth V. Iserson of the University of Arizona Health Sciences Center in Tucson. They cannot feel pain, express themselves or receive communication. They may have grimaces or smiles or other facial movements that look like they are reflecting emotions, but "there really isn't a significant relationship with the outside world," Goldstein said.

And the longer the state persists, "the less likely they are to come out of it," Keane added. Schiavo has been in this condition for 15 years "and it is very, very unlikely she would wake up," he said.

Now that Schiavo's feeding tube has been removed, changes in her condition will be slow to occur and barely perceptible at first...."This is not a cruel procedure," Goldstein said. "It is unlikely that will feel pain in any way that we as sapient people will identify. Many family members think it is a very comforting procedure … because this is not the way we think we want to live."


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-medical19mar19,0,4985624.story?coll=la-home-headlines

[Demit]

1. Interesting, the doctor's description of the shutdown process.

"After a couple of days, her kidneys will begin to fail, releasing toxins into her bloodstream that will anesthetize her body"

Almost like the body continuing to protect itself (the anesthetizing part).

[DeepModem Mom]

2. The doctor's description of the process --

"In the first couple of days, she may — or may not — feel pangs of hunger or thirst.

'Most patients don't seem to give any outward evidence that they are in pain,' Goldstein said.

After a couple of days, her kidneys will begin to fail, releasing toxins into her bloodstream that will anesthetize her body. Soon after, she will lapse into a coma. Eventually, she will stop breathing. The whole process could take one to two weeks."

[Warpy]

4. She may feel it, but she won't interpret it

as pain or pleasure or anything else. She lacks the brain structures responsible for that.

[saigon68]

3. God Help them if NUTCASE DELAY hears about it.

THE TALIBORN AGAIN AT WORK.

[undergroundpanther]

5. Why do they starve her

Criminals get a lethal injection.
Interesting this scientist says she may or may not feel the pain of starvation.

Our society is weird. Here are two contradictions about quality of life vs quantity of life pain and death.

First Some segments of society(fundies mostly) whine about abortion being murder..Some even going so far as to cry murder over a few cells by banning the morning after pill.They want every baby born,never mind if the kid is going to be abused or whatever by their inept unwilling or messed up parents that don't even want a child ,can't afford a child,who are not emotionally prepared,for these Christian yahoos concerning births value quantity of life over quality.As for "science ,For years babies faced operations without anesthesia because science at that time thought babies wouldn't feel pain like we do..They thought babies wouldn't remember traumatic surgeries years later.But it turns out what happens to us as infants DOES impact us as adults.Ooops.

Than we got issues like Terrys..Scientists again telling us who can or can't feel pain,and usually it is some helpless or disabled person who can't cry out or protest whom they are assuming can't feel pain. They say Terry in her vegetative state may or may not feel the pain of slow starvation.

I myself am not willing to risk her pain.Why not give terry a bit of mercy like you would a murderer facing death? Why risk her feeling her slow death? Give her a lethal injection. Her family will not have to watch their loved ones who's grimaces they think are responses,slowly starve wondering if she feels pain or not,why not kill terry quickly.it would be more kind,but it will also bring the issue to a point.is it murder or not to euthanize Terry because she drains finances and takes up a room.

Likewise is it murder to kill a clump of cells because it will be born to parents unwilling to give it the emotional attention and home life sanity it needs.?

Just like I'd rather see a fetus aborted than grow up in an abusive home to parents that do not want children and are emotionally incapable of giving the child a decent quality of life emotionally ..at home.

So if starving Terry who may or may not feel it mercy to some people..why?
Why is is so horrid to deliberately inject her with fast acting poison and tranquilizers to give her a quick guaranteed painless death..Like we would do to a sick unwanted dog?
Isn't the morning after pill mercy too?
We kill unwanted fetuses and dogs with more mercy than we do a helpless adult who has a chance of feeling pain..

Our culture has a fear and hatred of weakness of disability and helplessness.Because our culture is abusive.

Just my 2 cents on it.

[saigon68]

8. Used Scumbag delay has voted against every bill to help the poor/sick

He has voted against benefits for disabled veterans.

He is appealing to some right wing hate nut cases to take the heat off his criminal activities.

[rodeodance]

9. more than likely she is be given pain medication--it is part of the proces

[EFerrari]

6. We took care of my grandmother for ten years.

I remember my mom getting really tired once, and taking her to a nursing home. She had bedsores after two days; she came home. Eventually, her heart failed and she died quietly in her own bed.

Shiavo's parents must have been constantly monitoring her all these years for her to have survived as long as she has.

[Lindacooks]

10. Actually, her husband has.

He wanted so much care for her that the nursing home said he was making too many demands on staff.

[LisaL]

7. I am sure they do. Maybe that's why we need clear laws on

what can and can not be done.