Posted on 03/27/2005 6:31:02 AM PST by gesully
When did Michael Schiavo first start trying to kill Terri? Mary Mostert March 23, 2005
Because I try to track down facts before I write about a subject, I have not written about Terri Schiavo and the battle over her condition. What actually happened to Terri back in 1990 that caused her to be the topic of world conversation today? Before we decide to permanently dispose of her, shouldn't we first find out how she got into this predicament?
Well, she collapsed, we are told by her husband Michael, in 1990 and was taken to the hospital . Some stories say she had a heart attack. Other stories, including a medical report by Dr. William Hammesfahr, a world-reknowned neurologist, totally refute any heart attack. Hammesfahr reported:
"Ms Schiavo was in her usual state of good health until 2/25/90, when her husband reported that he was awakened from sleep approximately 6 Am by her falling. He reports that she was unresponsive. "Paramedics were called, and aggressive resuscitation was performed with 7 defibrillations en route.
"In the Emergency Room, a possible diagnosis of heart attack was briefly entertained, but then dismissed after blood chemistries and serial EKG's did not show evidence of a heart attack."
Some reports guess that she collapsed due to an effort to lose weight — although, she was not at the time overweight. Hammesfahr's report stated:
"The patient had a difficult hospital course with the development of poorly controlled seizures and prolonged coma state requiring, for a time, ventilator support. However, the staff noted improvement, and it was recommended by several physicians that she be discharged to an intensive rehabilitation center."
In 1992, Michael Schiavo sued for malpractice and won over a $1 million. He was personally awarded $300,000 for his "loss" and $700,000 for Terri's rehabilitation and care for the rest of her natural life. However, the therapy, after the award, was not approved by Michael Schiavo and she was confined to a nursing home after the settlement.
It was after the settlement that Michael first claimed that Terri had previously stated that she didn't want to be kept alive by artificial means — a statement he never mentioned during the malpractice trial. He has never produced any written proof that Terri said that.
Beginning almost immediately after receiving the malpractice funds, Michael Schiavo, as Terri's legal guardian, began to refuse approval for ANY therapy or rehabilitation efforts and she has been confined to bed.
Since 1995, Michael Schiavo has lived openly with a girlfriend, Jodi Centonze, with whom he has two children, while remaining legally married to Terri, as well as being her legal her guardian.
In 1998, Michael Schiavo petitioned the court to have Terri's feeding tube removed. In 2003, Michael Schiavo's attorneys reported that the trust fund was down to $50,000, with more than $430,000 going to "pay for court costs associated with her husband's legal battle to remove his wife's feeding tube." Meanwhile, Medicaid helps to pay Terri's $5,000-a-month nursing costs at a hospice in Pinellas Park, Florida. 13
During this time period, Terri's parents have attempted to gain guardianship over their daughter. During the legal battles that have ensued, in 2003 a deposition was taken from Dr. William Campbell Walker, a radiologist, concerning a bone scan the hospital did on Terri in 1991. That bone scan revealed what Dr. Walker reported at the time as "compression fracture in the 19 vertebral body of the spine."
For seven years as Terri has been consistently denied rehabilitation treatment that, according to several doctors, would have significantly improved her chances of recovery, Michael spent her money awarded for her therapy on lawyers trying to get her starved to death. Several doctors pointed out, including Dr. Hammesfahr, that Terri not only CAN swallow on her own, but frequently DOES swallow and pictures shown clearly indicate, as Hammesfahr and other testify, that she can and does respond to voice commands and particularly to her parents.
This would indicate that she is NOT in what the State of Florida defines as a "vegetative" state. It also makes me wonder, now that the feeding tube is removed, if any effort to help her swallow water or food is being made today, or whether under the court order spoon feeding also has been outlawed? Terri's parents, if they just came and got her and took her home, I guess would be arrested for kidnapping under Florida's legal system.
At this point, the legal system of Florida has, in the words of one legal observer, created the "framework for legal euthanasia." Of course, euthanasia is technically the practice of killing someone painlessly because they prefer death to life for whatever reason. I would not classify starvation as a "painless" way to die.
Dr. Hammesfahr stated in his report:
"In the spring of 2000, three physicians, including Dr. Jay Carpenter, who is a former Chief of Medicine at Morton Plant Hospital, filed affidavits after observing Ms. Schiavo. All three physicians stated that it is visually apparent that Ms Schiavo is able to swallow and, in fact, does swallow her own saliva.
"The patient continued with no physical therapy, communication or speech therapy, or routine medical screening evaluations and treatment such as dental care, mammography, gynecological exams or pap smears during this time."
Under these conditions and questions, it would appear to me that Terri SHOULD have a totally different guardian, such as her parents, until some questions are answered about the spinal and other injuries that appeared on her bone scan a decade ago. Why is it that a man who clearly wants his wife dead, cannot explain how she actually got into the state she is in, or produce ANY proof, other than his unsubstantiated words, that she would want to die, is being unquestioningly defended by the Florida courts?
Increasingly, it appears to me, that Terri would have gotten better care had her husband never won that malpractice suit and been given $1 million to spend — much of it on lawyers to legally kill off his wife.
It all makes me wonder just when Michael Schiavo made his first effort to kill Terri? Was it before or after she ended up in the hospital with an unexplained problem that put her in a coma?
Mary Mostert is a nationally-respected political writer. She was one of the first female political commentators to be published in a major metropolitan newspaper in the 1960s. After working in President Lyndon Johnson's failed War on Poverty programs in New York state, she became a Republican. She ran, unsuccessfully, for the New York State Senate and became campaign manager for a number of candidates. She once served as the secretary of "Positive Action NOW!"--a South African women's group that sought to reduce the hostility among South Africa's various racial, religious, and political groups.
