Posted on 03/21/2005 5:30:29 AM PST by Mother Abigail
This is the process, ordered by the government of the State of Florida - in the name of the people, which is torturing and murdering an innocent woman.
Let us speak the truth.
Signs of compromised skin integrity
As the body dehydrates, the skin loses its tone and dries out. Left untreated, this will lead to cracking and bleeding. The lips are even more sensitive in this respect.
Because of the body's debilitated state, normal healing mechanisms do not function. Hence the need to consult wound-care specialists to deal with ulcers and open sores.
Signs of dehydration
After a few days without water, the body stops producing saliva, necessitating the use of a "saliva substitute" to avoid ulceration in the mouth, and a characteristic foul odor on the patient's breath. The cessation of salivation also leads to other complications which appear in the "pulmonary" section.
Pulmonary
A. Inability to clear secretions -
Dehydration causes the natural mucus secretions of the mouth, nose, and throat to thicken, as the body struggles to protect these delicate membranes. The lack of saliva exacerbates this problem, preventing the normal swallowing of these secretions. These thick deposits can interfere with breathing. The use of the scopolamine patch promotes drying of these secretions, which prevents their build-up, but hastens the breakdown of the tissues.
B. dyspnea ["difficulty in breathing"]
In the last stages of dehydration/starvation, the patient's breathing will become difficult and labored. He or she may even begin gasping for breath, as even the lungs' ability to effect transfer of gases is compromised. Morphine nebulized into a fine spray relaxes bronchial passages and relieves these symptoms. However, because of the resultant decrease in respiratory efficiency, this may hasten death.
Multifocal myoclonus or terminal agitation (sometimes caused by electrolyte imbalance).
Myoclonus is twitching or spasm of the muscles. Multifocal means "occurring in many different parts of the body". This is usually the result of imbalance in electrolytes, the chemicals, such as salt, potassium, and calcium, which make your bodies internal electrical "batteries" work. Nerve impulses and muscle contractions are governed by electro-chemical reactions utilizing these chemicals. Dehydration causes these chemicals to be out of balance, interfering with normal nerve and muscle function. This can result in nerves and muscles "firing off" uncontrollably, causing spasm. The patient will writhe and become extremely agitated.
If you have ever had muscle cramps resulting from strenuous exercise (especially when you have sweat profusely), you have some idea what this feels like.
Imagine having this happen all over your body, repeatedly.
Grand Mal seizure
In the final stages of starvation and dehydration, the same electrolyte imbalances which can cause muscle spasm can also lead to uncontrolled firing of neurons in the brain, according to a similar mechanism. This results in seizures.
We are free to choose both the good and decent as well as the vile and evil.
But children be not deceived, God also chooses...
MA
Lines are being drawn
And we needed another new thread for this?
Wheat from the tares.
The news networks should be reporting the clinical details.
The truth will never be told. It is too horrible and must be hidden in darkness.
Deliver her from evil, Lord.
In all cases, a tray of food was put in front of them at least once a day, just in case they started feeding themselves. Futile, symbolic, but done just the same. I find it horrifying that Terri is denied even this opportunity.
If Terri dies during the manuevering, the Democratic Party will NEVER be forgiven by a large chunk of the voting population. They won't talk their way out of this. You don't realize just how mad this segment is. And yes, I looked at last night's voting.
This needs to be posted dozens of times.
Let us separate two things. First, the "government" of Florida is not at all unanimous on this mad dash to seal the fate of Terri Schiavo. Governor Jeb Bush had interceded on behalf of Terri earlier, and pushed to get what was called "Terri's Law" through the legislature, and he signed the bill, which outlawed attempts to disconnect Terri's feeding tube. This law was appealed, and eventually found "unconstitutional" in the eyes of the Florida Supreme Court, which put the ball back in Judge Greer's court, where the order to disconnect the feeding tube was reinstated, which brings us to the present impasse. So the only part of the state government in Flordia that was ruling for the disconnection of Terri's feeding tube was and is the judiciary.
Secondly, because of the wide publicity given this case nationally, the Federal government, on the part of President George W. Bush, and the US Congress, meeting in both the House and Senate, passed a bill placing the review of this case in Federal court. At this point, only a minority are in favor of death for Terri by dehydration, and this may have already been reversed.
