Terri Schiavo

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Terri Schiavo, a 26 year old woman was admitted to a Florida hospital in 1990 because she collapsed at home and was not breathing for several minutes. Some suggest foul play while others are blaming it on an eating disorder Bulimia, that caused a potassium imbalance.
Soon after admission she was diagnosed with brain damage, although she was able to maintain her own blood pressure and heart rate Terri's power line to life was based on tube feedings
Terri never filled out a DNR/ DNI but it was said to be believed that a year before her accident Terri had made comments to family stating that she would never want to be kept alive with any form of life support.
-In the state of Florida oral expressions are just as legal as signed legal documents.
An on going battle that lasted 15 years would either result in 3 ways, 1) Terri's parents would win and she would keep the tube feeding in place, 2) Terri's husband would win and the tube feeding would be disconnected because " she would be angry if she knew she was living like that", and 3) Terri's body would give up on its own.
Through out this case it seems that every 3 days her tub feeding was disconnected by court order then appealed and reconnected. ( must admit not to crazy about this)
Michael Schiavo(husband) told WND: "I see a shell of somebody I used to know. Somebody I loved and adored very much. And now she's a shell. ... She's existing. That's not life."
- a very power statement.. and i agree with it. A person maybe be able to breathe on their own, maintain a heart beat blood pressure and maybe even an occasional facial gesture here and there, but the interaction, communication isn’t there any more just mind full of pictures and memories to remind you of what they were like.
In 2005 after a final tube feeding removal Terri Passed away. Unfortunately the only person who could really give us a clear answer and what should really be done was Terri.. This could have ended 15 years ago instead of an on going battle between the two families
 ( Terri in 1999)

Roller coaster of .....

Loveee   death.

Very interesting video, one of my friends had mentioned something about a euthanasia roller coaster that you actually die on due to the extreme G-force reached where instead of your blood supplying your brain, because of the force it moves to your lower extremities causing you first to faint then leading to death. Julijonas Urbonas gives a description from Trinity college in Dublin during their Human + exhibition.
http://youtu.be/lSEXmhldXQE


Here is an article from discovery news that goes a little more into detail on this ride of "elegance and euphoria". http://news.discovery.com/tech/euthanasia-sucicide-rollercoaster-ride-110919.html

What other countries think... hmmmm

Sweden has no law specifically proscribing assisted suicide. Instead the prosecutors might charge an assister with manslaughter.

Norway has criminal sanctions against assisted suicide by using the charge "accessory to murder". In cases where consent was given and the reasons compassionate, the courts pass lighter sentences

Finland has nothing in its criminal code about assisted suicide. Sometimes an assister will inform the law enforcement authorities of him or her of having aided someone in dying, and provided the action was justified, nothing more happens. Mostly it takes place among friends, who act discreetly.

Germany has had no penalty for either suicide or assisted suicide.

France does not have a specific law banning assisted suicide, but such a case could be prosecuted under 223-6 of the Penal Code for failure to assist a person in danger. Convictions are rare and punishments minor.

 Denmark has no specific law banning assisted suicide.

Italy the action is legally forbidden

England and Wales there is a possibility of up to 14 years imprisonment for anybody assisting a suicide.


Hungary has one of the highest suicide rates in the world.Assistance in suicide or attempted suicide is punishable by up to five years imprisonment

Russia, too, has no tolerance of any form of assisted suicide  ( of course they dont! those stern russians)

The only four places that today openly and legally, authorize active assistance in dying of patients, are:

1. Oregon (since l997, physician-assisted suicide only); ( See some american get it hip hip horrayy)
2. Switzerland (1941, physician and non-physician assisted suicide only);
3. Belgium (2002, permits 'euthanasia' but does not define the method;
4. Netherlands (voluntary euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide lawful since April 2002 but permitted by the courts since l984).

This is just a summary want the entire article? http://www.assistedsuicide.org/suicide_laws.html

Clip from you dont know Jack, Check it out!

http://youtu.be/5mADSPkfbSE
Just incase you dont have time to watch the whole movie , check out this clip! Thanks

Good Ol' Jack

I just watched the documentary on Dr. Jack Kevorkian on HBO. If my blogs don't do it for you and you want a well structured idea of physicians assisted suicide i highly recommend You don't know Jack directed by Barry Levinson and starring Al Pacino. This movie pretty much explains everything i can't seem to get out of my head. Dr. Kevorkians reasoning for helping people end their suffering is completely in good faith.
Dr. Kevorkian wasn't some creep who just liked to talk people into ending their lives, he simply offered them an option that no other medical treatment or doctor would.

