Terri Schiavo Interview

1277 Words3 Pages

In February of 1990 a woman named Terri Schiavo collapsed at home suffering cardiac arrest in her home in St. Petersburg, Florida. She was resuscitated but had severe brain damage because she had no oxygen going to her brain for several minutes. Terri was severely brain damaged and in a vegetative state but could still breathe and maintain a heart beat on her own. After two and a half months and no signs of improvement, impaired vision, and the inability to move her arms and legs she needed a feeding tube to sustain her life since she seemed to be in a persistent vegetative state. For 2 years doctors attempted speech and physical therapy with no success. In 1998 Schiavos husband claimed she would not want to live in that quality of life without a prospect of recovery so he tried several times over the course of many years to pull the feeding tube so she could pass. Bob and Mary Schindler challenged and fought for a …show more content…

Once I explained exactly what a living will is because some were unaware they were very comfortable with the idea of filling out a living will. The responses that I got all varied to different degrees. My brother stated that he did not yet have a living will but that they are very important to have and everyone should get one. He said that his wishes would be to pretty much “pull the plug in every circumstance”. He absolutely did not want to be put on life support, be artificially supplied with food, or get life sustaining drugs, machines, or other medical procedures. My mother had wishes the same as I would have which is to consider the circumstances and give me a month to evaluate if I have the possibility of making a full recovery. If there is no hope of having a full recovery then I want all life sustaining measures to be stopped because I don’t in any way want to be a burden on

Show More
Related

  • The Strange Case of Marlise Munoz and John Peter Smith Hospital

    1005 Words  | 3 Pages

    Mclean, Paul C. “Texas is keeping a dead woman on life support despite her family’s wishes.” the guardian. The Guardian. 10 Jan. 2014. Web. 08 Feb. 2014.

    Read More

  • The Terry Shiavo Story

    1032 Words  | 3 Pages

    Mr. Shiavo was doing his job as a caretaker for his wife, taking her to get the necessary treatment that she needed and required, and really and truly sticking by his wife in such a rough circumstance. He stated that "my wife had said she would never want to be kept alive if she were in a vegetative state". (http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/schiavo/). He was just honoring what she had wanted to do if this type of situation would ever happen, and he was obeying what she wanted. I have to totally agree with him, and how he tried and did take care of Terry. It gets hard on families and also it can take a toll of them when there is a sick family member who is in need of 24 hour care. Ethically, I see that Michael was right; however I am also in limbo to where I think he could have turned Terry's custody over to her parents, even though he did honor what she wanted. Sometimes families find themselves in a comfort zone by trying to come to peace with there loved ones by sitting there with there loved ones while they are on the machine. I couldn't imagine this struggle between Terry's family and Michael.

    Read More

  • Terri Schiavo: A Tragedy Compounded

    917 Words  | 2 Pages

    Everyone knows that the way information is presented is important in any argument, written or spoken. Therefore, you want to make sure that you use techniques to further inspire a reader to join your side, while also remaining true to the facts. In his article “Terri Schiavo — A Tragedy Compounded,” Timothy E. Quill does exactly that. It’s clear from the beginning that Quill thinks the outcome of the case, where Terri Schiavo’s family and husband ended up in a legal battle that kept her life sustained for 15 years, was wrong. Quill uses stylistic choices to provoke reader’s emotions and provide a sense of neutrality to persuade readers to agree with him.

    Read More

  • Terri Schiavo Life or Death

    636 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the Chicago Tribune it stated that some supporters of the Schindlers has doubts of Mr. Schiavo ethics and his fitness for guardianship of Terri. They bought forward affidavits from his former girlfriends saying that they swore he confided in them stating he had no idea what his wife’s end-of-life wishes were. Also former care-givers of Terri stated that Mr. Schiavo was abusive to the home nursing staff and expressed the wish that Terri was dead. I feel this evidence is enough to put the feeding tube back in. To have so many people contest want Mr. Schiavo was saying and to just have the courts ignore it over and over again, I feel is unconstitutional.

