Feeding tube removed from woman after 13 years

[Twisterdog]

But if she is aware, then doesn't that make it even worse to go on living? I'm certain that I would not want to live and be aware inside a body that is vegetative. To me, the fact that she is aware and can comprehend makes it all the more reasonable to allow her to pass.

I agree. I think being completely physically impared and mentally aware must be the most horrible way to live ever. I wouldn't want it ... and for thirteen years? Hell on earth.

[aly]

They transported her from hospice to a hospital so doctors can rehydrate her and put her back on a feeding tube.

I think it just happened today .. err, last night. Sorry, I don't know my days because I'm up around the clock feeding my pups!

[Logan]

I think the most important message to come out of this whole thing is to remind each and every one of us of the importance of having a living will that spells out exactly how we want to be treated in situations like this. That way, there is no question when something like this happens. Had she completed one, this would have never gotten to the point it has. It was one person's word against another in this situation, and I'm sure that poor woman would not have wanted it to be handled in the manner it has been.

My living will is signed and witnessed. I do not want to be kept alive artificially and everyone who needs to know that does.

I do not feel sorry for the husband in this situation. My heart has been with these parents who were willing to go to all measures to care for this girl. He has put them through a living hell, keeping them from her, making these decisions based on what he "thought" she wanted. My view of "til death do us part" is a little different than his, for sure. What a selfish man he is.

[2kitties]

Originally posted by Logan
What a selfish man he is.

I respectfully disagree Logan. I find this very selfish on the part of her parents. I feel the Governor made a big mistake in this one. Where does medicine cross the line from "prolonging life" to "stopping death". Her time is come, she's a prisoner of her body, and the merciful thing to do is to allow her to pass naturally.

[moosmom]

I agree with 2Kitties. The government has no business interfering in ANYONE'S constitutional rights. It may not say it in the Constitution, but it is MY right to decide whether I want to live in a vegitative state or end my life.

She HAS become a prisoner in her own body. It's time to let her go. 13 years??? That's a bunch of crap.

As far as her husband is concerned, I read in one article that he is living with his long-time PREGNANT girlfriend. Um, excuse me but don't sacred marriage vows count for anything, regardless??? He IS a very selfish man. He should be at his wife's side, not boffing some other woman.

[2kitties]

Well, I will state right here in this forum in writing that if I am ever in this situation and, for some ungodly reason, some body keeps me alive on some feeding tube for 13 years...

I WANT MY HUSBAND TO MOVE ON. My husband has the right to a vital life. He is neither dead or in a coma with me. I hope he finds love, has children, raises them, finds happiness, etc. I NEVER would expect him to sit by my vegetative bedside an nurse me for 13 years.

[Kfamr]

I'm not sure what you all are talking aobut now, or even what the story is as of now, but -- "living" 13 years with a feeding tube is no life at all. 13 years is 3 years short of how logn i've been alive, there is no way I would have wanted to "live" 13 years with a feeding tube not being able to do the things I do now. I don't see why they didn't pull it years ago, as there is no life in it for staying in a bed with a feeding tube.

[Logan]

If this lady had done a "written" living will, these arguments would have never started, and her husband could have moved on. Fact of the matter is that she didn't, and it is his word against her parent's word at this point. Would I want to sit there in a vegetative state for that many years? NO!!! But, her family was denied access to her to help with her physical therapy because of the husband.....that's why I think he is selfish. I just hope that Governor Bush's intervention isn't too late for this lady, but she went six days with no food or water.......

[momoffuzzyfaces]

One of the things that bothers me is she seems to be aware of what's going on around her. So, doesn't that make with holding a feeding tube murder? If not, why not just be more humane and give her a shot of something to stop her heart like they do animals?
NOTE: I'm not saying they should do that, it's just a question of who has the right to decide these things.
One thing I do know, if my dad had been that aware when they stopped feeding him, I would have moved heaven and earth to give him a chance to recover. We all have our ideas of what we would do but until we are faced with it personally, you don't really know what it's like.

Since her family are denied access to her, don't be surprised if she 'suddenly' dies before they get to see her again.

[Pam]

Originally posted by Logan
I think the most important message to come out of this whole thing is to remind each and every one of us of the importance of having a living will that spells out exactly how we want to be treated in situations like this. That way, there is no question when something like this happens.

Once again Logan and I are thinking alike. My brother-in-law suffered two strokes, two days apart, in 1993. He was only 41 years old at the time. He spent a month in ICU and then another month hospitalized in another part of the hospital receiving therapy. He was then discharged and sent to a regular rehab facility as an in-patient and then gradually weaned himself to visiting there on an out-patient basis. From the night of his stroke to his return home, six months had gone by! He had to be taught everything, but at 41 he was able to do it. He told me shortly after all of this that, should he ever have another stroke, we all should just "let him go." He wanted to make sure that someone other than his wife was aware, lest we feel she acted hastily or inhumanely in case something happened. He said he simply could not go through it all again - he had no fight left. By the way, he is now divorced from his wife and he lives alone in the Florida Keys in a handicapped fashion but is doing OK under the circumstances. The memory of what he went through will never leave him though and he e-mailed me today to say he hopes the woman gets to die. We all have a different slant on this and it will take the wisdom of a Solomon to sort it all out.

I say all of that just to say this - we don't know Terry's wishes and that may be the saddest part of this story. She may want to be released from this her non-functioning body but I don't see how ethically and morally it can be done by withholding food. My gosh that sounds barbaric!

[Cookiebaker]

Originally posted by Pam
I say all of that just to say this - we don't know Terry's wishes and that may be the saddest part of this story. She may want to be released from this her non-functioning body but I don't see how ethically and morally it can be done by withholding food. My gosh that sounds barbaric!

This is EXACTLY how I feel. Who's to say that the courts won't start ordering anybody who is not mentally competant to feed themselves to be starved until they die??? It just doesn't seem right.

On the flip side, I do not feel this way about those who have no brain activity, or are in a true vegatative state.

[My Peanuts]

This is an issue that I feel very strongly about. My grandma, which passed away recently, had a feeding tube. She had it for about a year and a half. I agree that a person with some quality of life should have a feeding tube. However, I cannot make an educated decision about Terri because I have not seen her. If there is no quality of life then I think the tube should NOT have been reinserted. This woman is pretty young and could live several more years in the state that she is already in. I know that if that was me, I would not want the feeding tube back. In my grandma's case she was more or less fine. She could hold conversations and liked doing things, but she couldn't swallow. No one would have considered my grandma to be in a vegetative state. However, if Terri is in a vegetative state, and has been for over 12 years, I think it is time to let her be at peace. I think is some cases the families are thinking about what they want as opposed to what their loved one would want.

If Terri cannot express her feelings, and has not been able to for over 12 years, then she has no quality of life. If the tube was removed her organs would systematically shut down; she would not starve to death.

[My Peanuts]

Oh and here is another possibility. The part of her brain that is damaged may only be for motor skills. Her brain may be active in the way she thinks, but cannot move. She could be a prisoner in her own body. I think that that would be worst than death. Lying there year after year, unable to express yourself, terrible. If the media is right about her situation, then I think the tube should be removed. I think it would barbaric not to remove it. My opinions are based on how the media is showing the situation. A few minor changes in her situation and then my opinion completely changes.

[Soledad]

But what if she is immobile and wanting to LIVE!! She's trapped in her body with people wanting to kill her. Sounds just as bad, if not worse, to me....

[My Peanuts]

That is very true, but I don't see why she would want to live. I read something that said she hadn't left the hospice room in over three years until all this started happening. I am not trying to change anyone's mind, and certainly don't know Terri's wishes, but I would not want that for myself.