Looking into his Bio it seems Dr. Kevorkian always had interest in the not so typical interest of the common folk. Whether it was running into to taking pictures of patients as they were dying to capture the physical changes that occur , his interest in performing medical experiments on death row prisoners, or experiment with trying to transfuse patients in need of blood with that of a dead corpse, his name was always in the medical spot light. The movie is great and really gives a clear view of his side of his beliefs. From making a $30.00 suicide machine from scrap metals, to the interaction Al Pacino embodied with the patients , its a clear statement of why he did what he did.

He successfully provided his services to about 130 people that ranged from Quadriplegic to Alzheimer's patients. In the article written in the NY Times it is quoted that the Detroit times said " Jack Kevorkian, faults and all was a major force for good in this society. He forced us to pay attention to one of the biggest elephants in society's living room: the fact that today vast numbers of people who are alive would rather be dead; who have lives not worth living."
"Well, let's take what people think is a dignified death. Christ was that a dignified death? Do you think it's dignified to hang from wood with nails through your hands and feet bleeding, hang for three or four days slowly dying, with people jabbing spears into your side, and people jeering you? Do you think that's dignified? Not by a long shot. Had Christ died in my van with people around Him who loved Him, the way it was, it would be far more dignified. In my rusty van."
-Dr. Jack Kevorkian - July 29, 1996

Thanks Ron

So I was told my blogs are to long lol, I'm new to this so spare me!

Palliative care and Physician assisted suicide: friends or foe?

Terminal wean  ( Legal and consent must be obtained from health care proxy or specified in living will)
n. the intentional reduction of medical life-support, especially mechanical or supplemental respiration, that permits a patient to die

Palliative sedation (also known as terminal sedation, continuous deep sedation, or sedation for intractable distress in the dying/of a dying patient)  (Legal and consent must be obtained from health care proxy or specified in living will)
 is the palliative practice of relieving distress in a terminally ill person in the last hours or days of a dying patient's life, usually by means of a continuous intravenous or subcutaneous infusion of a sedative drug.

Physician-assisted suicide (Illegal)
: The voluntary termination of one's own life by administration of a lethal substance with the direct or indirect assistance of a physician. Physician-assisted suicide is the practice of providing a competent patient with a prescription for medication for the patient to use with the primary intention of ending his or her own life.


Euthanasia (Illegal)
noun
1. Also called mercy killing. the act of putting to death painlessly or allowing to die, as by withholding extreme medical measures, a person or animal suffering from an incurable, especially a painful, disease or condition.
2. painless death.
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All those medically termed definitions in my opinion have one thing in common; they all “permit” a person to die.

When all else fails and the family has reached their end point of an emotional battle dealing with the critical state of a family member they gather together and decide what is best for their loved one.
The decision to " pull the plug" or terminally wean a loved one may indeed be one of the most heart breaking decisions a family has to make , especially when it is an unexpected circumstance.
What are the determining factors that lead up to this decision? All that can be done has been done and still -the outcome will not be a positive one? That the reality is there is no cure or the damage is irreversible? The  persons quality if life will be minimal next to none? How about the embedded guilt that you don't want to see that person suffer anymore.... that they wouldn't want to be dependent on a respirator for breathing, tubes for feeding and an entire staff of people dressing, bathing and ambulating them.
Some may look at it as giving up yet others see it as a state of peace and relief. Now if someone can choose to put another out of suffering why can we choose to do the same for ourselves. Do people look forward to the road of endless test, procedures, pain, and deterioration? Probably not. When the future is guaranteed and it's not the way you'd expect it to turn out, why not be able to depart on your own terms where people can remember you before the suffering sets in?

   For this once aspiring fashion major my 9-5 job isn't set in this lavish building off of 5th ave in NYC, but in an Intensive care unit where death and sadness surrounds me. My belief in the legalization of Physician assisted suicide and Euthanasia  is an acquired interest. I see the families making the decisions for their loved ones and  i wish i could say everyone always agrees but the reality is the mixture of emotions between strong willed people don't always make it an easy decision.
I see families fight and cry....then fight and cry some more, yet once the decision is made and palliative care is administered some families sit around the patient and fill the room with  laughter and talk about memories overflowing with love. Granted death results from the underlying medical condition but the way they exit is made by a single choice.
If that patient knew that their future would include days or even weeks on life support at the peak of their illness, before getting to that point where the decision gets put on everyone other then the patient,would it be that bad if we were given the option of  a physician assisted suicide?




http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=32841  
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palliative_sedation    -yeah I know not the best be I like the definition.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/euthanasia