Vegetative patient Scott Routley says 'I'm not in pain'

[jjenny]

Although technically accurate, I don't think that's a fair statement, Sam. Mr. Schiavo stood by his comatose wife for years. It's not as if he casually tossed her aside for a younger model as soon as she went into the coma.

I guess it depends on how one interprets "stood by her."

"Schiavo and his new bride have two young children. They met in a dentist's office about 11 years ago and began a relationship after Terri Schiavo was already in a nursing home."

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,182427,00.html#ixzz2CLX5I8JH

 

[Nova]

Not to rehash the entire Schiavo fiasco ...I think it would have been nice if her parents were given custody/guardianship of her. I felt really bad for them.


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I don't know what all of Mr. Schiavo's beliefs are about death. But he may honestly believe that giving custody to the parents was to trap Terry indefinitely in a biological prison.

God help me if some judge decides my parents should have custody of me instead of my husband. (This is why I dread going through the "flyover states" where our marriage isn't recognized.)

 

[OneLove]

I don't know what all of Mr. Schiavo's beliefs are about death. But he may honestly believe that giving custody to the parents was to trap Terry indefinitely in a biological prison.

God help me if some judge decides my parents should have custody of me instead of my husband. (This is why I dread going through the "flyover states" where our marriage isn't recognized.)

You make a good point about a "possible" motive of Mr. Schiavo (even if his past relationship with his wife makes him unsuited for this decision).

So lets say that he denied them guardianship for "noble" reasons on Terri's behalf. What was his reason for not allowing them to hold her hand and express love and comfort while he left Terri to die alone? I just can't come up with a "noble" answer to this.

 

[Parmenides]

Okay, I'll say it: has anyone noticed that except for those with strong religious agendas, one rarely hears a MAN say he has a problem with the resolution of the Schiavo case?

The case seems to tap into some very strong feelings (fears?) that women have, perhaps because by the time the feeding tube was removed, Mr. Schiavo was in another relationship and basically had a new "wife in waiting".

Personally, I can't think of anyone I would want to make such a decision BUT my husband. Not my parents, certainly, and not a judge. My husband knows me best. And if he has a new partner waiting in the wings, more power to him! Why would I want my husband to be alone?

Actually, it was a man who first expressed a problem with the Schiavo case in this thread, and I am a man and I also have a problem with it. So this is not only sexist, it appears to be wrong.

I recall that Terri Schiavo actually showed signs of awareness, and her husband (the last person to see her alive and "with whom she had been arguing all day") showed an indecent eagerness to see her terminated (e.g. refusing an MRI scan and therapy).

 

[TrackerSam]

I guess it depends on how one interprets "stood by her."

"Schiavo and his new bride have two young children. They met in a dentist's office about 11 years ago and began a relationship after Terri Schiavo was already in a nursing home."

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,182427,00.html#ixzz2CLX5I8JH

Schiavo married his longtime girlfriend Jodi Centonze on Saturday in a private church ceremony, said John Centonze, the brother of the bride.



Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,182427,00.html#ixzz2CPbbYctz

It's a poorly written piece as it doesn't define "longtime girlfriend" (could have been 12 yrs). He may have been the one who damged her. She never put it in writing and I question his motives as does her family.
Back to the topic -had this technique been around then, who can say what she may have testified to.

 

[Sonya610]

Bottom line: a living will not only relieves the pressure on the spouse, it may be essential to keep a court or hospital from overriding what your spouse says you want.

And it prevents hard feelings in the family. Who wants to be the one that tells a grieving mother they decided to shut off the machines and "kill" her baby?

I always thought that was the case with Schiavo, the mother just could not deal with it so the father and siblings went along and fought "for Mom's sake".

Strangely I know my mother would abide by my wishes but my sisters are another matter entirely. They are both a bit whacky and have let their own pets die horrid, gruesome (and sometimes very expensive) slow deaths rather than end a life. They would do the same to me given the chance, my wishes wouldn't mean a darn thing.

As far as the husband is concerned if I recall he took her to a leading clinic and they even tried implanting electroids in her brain in an attempt to revive function. That doesn't sound like a husband that wanted her "gone" at all.

 

[Nova]

I guess it depends on how one interprets "stood by her."

"Schiavo and his new bride have two young children. They met in a dentist's office about 11 years ago and began a relationship after Terri Schiavo was already in a nursing home."

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,182427,00.html#ixzz2CLX5I8JH

And according to your own source, Mrs. Schiavo wasn't put into the nursing home until 5 years after she lapsed into the coma.

I think caring for a comatose wife for 5 years is very much "standing by" her.

Another 11 years in a nursing home makes a 16-year coma. Sheesh!

Life is not a Nicholas Sparks novel.

If I lay in a bed without responding for a decade and a half, I hereby give society permission to make better use of the space.

 

[Nova]

You make a good point about a "possible" motive of Mr. Schiavo (even if his past relationship with his wife makes him unsuited for this decision).

So let's say that he denied them guardianship for "noble" reasons on Terri's behalf. What was his reason for not allowing them to hold her hand and express love and comfort while he left Terri to die alone? I just can't come up with a "noble" answer to this.

Countless doctors had assured Mr. Schiavo that Terri had no awareness of who was in the room or whether or not she was alone.

So from his perspective, the only question remaining would have been kindness to her parents.

I don't know why he didn't let the parents visit, but I suspect it might have had something to do with their calling him a murderer in the media for so long. Or maybe he thought it too risky, given their oft-stated willingness to ignore legal orders.

Do I wish all parties had set aside their differences and behaved like civilized adults? Sure. But let's don't pretend Mr. Schiavo was dealing with calm, reasonable people.