    Read More

  • Critical Analysis Of Margaret Edson's 'Wit'

    1276 Words  | 3 Pages

    Although Vivian lived a life as a harsh individual, approaching death is a frightening time. Vivian should have been treated with more respect, professionalism, better communication, and with dignity. I believe that she could have had a better outcome in her recovery process even through the fatality of her illness she would have at least died in peace and dignity. Although Vivian didn’t have anyone that could help mindfully guide her through her decisions regarding her diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis for recovery the staff at the hospital should have been more concerned about advocating for her than they were with being concerned with using her for research.

    Read More

  • Advance Care Directives

    1162 Words  | 3 Pages

    As we get older and delve into the real world, it is important to start thinking about end-of-life care and advance directives. Although it is something no one wants to imagine, there is an absolute necessity for living wills and a power of attorney. Learning about the Patient Self-Determination Act and the different legal basis in where you live is important because it will help people understand why advance care directives are so important. Although there are several barriers in implementing advance care directives, there are also several actions that healthcare professionals can take to overcome these obstacles. These are also important to know about, especially for someone going into the medical field.

    Read More

  • Immanuel Kant's The Quinlan Case

    1386 Words  | 3 Pages

    In an effort to provide the standard of care for such a patient the treating physicians placed Ms. Quinlan on mechanical ventilation preserving her basic life function. Ms. Quinlan’s condition persisted in a vegetative state for an extended period of time creating the ethical dilemma of quality of life, the right to choose, the right to privacy, and the end of life decision. The Quilan family believed they had their daughter’s best interests and her own personal wishes with regard to end of life treatment. The case became complicated with regard to Karen’s long-term care from the perspective of the attending physicians, the medical community, the legal community local/state/federal case law and the catholic hospital tenants. The attending physicians believed their obligation was to preserve life but feared legal action both criminal and malpractice if they instituted end of life procedures. There was prior case law to provide guidance for legal resolution of this case. The catholic hospital in New Jersey, St. Clare’s, and Vatican stated this was going down a slippery slope to legalization of euthanasia. The case continued for 11 years and 2 months with gaining national attention. The resolution was obtained following Karen’s father being granted guardianship and ultimately made decisions on Karen’s behalf regarding future medical

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of The Death With Dignity Act

    1181 Words  | 3 Pages

    She was a 29 year old newlywed with a terminal brain tumor that lived in California. After learning about her tumor she had several procedures done to attempt to stop the progression of the growth of the tumor. Unfortunately, not only did the tumor not slow down, it actually became more aggressive. The doctors gave Brittany six months to live. The doctors presented her with options of treatment where the hair of her scalp would be singed off and her head left with first-degree burns, among others. She had to weigh her options and determine her quality of life. Her and her husband came to the difficult conclusion that there was no treatment that would save her life and all the treatments that were suggested to her would destroy the quality of the time she had left. She did not want to put her family through the nightmare of watching her decline and suffer on hospice and so she decided that death with dignity is what she wanted to

    Read More

  • Case Study Terri Schiavo

    836 Words  | 2 Pages

    Terri Schiavo collapsed on February 25, 1990 in her Florida home from an “ice tea diet” which was related to her bulimia that was the result of a potassium deficiency. Due to her heart stopping for five minutes, Terri end up with brain damage. This brain damage was permanent and made Terri go into a vegetative state for the last fifteen years of her life. The doctors stated that there was no chance that she would return to normal someday. It wouldn’t be right to keep her on life support. It would bring a lot of change in hers and the people in her life.

    Read More

  • THE CONTROVERSIAL CASE OF ETHICS VS LAW THERESA MARIE SCHIAVO

    737 Words  | 2 Pages

    The case surrounding Theresa Marie Schindler’s medical condition and guardianship is one that has been infamous in the past years. The case involved many lawsuits and tussles between what was the ethical and lawful action to execute. This paper seeks to shed more light on some key events and decisions, as well as give an opinion on how the case was handled. This is especially in regards to the ethical and lawful issues involved.

