Terry Schiavo

**Jeremy** · 23 Mar 2005, 01:41 AM

One good thing about this whole thing: A Bible thumper on Larry King talking about this said that God recommends that one use alcohol for pain killing. He then mentioned that her feeding tube was not an example of something giving her life, just that it was keeping her alive... okay. This was in relation to her feeding tube being removed vs. someone having the plug pulled on them.

**Diff-chan** · 23 Mar 2005, 01:50 AM

Perhaps matters like Power of Attorney, divorce, estate planning, financial security, what happens if I become a vegetable, why did Kano ban IP, and just death in general are uncomfortable conversations for folks who think that someone's "eternal soul" can be "tainted." Big, scary topics for people who need security blankies.

Well, I can understand why people can be scared of preparing for death. Nobody really wants to die. The problem is that they put it off and then shit like this happens. But, you know, planning for death isnt like preparing a pre-nuptial, where the common argument is that you dont have to get a divorce: youre definitely gonna die, eventually.

I can almost certainly assure you that Terri Schiavo would not have wanted her unfortunate circumstances to become a ludicrous fucking circus for the entire country to gripe over. Of this I am nearly certain.

**AstroBlue** · 23 Mar 2005, 02:39 AM

Originally Posted by Mike

Oh snap. In all of the years this has been going on I never knew that. It was the husband's fault for telling her she was fat!!

In that case, shouldn't we give her the feeding tube and then get a nurse to stick their fingers down her throat so she throws it up?

That's what she would want.

**Satsuki** · 23 Mar 2005, 03:41 AM

It's pretty ironic that she is in her condition because of bulemia, and now she is basically starving to death. hooray!

**Super-Eggroll** · 23 Mar 2005, 10:32 AM

There's a great article regarding this on the Something Awful main page called "Through the Feeding Tube".

Some highlights:

Originally Posted by SA

I'm sure Terri Schiavo is a wonderful lady, but she's dead as far as living a real life is concerned. She isn't going to jump out of bed in some monumental Hulk Hogan-like second wind and body slam her husband.

Originally Posted by SA

I asked a doctor what it's like for people in Terri's state, and he told me this: "A normal person's brain activity is like an episode of 'Law & Order: SVU' where Detective Stabler takes the case too personal and puts everything on the line, including his badge. For someone in a vegetable state, Detective Stabler plays it by the book and lets his fellow detectives handle the load." As you can see from that medical explanation, people in vegetative states are simply not living at all.

**Tracer** · 23 Mar 2005, 11:00 AM

In the State of Texas, these descisions are made by the Bioethics commitiy at the TMC. Not long ago a newborn child was removed from life support after being on it for 6 months, it was determined that the child was entirely unviable to live without aide, and with aide, would be a vegtable. They went over the mothers head and pulled the plug. The mother calls murder (TMC has probably saved more lives than any other medical establishment and she calls them murderers), TMC says it simply stoped unnessisary treatment. I'm with TMC on this, and it's a shame there's no process like this in Florida.

She's way gone.

**g0zen** · 23 Mar 2005, 11:35 AM

Originally Posted by OmniGear

Also, Bill Frist should be shot in the face.

Yeah, everytime someone brings up my dumbfuck Senator being a doctor I have to remind them that he's a heart surgeon and nearly every statement he's made regarding medicine in the public discourse has just been part of his committment to the pro-life package. He claimed AIDS could be transmitted through tears (something The Daily Show will never let him live down) and now he thinks he's a neurologist suddenly proclaiming Terri Schivo is alive and conscious, it's ridiculous.

It doesn't help matters that when he's not preaching in Congress he's taking a big shit on the citizens of his state, most notably those who were lied to by the defense contractors about the dangers of working around hazardous nuclear material. Thanks a lot, Bill.

Originally Posted by Satsuki

It's pretty ironic that she is in her condition because of bulemia, and now she is basically starving to death. hooray!

LOL, good one. *high five*

**Spent** · 23 Mar 2005, 12:12 PM

They say she'll be in purgatory... so does that mean if this was the middle ages and we didn't have life support she'd go to hell for her brain fucking up? These people are whacked out.