threeplusfire | family jewels

What Congress and Bush did last night was absolutely disgusting. The fact that one family's grief and the most difficult moment of their lives has become a political flag to be hauled from one end of the news media to another... ugh. I don't even have words to discuss my abhorrence of these actions.

There's not an easy answer to this. But one thing is certain- this shouldn't be the President's decision or anyone else in Washington. The only people who should be involved in this are the family and doctors.

There's something grimly ironic about Bush touting his devastating social security project and taking a break to deal with the Schiavo case. The Republican right doesn't give a damn about the sanctity of life and the dignity of the elderly and disabled. If you believe that, I have some nice bridges to sell you.

I think perhaps I should make my own living will. Until I get that all settled, I'll write this entry. I've made my wishes crystal clear to Alan and expect everyone to abide by them. If you quibble, I'll haunt you in a most annoying manner.

For the record:

Should I get hurt, make every effort to save me. That part should be easy.

Should I become incapacitated in such a matter that I become brain dead or locked into a permanent vegetative state- do not keep me plugged into machines. Do not keep my body breathing when my mind is gone. Inject me with lots of painkillers and give me a dignified death. Don't let me starve and waste away. Just make it end quickly.

Take me and send my body to Life Gems. Make me into a beautiful diamond. I am personally very fond of the radiant cut. Take me out into the sun and rain sometimes, and keep me somewhere that I won't get lost.

If there are ashes leftover from the Life Gems process, throw them from the Charles Bridge into the Vltava early on a Sunday morning when the streets are empty and the bright sunlight shines through the towers. Make it is a beautiful morning.

Don't put me in one of those scary caskets, or in the ground. Don't hold my corpse up for everyone to see. Don't give me a grim funeral. Make me a diamond and drink to me.

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But what I'm getting at is that the debate over what her wishes might have been centers around that statement? I thought that was one of the arguments for removing her from the feeding tube.

(If she's going to die without the feeding tube, shouldn't that be considered life sustaining support? It just puzzles me because I'm told she doesn't need life support but then that she will die without an artificial means of feeding. I think that whole issue is very confusing.)

I'm just trying to sort out in my mind the issue of whether this feeding tube is life-sustaining. I've been hearing so many different things about it and I think the issue is very unclear in the public mash of media coverage.

It's a terrible thing, and there isn't a good answer for it. Personally, I think they should give the woman a peaceful comfortable death because I find keeping people's bodies alive when their minds are gone to be especially gruesome. I wouldn't do something like this to my dog and wouldn't do this to a loved one. But that's my own choice and hardly applicable to others. I think we all have to make these decisions on our own. That's why the involvement of Congress is making me foam at the mouth.

I think letting the woman starve to death is unneccesary. That just heaps on extra cruelty. Give her a heavy morphine drip and let her pass away peacefully at least. At the clinic where my mother works, they give the animals a sedative to take away the pain and make them sleep before they are euthanized. They make every effort to give pets the gentlest sort of death possible. Should we do less for people?

The big question is, is Schiavo still there? Is she still thinking or conscious at all? If she isn't there anymore, in my opinion it is a mockery to keep her body alive as an empty shell.

I agree, our society needs to address the issue of euthanasia, the right to die and long term care. But what makes me so angry about Congress stepping in here is because they have no intention of addressing these issues. Schiavo's case is being used to whip people in a frenzy and not because anyone in Congress gives a damn. She's a political tool for Tom Delay to avoid talking about his corruption and greed.

Does Terri Schiavo have any higher brain functioning? Is there any indication she can think, or is any of this damage reversible? That's something I'm very curious about. From what I've been reading today she doesn't seem to have any. She can respond to stimulus but can't cognively function.

We don't KNOW. That's the thing. We don't know what her state really is, except that she is still alive and God, or Satan, or Nature, or the universe, or whatever hasn't seen fit to take her yet. Without a clear way paved for euthanasia - for Terri or any other non-terminally ill patients, even in the great state of Oregon - and without a clear declaration of her wishes in the form of a living will - it makes sense to err on the side of life and let nature run its course.

If we let nature run its course, Schiavo would die because she can't feed herself. If we went for nature, she would have died quite some time ago. It is only medical intervention that has kept her alive for years now.

As far as Tom Delay... he comes from my state and his corruption is something I can speak to with a fair bit of certainty. Delay is one of the slimiest bastards to ever crawl onto the national stage and I don't believe for one moment he cares about Schiavo's life or death.

If she left no living will or instructions, then shouldn't the responsibility fall next to her spouse or partner? No one should have to make these decisions because they are painful and terrible. Are we next going to say family members can't put relatives in assisted living facilities when family members are too demented or mentally incapble?

Can Schiavo chew or swallow? Why exactly does she need a feeding tube? If she can't ingest food then her means of life is to some extent artificial. I think it is dishonest to say it isn't.

I don't want to go around euthanizing people, and I don't think we need laws about it. What we need is honest discussion of what is involved in this kind of care so people can make their own decisions. There shouldn't be legislation of this kind of issue. The issue of life, death and long term care is something that needs to be handled invidually. It is a decision that depends on the individual's own moral principles and desires. Morality is the last thing that needs to be legislated.

The Schiavo family should have handled this privately instead of making a political issue of it. That is what upsets me so much about it.

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