 

[Nova]

Actually, it was a man who first expressed a problem with the Schiavo case in this thread, and I am a man and I also have a problem with it. So this is not only sexist, it appears to be wrong.

I recall that Terri Schiavo actually showed signs of awareness, and her husband (the last person to see her alive and "with whom she had been arguing all day") showed an indecent eagerness to see her terminated (e.g. refusing an MRI scan and therapy).

I wasn't talking about this thread. But it's certainly possible that my perception is skewed by my participation at WS, which tends to have a heavily female membership.

If you think it's sexist to suggest that different genders may tend to hold different perceptions in large numbers, you're going to be unhappy with a lot of threads here complaining about husbands.

Mrs. Schiavo did not show signs of awareness. Those were delusions created by those who wanted to believe she was aware. Mr. Schiavo did not deny her any treatment actually recommended by her doctors.

 

[Nova]

Schiavo married his longtime girlfriend Jodi Centonze on Saturday in a private church ceremony, said John Centonze, the brother of the bride.



Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,182427,00.html#ixzz2CPbbYctz

It's a poorly written piece as it doesn't define "longtime girlfriend" (could have been 12 yrs). He may have been the one who damged her. She never put it in writing and I question his motives as does her family.
Back to the topic -had this technique been around then, who can say what she may have testified to.

Sam, that's the same link jjenny posted. It's from almost 7 years ago and says Mr. Schiavo knew his second wife for 11 years before they married.

I don't think we can fairly accuse Mr. S of being impetuous.

 

[OneLove]

Sam, that's the same link jjenny posted. It's from almost 7 years ago and says Mr. Schiavo knew his second wife for 11 years before they married.

I don't think we can fairly accuse Mr. S of being impetuous.

I call domestic violence against a spouse impetuous. And not calm or reasonable.

 

[JBean]

The Schiavo case was a long, passionate,polarized battle and debate.
Please,let's not do it again.I understand there are potential comparisons to be made- but please keep it in check.
This story is an important breakthrough- let's get back to the info in the OP.

Thanks mucho.

 

[Linda7NJ]

What concerns me and what bothers me most about this new research, it reminds me too much of the debunked Facilitated Communication done with severe cases of autism.

Loved ones are not the ones that benefit from such claims, they're the ones taken advantage of in their vulnerable desperate state. Much like the psychic that preys upon the parents of missing children.




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[Sailor Bug]

I love this new study...

My dear friend Anthony recently came out of a 10 day coma.
We are so Blessed that he actually came out of it!!!!
There was no brain activity at all.
The Drs had no hope of recovery...and then we recieved a miracle :O)

 

[not_my_kids]

I wonder if the scientists are up for more funding soon? Are there any similar studies of this kind that have been verified? In order to believe that a study holds any weight, it must be possible to replicate the study, the situation and the results. While it's definitely interesting, I don't see this alone as being rason to rewrite anything. Although now I feel bad for families that have had to make the choice to end life support after being told that there was no hope. I bet some of them have seen this story and have now lost any peace they had managed to make with the situation.

I made my wishes clear a long time ago and update those wishes in writing once a year. CPR may be performed, but that is it. If I am too far gone for CPR to bring me back, there will be no ventilators, no feeding tubes, no care to sustain me at all if my body is too weak to sustain itself or if there is no sign of definite recovery in progress. I could never leave my children or my husband to decide what to do with me, and I know that my husband would decide to try. As long as a machine could keep my heart pumping and my lungs moving, he would believe that I was in there.

 

[wfgodot]

What concerns me and what bothers me most about this new research, it reminds me too much of the debunked Facilitated Communication done with severe cases of autism.

Loved ones are not the ones that benefit from such claims, they're the ones taken advantage of in their vulnerable desperate state. Much like the psychic that preys upon the parents of missing children.

Exactly.

 

[Linda7NJ]

I love this new study...

My dear friend Anthony recently came out of a 10 day coma.
We are so Blessed that he actually came out of it!!!!
There was no brain activity at all.
The Drs had no hope of recovery...and then we recieved a miracle :O)

My best friend was in a car accident and suffered a traumatic brain injury. She was in the trama unit, in "grave condition" in a coma, on life full support for a month.

She managed to pull through and after a year at a rehab facility is whole. functioning and fine. She isn't the same person she was before the accident, but if you didn't know her before the accident you couldn't tell. . It wasn't a miracle. It was thanks to an entire team of medical specialists and modern medicine.


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[Nova]

I call domestic violence against a spouse impetuous. And not calm or reasonable.

Proof? I know there were rumors, but let's face the fact that lots of wild charges were made in the heat of this case.

ETA: Never mind. JBean has asked that we not rehash the Schiavo case.

 

[Nova]

What concerns me and what bothers me most about this new research, it reminds me too much of the debunked Facilitated Communication done with severe cases of autism.

Loved ones are not the ones that benefit from such claims, they're the ones taken advantage of in their vulnerable desperate state. Much like the psychic that preys upon the parents of missing children.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I couldn't agree more. I want to see a lot of scientific confirmation before we assume this patient is actually responding.

 

[noZme]

Vegetative patient Scott Routley says 'I'm not in pain'

The dadgum title of the article bugs me. It is misleading. Mr Routley did not speak & many people would not read the entire write-up to learn that while being questioned, it is percieved he responded in the negative.... I just needed to say that.

I hope this study will be proved to be a legitimate. As others have stated, it is so important to have your wishes in writing, signed, witnessed & filed. And while you are at it, please consider being an organ donor. In Georgia, we can check a box on our driver's license & that is legally binding.