Do you support suicide assistance?

[shel90]

Well, her heart was still beatin' at that time and they should have kept Terri on a feedin' tube.

and kept her like that for another 50 years or even longer? What if she outlives all of her relatives?

 

[Angel]

I could be wrong but.... I don't even think she could swallow. If she could, what was the purpose of the feeding tube? Without the feed tubes, you'd have to ram food down her throat, which could choke her.

From what I've read she wasn't able to feed herself but others believe she wasn't able to swallow so I dunno.

Only her parents would know since they were with her every step.

 

[shel90]

Then they would have to feed her by hands everyday if there weren't any feeding tubes.

It's cruel to starve someone to death.

But if her brain was unable to send signals to the muscle to perform the job of swallowing, she probably would have choked to death from people trying to feed her with their hands. I think that is more cruel..not that I agree about starving someone to death is humane but either way, it would have resulted in suffering. Anyways...having said that, the point is her brain was unable to function and without the brain functioning the body will die.

 

[Oceanbreeze]

I don't think you get it. I will explain it again. If, a patient's heart stop beatin' and that a doctor or paramedic attempts to save a patient's life by usin' defibrillator -- if it don't success to save a patient's life, then that means a patient's heart decided to shut down without givin' an effort. Who says that I must be against CPR ?

Just because you can do it, should you?

 

[shel90]

Are you saying that she was unable to give her husband his "needs" so he has every right to jump in bed with someone else?

Just wanted to make sure I'm reading you correctly.

I dont know what Jillo's intentions were with that comment but for me, I would have consented for my husband to divorce me if I was brain dead. That's just me and my husband has told me the same but we both we probably wouldnt do it anyway.

 

[Daredevel7]

I don't think you get it. I will explain it again. If, a patient's heart stop beatin' and that a doctor or paramedic attempts to save a patient's life by usin' defibrillator -- if it don't success to save a patient's life, then that means a patient's heart decided to shut down without givin' an effort. Who says that I must be against CPR ?

Just so I get this straight, you are for any method to keep a person alive right? In your view, humans must do everything humanely possible to keep someone alive, correct?

 

[Angel]

why worry about heart if the person is brain-dead which means... ZERO chance of recovery... ZERO chance of normality... there's no miracle at all... not even 0.001% unless Jesus Christ himself descended from the heaven and breathed a life into her. Why do you want a dead body to continue to live on by machines? Heart itself does not define a person... or a soul. It's in the brain and that brain is long gone long time ago.

Please keep in mind Terri had brain damage and I believe in miracle.

 

[Maria]

Just so I get this straight, you are for any method to keep a person alive right? In your view, humans must do everything humanely possible to keep someone alive, correct?

Yes. What's your thoughts on this issue, if I may ask ?

 

[Oceanbreeze]

Please keep in mind Terri had brain damage and I believe in miracle.

Are you willing to hold your breath hoping for that miracle?

I'm not.

 

[Angel]

I dont know what Jillo's intentions were with that comment but for me, I would have consented for my husband to divorce me if I was brain dead. That's just me and my husband has told me the same but we both we probably wouldnt do it anyway.

That's good that you and your husband talked about this.

 

[Angel]

Are you willing to hold your breath hoping for that miracle?

I'm not.

Yes as long as it takes.

 

[shel90]

That's good that you and your husband talked about this.

Yea, but we dont have it in writing so ..better get that in writing, heh?

I dont think he will divorce me nor I will if we should be put in this situation. Who knows and I hope we will never be put in that situation and I wouldnt wish that on anyone. What happened with Terri was tragic.

 

[Jiro]

See ? That's what I am meanin' about the heart. The body don't die until the heart stop beatin', then it dies.

so... that goes back to my question - at what point should we continue... I find your definition of death interesting. My opinion coincides with medical definition - if you are brain dead, that's when you died.. not heart.

No one knows. Maybe, it will cut her life short than expect because, of germs, infections and so on. It's why I kept pressin' to say that it is best to leave the " nature " alone to take its place and it will decide on its own.

wow you must be really against modern medicine... even tylenol. I guess your mortality rate is not going to be pretty....

