Terri Schiavo 2 in NJ with my husband

6/25/06 | Simplemines

[Simplemines]

Many of you replied when I originally posted my husband's horrible hospital odyssey of several months ago.

Things were going okay in the Catholic hospital, until my husband knocked out his trach in his sleep. The alarm didn't go off. My husband can breathe on his own, and the ventilator was giving him some small support.

His heart stopped. They resuscitated him, and he's been in a twilight since. The dr. he has has given up on him - this has only been a week. My husband IS starting to respond and focus, but the dr. doesn't care.

He's pressuring me to sign a DNR, and he suddenly wants to move my husband OUT of intensive care into a regular room! I was so shocked I didn't say a thing...why does my husband now need less care than before...unless of course the dr. wants him to die.

My husband is physically VERY stable. All his signs are perfect. From what I'm reading, it can take anywhere from one to three months for someone to come out of this kind of state.

This dr. doesn't even want to give him the chance.

Granted, my husband isn't as cute as Terri Schiavo, but you guys can see where this is headed. I want to give him a CHANCE to recover. I don't care if he's impaired. I'll take care of him if they just stop trying to push me to let him die.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[humblegunner]

You aren't cute either and you are also a total vegetable, from the neck up.

Whatever you say.

[Calpernia]

ping

[fatima]

Are you in North or South Jersey?

[RedwM]

I can't believe the kid I just saw in a photo a couple of minutes ago said that. Reminds me of an old saying "you can't judge a book by it's cover".

[JRandomFreeper]

Prayers lifted for your husband.

/johnny

[KimaraChan]

My prayers are with you and your husband. Do some Google searches and get your hands on the phone numbers/emails for a few good anti-euthanasia and severely disabled advocacy groups. I couldn't tell you a 'good' one as I have no experience with this type of situation, but one that comes to mind is Not Dead Yet. I have seen them mentioned several times in various news articles regarding the fight for Terri's life.

I'm very interested to know why a doctor at a CATHOLIC hospital has such gross disregard for human life. You may be able to get quite a bit of help from the higher-ups at the hospital or one of your local Catholic churches.

If this continues, make a website. Call news organizations. Start screaming. Someone will listen.

[trussell]

Prayer ping.

Please post your replies to Simplemines

Simplemines, My prayers going up for your husband and you. God's protection for your husband...God's comfort and strength for you.  

Blessings,
trussell

If you want on/off my prayer ping list, please let me know. All requests happily honored.

[humblegunner]

I really balk at the concept of artificial medical sustainment.

If somebody or some device has to be employed full
time to keep me alive, then clearly it be time to go.

That's so terrible of a view?

[Tired of Taxes]

Which Catholic hospital is doing this?

Since you're in NJ, I'll make sure this thread has been pinged over at the NJ FR forum. A lot of Catholics there, too.

[Coleus]

Need help in NJ with Dr. Kevorkian clones

[RedwM]

I balk at it also, because, sometimes I'm sure a person is better off. But I know a person who is very similar to Terri Schindler, she may need constant care, and she is loved dearly. She is fed through a tube and has been on seizure medication since birth.
If you could see her smile you might reconsider your feelings about people like her and Terri.

[RedwM]

I hope your husband recovers. God be with both of you.

[AliVeritas]

Send me a private freepmail with all the info.
Get the patient representative, Administrator on call, call for the head of the ethics dept. in the hospital (believe me, they have one), let me know where you are in NJ and other info and I will forward to Sekulow at ACLJ, Thomas More and Ave Maria law schools. Let me know.

[AliVeritas]

ping

[GreenHornet]

Both you and your husband are in my prayers this evening.

[AliVeritas]

Tell the above folks with the doctor, you want (on their hospital letterhead with the doctors stamp and all their signatures), a whole breakdown of what happened, what course they want to take and why, that you wouldn't sign the DNR and that you refused their suggestion. Lawyer is much better... Do some serious internet reading on the condition and ask everyone you know if they know doctors in these fields who can come visit and sneak a gander at the chart. Go get a copy of the records (they'll say we don't give them until a patient's released, they only have the floor records), tell them you have to call your lawyer.

[jla]

She wasn't that cute and was a total vegetable.

You would know.

[Calpernia]

[fatima]

I sent coleus a phone number for you.

[Calpernia]