Schiavo post-mortem

[Spence]

Terri Schiavo did not suffer any trauma prior to her 1990 collapse and her brain was about half of normal size when she died, according to results released Wednesday of an autopsy conducted on the severely brain-damaged woman.

Pinellas-Pasco Medical Examiner Jon Thogmartin concluded that there was no evidence of strangulation or other trauma leading to her collapse. He also said she did not appear to have suffered a heart attack.

Source

You will recall that Schiavo's parents and siblings accused her husband of causing her vegetative condition by physically assaulting her. The medical examiner has ruled that bit of vicious slander out by finding no trauma prior to her collapse. I believe the examiner also said she could never be fed by hand and that she was also blind. More to come...

[fent]

Originally Posted by Spence

Source

You will recall that Schiavo's parents and siblings accused her husband of causing her vegetative condition by physically assaulting her. The medical examiner has ruled that bit of vicious slander out by finding no trauma prior to her collapse. I believe the examiner also said she could never be fed by hand and that she was also blind. More to come...

just heard this stuff on the TV behind me. maybe this whole thing will finally pass us by...doubtful

[Spence]

Originally Posted by fentonator

just heard this stuff on the TV behind me. maybe this whole thing will finally pass us by...doubtful

I suspect the fundis will never let Jeb get away from it. He did everything he could for those fundis except storm the hospital and violate the court order with violence. And because he refused to do that, they'll hate him forever. Oh, well. He chose his friends and, apparently, chose poorly.

[Spence]

Terri Schiavo did not suffer any trauma prior to her 1990 collapse and her brain was about half of normal size when she died, according to results released Wednesday of an autopsy conducted on the severely brain-damaged woman.

Pinellas-Pasco Medical Examiner Jon Thogmartin concluded that there was no evidence of strangulation or other trauma leading to her collapse. He also said she did not appear to have suffered a heart attack and there was no evidence that she was given harmful drugs or other substances prior to her death.

Autopsy results on the 41-year-old brain damaged woman were made public Wednesday, more than two months after Schiavo's death ended an internationally watched right-to-die battle that engulfed the courts, Congress and the White House and divided the country.

She died from dehydration, he said.

He said she would not have been able to eat or drink if she had been given food by mouth as her parents' requested.

"Removal of her feeding tube would have resulted in her death whether she was fed or hydrated by mouth or not," Thogmartin told reporters.

Thogmartin said that Schiavo's brain was about half of its expected size when she died March 31 in a Pinellas Park hospice, 13 days after her feeding tube was removed.

"... This damage was irreversible, and no amount of therapy or treatment would have regenerated the massive loss of neurons."

Source

[Spence]

Thogmartin says her brain was "profoundly atrophied" -- and that the damage was "irreversable." He also says, "The vision centers of her brain were dead" -- meaning she was blind.

Source

So, she was blind. How pathetic is this then?:

Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), a renowned heart surgeon before becoming Senate majority leader, went to the floor late Thursday night for the second time in 12 hours to argue that Florida doctors had erred in saying Terri Schiavo is in a “persistent vegetative state.”

“I question it based on a review of the video footage which I spent an hour or so looking at last night in my office,” he said in a lengthy speech in which he quoted medical texts and standards. “She certainly seems to respond to visual stimuli.”

Source

Thanks for the diagnosis, "Doctor" Frist.

[CNYSkinFan]

Think the parents of schiavo and their fellow Republican lawmakers should be charged with a form of fraud for that "video" of Terri "responding". It was obviously seriously edited and taken out of context. I am so sick of the GOP doing this and NO ONE holding them accountable. This was a complete mess brought about by the panderers on the religious right. (Man months later and I still get mad at that circus).

Fent, you want to put this behind us. But the damage was done. The next time this comes up the federal court system has precedent that they can get involved. Judges were threatened, contracts on their lives taken, all because the GOP leaders like Tom Delay could not be adults and show a modicum of respect and dignity for the dying.

Democrats were called vultures and rejoicing at Terri's death. I wonder if any apologies will come our way.

[fent]

Originally Posted by CNYSkinFan

Think the parents of schiavo and their fellow Republican lawmakers should be charged with a form of fraud for that "video" of Terri "responding". It was obviously seriously edited and taken out of context. I am so sick of the GOP doing this and NO ONE holding them accountable. This was a complete mess brought about by the panderers on the religious right. (Man months later and I still get mad at that circus).

Fent, you want to put this behind us. But the damage was done. The next time this comes up the federal court system has precedent that they can get involved. Judges were threatened, contracts on their lives taken, all because the GOP leaders like Tom Delay could not be adults and show a modicum of respect and dignity for the dying.

Democrats were called vultures and rejoicing at Terri's death. I wonder if any apologies will come our way.

Dustin, while the religious right might have been the driving force behind this, i can pull the votes out on this matter to show you that it was truly a bi-partisan clusterSPENCE. put down the hate for a moment and realize that this was EVERYBODY'S screwup.