    Read More

  • Euthanasia and Doctor-Assisted Suicide - The Will to Live

    596 Words  | 2 Pages

    The denial of food and fluids to Terri Schindler-Schiavo, the 36 year old Florida woman in a vegetative state since a heart attack, has caused Americans to ponder the fact that any one of them could be in this woman's place for a variety of reasons, like an auto accident, fall, mishap, etc. And most Americans don't want to be treated by their family as Terri is being treated by her husband - being denied food and fluids in order to hasten death.

    Read More

  • Legalization Of Euthanasia Essay

    1093 Words  | 3 Pages

    Recently, a family decided to end treatment for their 21 month old baby girl in the only “humane way” possible: nutrition withdrawal (Bever, 2014). In September, 19-month old Natalie Newton wandered into the family’s pool unsupervised by her parents. When she was found, Natalie was blue in the face from lack of oxygen and immediately rushed to the hospital. Though they were able to revive her, doctors informed the family that Natalie would not live; she was deaf, blind, unable to move and ultimately brain dead from being withdrawn from oxygen for as long as she had been. While Natalie remained immobile and dead to the world, her parents begged the physicians to euthanize their child. However, currently in the state of Texas, euthanziation is illegal and the hospital’s ethics committee would not allow it. The only method they allowed that they considered humane, was to withhold both nutrition and hydration from Natalie. While it’s always traumatic for any parent to watch their child die, the Newton’s looked on as it took nine full days for Natalie to finally pass away from lack of nutrition. The parents argue ...

    Read More

  • DR): Advance Directive Or Advance Directive?

    1102 Words  | 3 Pages

    While navigating the abundant and sometimes confusing legal language of advance directives can be time consuming, it would benefit every person to consider their end of life wishes and have some form of written statement available for their doctor and family to understand those wishes. Doing this in advance can prevent emotional anguish, suffering and expensive litigation. In the end, clearly and when possible, written, documentation of a medical directive, a living will, or a chosen health care power of attorney will lessen the burden for the medical professionals and family of a dying or incapacitated person.

    Read More

  • Essay On End Of Life Care Plan

    1361 Words  | 3 Pages

    The care of patients at the end of their live should be as humane and respectful to help them cope with the accompanying prognosis of the end of their lives. The reality of this situation is that all too often, the care a patient receives at the end of their life is quite different and generally not performed well. The healthcare system of the United States does not perform well within the scope of providing the patient with by all means a distress and pain free palliative or hospice care plan. To often patients do not have a specific plan implemented on how they wish to have their end of life care carried out for them. End of life decisions are frequently left to the decision of family member's or physicians who may not know what the patient needs are beforehand or is not acting in the patient's best wishes. This places the unenviable task of choosing care for the patient instead of the patient having a carefully written out plan on how to carry out their final days. A strategy that can improve the rate of care that patients receive and improve the healthcare system in general would be to have the patient create a end of life care plan with their primary care physician one to two years prior to when the physician feels that the patient is near the end of their life. This would put the decision making power on the patient and it would improve the quality of care the patient receives when they are at the end of their life. By developing a specific care plan, the patient would be in control of their wishes on how they would like their care to be handled when the time of death nears. We can identify strengths and weakness with this strategy and implement changes to the strategy to improve the overall system of care with...

    Read More

  • Euthanasia Should Be Legal

    2051 Words  | 5 Pages

    Death is a personal experience and to ensure loved one’s wishes, there has to be the ‘what if’ conversation. It is natural to talk about the possible end with loved ones after marriage and having children. Living wills are obtained and do not resuscitate orders, thoughts of a possible guardian for the children, life insurance, appointing a health care agent, and any other loose ends that will ensure the well being of the family. A health care agent is someone who the patient designates to make medical decisions, if decisions cannot be made generally. The chosen agent should be a person who knows the wishes on the extent of medical care treatment wanted. The appointed health care agent should be someone who is not afraid to ask questions of the healthcare professionals to get information needed to make decisions and be assertive to ensure that wishes are respected. (Healthcare Agents, n.d.).

    Read More

More about Terri Schiavo Interview

Open Document