 

[Daredevel7]

Yes. What's your thoughts on this issue, if I may ask ?

In the case of terminal illness, I think a person should choose whether to die or not.

In the case of brain dead, I am only concerned for legal ramifications in this issue. There needs to be a lot of barriers, double checking, triple checking to make sure no one takes advantage. Personally, I'd want someone to kill me if I was brain dead.

If someone is brain dead, they are dead to me. Sounds horrible I know, but that's life. Think about it this way, if someone you loved all of sudden is brain dead, are you telling me that you are still happy because they are still alive?

Also, if you are brain dead, you don't mind staying alive? Wasting bills? Burdening on others? Wasting food? Pooping on yourself? Peeing on yourself? Because of that 1 in a million chance you may wake up?

 

[Angel]

Yea, but we dont have it in writing so ..better get that in writing, heh?

I dont think he will divorce me nor I will if we should be put in this situation. Who knows and I hope we will never be put in that situation and I wouldnt wish that on anyone. What happened with Terri was tragic.

Yes it was, I was there when Terri died. I even have pictures too.

My husband and I don't have a living will either but we did talked about it when all this had happened.

It would be a good idea to have it written down just in case ya know.

 

[jillio]

For your information, I ain't worry. It is just that I don't agree about the brain-dead thing that some of you believe it died first before the heart. Brain-dead don't make the body turnin' BLUE until the heart stops beatin' then it will turn BLUE - meanin' that the body is officially DEAD.

Well, the medical community would disagree with you on that one. The body turning blue actually doesn't happen just because the heart stopped beating. The heart can still be beating,and a body can turn blue. So if you are using turning blue as your criteria for when death occurs, then you would be calling many people dead who aren't.

Likewise, the heart can go into A-fib or D-fib and the brain still be active. The patient is shocked to restart the heart, or to stop it and restart it. The brain has not been damaged in this case, and therefore, even though the heart stopped, the patient was not dead because brain activity continued.

 

[Byrdie714]

In the case of terminal illness, I think a person should choose whether to die or not.

In the case of brain dead, I am only concerned for legal ramifications in this issue. There needs to be a lot of barriers, double checking, triple checking to make sure no one takes advantage. Personally, I'd want someone to kill me if I was brain dead.

If someone is brain dead, they are dead to me. Sounds horrible I know, but that's life. Think about it this way, if someone you loved all of sudden is brain dead, are you telling me that you are still happy because they are still alive?

Also, if you are brain dead, you don't mind staying alive? Wasting bills? Burdening on others? Wasting food? Pooping on yourself? Peeing on yourself? Because of that 1 in a million chance you may wake up?

Quality of Life vs. Quantity of Life.

 

[Oceanbreeze]

Well, the medical community would disagree with you on that one. The body turning blue actually doesn't happen just because the heart stopped beating. The heart can still be beating,and a body can turn blue. So if you are using turning blue as your criteria for when death occurs, then you would be calling many people dead who aren't.

Likewise, the heart can go into A-fib or D-fib and the brain still be active. The patient is shocked to restart the heart, or to stop it and restart it. The brain has not been damaged in this case, and therefore, even though the heart stopped, the patient was not dead because brain activity continued.

Yup. The reason we turn blue has to do blood pressure. As it falls, the blood isn't able to circulate and we turn blue. I turned blue around my lips when I went into shock. I was this awful gray color otherwise, but had a blue-ish tinge around my lips. My heart was still beating and I was conscience, but I still turned blue.

 

[jillio]

Quality of Life vs. Quantity of Life.

Exactly.

 

[jillio]

Yup. The reason we turn blue has to do blood pressure. As it falls, the blood isn't able to circulate and we turn blue. I turned blue around my lips when I went into shock. I was this awful gray color otherwise, but had a blue-ish tinge around my lips. My heart was still beating and I was conscience, but I still turned blue.

Yep. Oxygen reduced in the blood stream. Hypoxia.