[BurgundyNGold]

Originally Posted by fentonator

Dustin, while the religious right might have been the driving force behind this, i can pull the votes out on this matter to show you that it was truly a bi-partisan clusterSPENCE. put down the hate for a moment and realize that this was EVERYBODY'S screwup.

I really don't know why anybody even cared about this person. More people need to find constructive uses for their time... like discussing Redskins football in June.

[Axegrinder]

Senator/Doctor Frist gave his own personal assessment during this terrible ordeal.
All this proves to me is that he is indeed a proctologist!

[PennSkinsFan]

This is one of the two major issues that has sunk Santroum's re-election chances. Combining this with his backing of the bush SS plan has crippled him.

The fact of the matter is, this was a mistake by the GOP to get involved with it, and they know it. They have hurt themselves when they thought they would be gaining public opinion. They underestimated the American frame of mind that the Federal government was WAY OVERSTEPPING its bounds and intervening in personal situations, an act unbecoming of a national institution like Congress.

[Axegrinder]

How long before the GOP has the medical examiner's license revoked?
When does the slander begin?
When is his book coming out?
Why does he hate human life?

[PyroGenic]

Originally Posted by Axegrinder

Why does he hate human life?

some life



imagine that ^ with a lot less moving from side to side and blind

[sherry the moron]

* * * http://boortz.com/nuze/index.html * * *

Correct me if I'm wrong .. but when the Terri Schiavo matter was consuming front pages and broadcast news, wasn't the issue whether or not she was reacting to her parents and watching that balloon floating around her room? She should not be allowed to die, people said, because with rehab she would improve and then her family could take her to malls and birthday parties and such.

Well, the autopsy results are in. [full autopsy pdf] There was no way that Terri Schiavo could benefit in any way from rehabilitation therapy. What's more, she had no cognitive abilities. In this context the finding means that Terri could not engage in any conscious intellectual activity. She could not participate in or understand conversations. She could not communicate. She never did try to say "I want to live." She had no awareness or understanding of the state she was in, or of the controversy surrounding her. She could not see, so that rules out those stories of her watching that Mickey Mouse balloon floating around her room. It's safe to say that she was not aware of her own existence on any conscious level.

And what about those beatings that we were all-but assured that Michael Schiavo delivered to Terri Schiavo? A few months ago we were being told that Terri had been strangled by her husband. The autopsy showed no indication whatsoever of any abuse or neglect. We were being told that she had multiple broken bones ... a sure sign that she had been abused, possibly beaten. The autopsy showed no broken bones. The language of the autopsy is clear ... "no fractures."

So ... where did that leave those who were fighting so hard to keep the life form that used to be Terri Schiavo alive? Judging from the coverage of yesterday's events, they have nothing to dwell on now except for the question of how she got into this tragic state in the first place. There must be some way to continue the demonization of Michael Schiavo ... so let's concentrate on what happened to Terri Schiavo in 1990. The autopsy says that she didn't have a heart attack. The autopsy also says that there was no evidence of bulimia. I've heard some commentators say "We now know that it wasn't bulimia." Sorry, that's incorrect. We don't know that. We just know that there was no evidence of bulimia. But we are left with the question of just what happened to cause Terri's collapse. Since the autopsy couldn't tell us, the new story line must be that it was somehow Michael's fault. Terri Schiavo's brother was calling for more questioning of Michael Schiavo yesterday. We at the Boortz show were getting emails saying that the autopsy "proved" that Michael abused Terri. Amazing.

Look .. I understand the emotionalism behind this. I understand that tens of thousands of Americans who have invested themselves so heavily in the anti-choice movement placed the cause of Terri Schiavo at the center of their universe. I also understand that thousands more truly believed that Terri was communicating with her parents and watching balloons float around. They earnestly felt that with rehab treatment Terri would soon return to some semblance of a normal life. They were sure that Terri was aware that the courts were considering whether or not to remove her feeding tube, and somewhere inside she was pleading to be allowed to live. It's tough to admit that you were wrong. Been there many times. You believe something so strongly, only to find out that you were profoundly mistaken. You find out that Terri Schiavo's brain was reduced to half its normal size. She had no cognitive abilities. She was not aware of her own existence. She didn't even know she was alive, and therefore couldn't know that death was a possibility. She wasn't there. All that was left was the remains of the body that once had been Terri Schiavo .. clinging to the last threads of life.

I cannot relate to those who wanted to use artificial means to prolong the life functions of this otherwise useless body for decades more, but I can understand their dedication to life. Yesterday on the show we heard from some people who, in light of the autopsy findings, have changed their minds. They now understand that allowing her body to continue the process of dying was the humane and right thing to do. Others are not emotionally strong enough to accept this reality, and they'll now focus their efforts on Michael Schiavo. They'll now concentrate on trying to prove that he was abusive, though there is no evidence to support that claim.

[Spence]

Many, many people owe Michael Schiavo a big shamefaced apology. He'll never receive it. The shameless apologize for nothing.

[sherry the moron]

Originally Posted by Spence

Many, many people owe Michael Schiavo a big shamefaced apology. He'll never receive it. The shameless apologize for nothing.

true.
even bill clinton apologized,
finally