Re: [QUAD-L] Terri S- and her feeding tube

[Dana Miller]

I agree, there are 2 sides to this story.  Plus my emotions and 'my' opinion 
goes both ways.  "I" think it would be a horrendous way to live.  Because 
she is in the news a lot, the nurses and aides probably give her special 
care so she has no signs of poor care which is rampant in so many nursing 
homes.  I do not know if she has had pressure sores etc, but I imagine that 
many people in similar situations, but are 'not' in the lime light, get by 
with minimal care and unless family is there often, don't get a lot of 
attention.

Getting the government involved is a baaad thing!  The way they screw things 
up now, they do not need to be involved with personal issues!

Dana
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "B. Kimberlin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <quad-list@eskimo.com>
Sent: Saturday, March 19, 2005 5:58 PM
Subject: Re: [QUAD-L] Terri S- and her feeding tube


W,
If Terri's parents had not disagreed with the husband's decision to act on 
his wife's verbal (and none of us will ever really know whether she really 
said this are not) wishes, then this would not even be an issue for the 
courts or Congress. As I have said on this list at least four times, 
personal decisions like this are made by victim's families hundreds, if 
not thousands of times a year. My mother's family decided not to sustain 
the life of my grandfather, who is in a very similar situation, some years 
back. They knew he did not want to live that way and they could not bear 
to see their father being a mere shell of himself.

Like Tod, I am unable to definitively take sides in this case. I am not 
the husband, parents or Terri and therefore I do not feel it would be fair 
of me to judge anyone member of the families involved here. Living in 
Tampa, I am bombarded with this from all sides and I truly feel for her 
parents and on the other hand I sympathize for the husband. Maybe I'm 
wrong, but I just don't see how people that are currently on feeding 
tubes, that are either cognizant of their surroundings or have guardians 
which want them to live, would be affected by this decision.

I am more disturbed about the potential violation of constitutional rights 
by our United States Congress. The end around move (the issuing of a 
Congressional subpoena) that the leaders of the House tried to use 
yesterday, in an effort to delay the implementation of a Florida State 
court order was absolutely horrendous. This is the real slippery slope.

Billy
Just my opinion. I could be wrong.
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
In a message dated 3/19/05 3:23:38 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
My only point is that Terri is more alive than anything in a petri dish.
Terri is alive and reactive. But what is more important is for those
thousands of people who are surviving with G-Tubes (feeding tubes) and are 
probably
wondering
if the government allows just one person to die, they all risk the same
actions if Medicaid or Medicare should ever run out of money.
Today, many state governments are now closing mental health wards in their
states and sending residents to other locations, as a means to save money 
and
budget cuts.
What will be the next step. Kinda scares ya ..... doesn't it?
W


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