Terri should be pried out of the exclusive control of the spouse, Michael Schiavo, and independent assessment be made of her physical condition. If she is sentient and does interact with her surroundings, however badly, that destroys the argument that she is in a "persistent vegetative state", and makes what is being done to her all the more horrible. If in fact, her current condition is demonstrably shown to be PVS, then the merciful and humane thing would be to put her in a drug-induced coma, THEN withdraw sustenance. Or make things even quicker and give her lethal injection.
We do better for hardened criminals and animals.
From the Blooger "Just One Minute":
Stone Cold Killers
Ice runs in the veins of the NY Times editors! On Saturday, they stood ready to wack Terri Schiavo. And on Sunday, they dropped the last pretense of compassion and called for the execution of both Bambi and his mother.
I should try and take the Times more seriously (and I am taking the Schiavo case very seriously). However, since they have surrendered their weekend edition to The Onion, I am just trying to play along. Here, to round out the merriment, is a Times Comedy Classic inspired by Terry Schiavo:
Experts Say Ending Feeding Can Lead to a Gentle Death
To many people, death by removing a feeding tube brings to mind the agony of starvation. But medical experts say that the process of dying that begins when food and fluids cease is relatively straightforward, and can cause little discomfort.
"From the data that is available, it is not a horrific thing at all," said Dr. Linda Emanuel, the founder of the Education for Physicians in End-of-Life Care Project at Northwestern University.
In fact, declining food and water is a common way that terminally ill patients end their lives, because it is less painful than violent suicide and requires no help from doctors.
...Once food and water stop, death usually comes in about two weeks, and is caused by effects of dehydration, not the loss of nutrition, said Dr. Sean Morrison, a professor of geriatrics and palliative care at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. "They generally slip into a peaceful coma," he said. "It's very quiet, it's very dignified - it's very gentle."
The process of dying begins in the kidneys, which filter toxins from the body's fluids. Without new fluids entering the body, the kidneys produce less and less urine, and the urine becomes darker and more concentrated until production stops entirely.
Toxins build up in the body, and the delicate balance of chemicals like potassium, sodium and calcium is disrupted, said Deborah Volker, an assistant professor of nursing at the University of Texas who has written extensively on end-of-life issues.
This electrolyte imbalance disrupts the electrical system that triggers the action of muscles, including the heart, and eventually the heart stops beating.
Thank heaven for experts! Well, as various states rule out specific methods of execution for capital crimes on the basis that it is cruel and unusual, it is good to know that we can always fall back on "death by dehydration", with the endorsement of the NY Times.
And remember, the next time you overhear someone saying "I'm dying of thirst", just answer, "Yeah, ain't it great!"
Is there anything that prevents her parents from giving her food, or at least water if she is able to take it.
The GOP have lost their collective minds.
Seems they can cut their Easter Recess short to run into Washington for grandstanding, but meanwhile, the borders are unprotected and Social Security Ponzi scheme continues...and they fret about torturing prisoners with womens' panties over the head.
Sickening display of political pandering to a fringe group.
Yes, an order from the judge forbids anyone from attempting to feed her orally.
Then half to three-quarters of the people on this board have lost their minds as well. I, along with many here, am glad to see our elected representatives acting to preserve life. And who are you calling a fringe group? Perhaps you need to go look into the death forum.
It would also set the precedent that you must fill out a living will stating you want heroic measures if you're going to get anything. I've worked with Living Wills, they're just words that mean nothing. We're still debating the meaning of "is," remember?
This cannot stand.
Medical technology is outpacing societies ability to pay, with huge bucks going to the companies that produce therapies that could keep PVSs alive for decades.
There are big picture issues here, it is possible that million dollar treatments can keep the indigent alive for decades, with costs spiraling out of control. Illegals could come across our borders, and demand million dollar therapies. The hue and cry of racism is already rearing its ugly head.
He cannot, medical technology and now Congress are making it imposable. God has left the decision of life vs quality of life vs death to us. As we refuse to accept the decisions made by the ones close to us the more we will have to accept the fact that strangers will make the decisions for you, yet further eroding our freedoms to make such decisions because we have shown to be incapable once again.
Michael's policemen friends standing in the room enforces Greer's order to not feed Terri by mouth either.
You must be feeling a little...out of place?
Eating Disability, it's in the pdf.
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