In recent years, Mary has researched, written, and edited articles for national talk show host Michael Reagan's Information Interchange on the Internet, and for The REAGAN MONITOR, a monthly newsletter that provides in-depth information on key issues. Her book, COMING HOME - Families Can Stop the Unraveling of America," was published in 1996 by Gold Leaf Press. Mary maintains a political media site, Banner of Liberty. She can be contacted at mary@bannerofliberty.com . Click here for more information.
Well, I dont buy Bob Shindlers statements either so there you have it.
The removal of a nutrition and hydration tube, wrote Judge Lynch of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, would likely create some or all of the following effects before death.
The mouth would dry out and become caked or coated with thick material.
The lips would become parched and cracked.
The tongue would swell, and might crack.
The eyes would recede back into their orbits and the cheeks would become hollow.
The lining of the nose might crack and cause the nose to bleed.
The skin would hang loose on the body and become dry and scaly.
The urine would become highly concentrated, leading to burning of the bladder.
The lining of the stomach would dry out and the sufferer would experience dry heaves and vomiting.
The body temperature would become very high.
The brain cells would dry out, causing convulsions.
The respiratory tract would dry out, and the thick secretions that would
result could plug the lungs and cause death.
At some point within five days to three weeks the major organs, including the lungs, heart, and brain, would give out and the patient would die.
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/mar/05032308.html
Sorry for your loss. One thing I don't really understand is removal of the tube. What is the point of that? Why not just stop putting food and water in the tube?
In feuds like this, every party reports the truth through a prism. But I look at actions more than what people say. And the action MS took in regards to her therapy, the orders her teeth not be brushed is an example, seem so cold and hateful to me. And the last several years with no stimulation. And his treatment of her parents. Reprehensible to me. I don't know if he tried to kill her and started all this but at some point his greed and cruelty were primary motivations.
In fact he was not. Oh, there was not anything in writing either. He could not communicate with anyone. But knowing my uncle we all knew he would not want to be kept alive like this. He had a severe stroke a few years before that left him like this. At first he could communicate somewhat, but then as his brain athrophied it became clear that he was not ever going to speak to any of us again. This case has really brought it home for all of us who loved him. He was a wonderful delightful man and all of us miss him very much. But I also know he is with our Lord of whom we celebrate his resurection today.
The public statement that Felos made, that Terri looked beautiful, was ludicrous. Only ghouls see beauty in people wasting away.
But then Felos thinks he can keep planes from falling from the sky and thinks he can communicate via esp with unconscious patients.
*gentle cough* Actually, Terri would have been overtly murdered for bringing shame to the family, and she would be long since forgotten...
I only ask this because you brought up your uncle...
What was his diagnosis at the time his starvation commenced?
I disagree. I have no reason to believe anything Michael says, but at least I am not wishing for his death. God will deal with him accordingly. It doesn't matter at this point. She's going to die feeding tube in or not for the length of time it's been out.
Hey, I was just there to be with him. Whatever the procedure was and why I cannot say.
Re: jury awards and Medicaid payments, within 6 months of receiving the $1.2 million, half of it was gone with no receipts and no explanations, nor any requested. The first official audit was in June of 1993, and the balance was around $700,000. Greer authorized Michael putting Terri's money in a separate trust fund, from which he also authorized Michael to spend Terri's rehab money on lawyer fees (some $545,000 in attorney and bank administrative fees, all paid out of Terri's fund). Michael and Jodi's house is in Jodi's name, so is not considered part of Michael's assets. Of the remaining funds, Judge Greer set aside $50,000 for Terri's cremation and ashes-scattering in Pennsylvania. Terri was declared indigent, in spite of the huge monetary award, and thus eligible for Medicaid. Any other financial records (and medical records) have been sealed by order of His Royal High Priest Greer.
In my opinion, they started this and smeared her all over the media. This whole dispute started over MONEY!!! He would not give them any of the 300,000 and they were mad as hell. They effectively stopped talking on Feb 14, 1993. This is in the court record.
Well then I guess I am a ghoul then. My uncle and my son look very peaceful and yes, beautiful. I do understand what he was trying to say. I admit I cringed somewhat when he said that, although I understand what he was trying to say.
more important-did he make his wishes known?
Have you ever seen pictures of someone dying from starvation and dehydration? Bobby Schindler's description is more like reality. Felos is lying.
And you know this because you have a direct line to God? I am sorry I sound crass but for christians you (I dont mean you personally) all seem to be damning people to hell in all of this. The best thing to do now is to pray for BOTH families at this point.
Since Dr Hammesfahr is so controversial, why don't we simply disregard his report.
Let's instead look at what Dr. Cheshire, a Mayo clinic neurologist, had to say, after examining Terri within the past month:
http://www.sbcbaptistpress.org/bpnews.asp?ID=20441
“I believe that, within a reasonable degree of medical certainty, there is a greater likelihood that Terri is in a minimally conscious state than a persistent vegetative state,” William P. Cheshire Jr. wrote, after recently visiting Schiavo for 90 minutes and examining her medical records.
“This distinction makes an enormous difference in making ethical decisions on Terri’s behalf. If Terri is sufficiently aware of her surroundings that she can feel pleasure and suffer, if she is capable of understanding to some degree how she is being treated, then in my judgment it would be wrong to bring about her death by withdrawing food and water.”
(more at link)
I never heard that the doctor claimed to be a Nobel nominee, just that someone else said it about him, maybe confused because the doctor's congressman had submitted the doctor's name to the Nobel committee (which doesn't make hima nominee).
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