OT: SS & Chuck: I have read both of your post and I understand how you came to the conclusion that letting Terri go this way is wrong. I can assure you that in this case it is not. The media took hours and hours of film only to show that one picture that led people to think that Terri shows some reaction of life. This is totally untrue and I can assure you of that fact. If you had talked to the Doctors that did a complete and through exam of Terri, then I am sure that in this case your opinion would be different than it is now. Even though the brain can be medically dead, the body can substain from death as we know it, if the heart and lungs are strong and continue to work. Bascially you have a body that continues to funtion with no life what so ever and never will be again. I don't have the time right now to go into explaining all the true medical facts of this case and why I know that the courts have made the right decision. I will tell you that I personally saw Terri's brain scan and that there would never be any kind of life what so ever and hasn't been for almost 15 years now. The Doctors told my family that if this had been their own wife or child that they would have ended this poor womens situation weeks after being 100% sure of their findings. The medical facts in this case have never changed in all these years and never will according to some of the best Doctors that have been involved with this case on a personal bases. Terri's parents have never let go, due to being in complete denial of the true medical facts and findings. You would have to have personally lived through this same situation to fully understand what decision you would make for your own loved one. You make that decision on whats best for that loved one and not what is best for yourself. It is a very hard and thought out decision, but in a case just like this one, you must finally come to reality and let go. The law does not allow you to give medication for the body to finally be put to rest in a situation like this. The only legal alternative that you have for a loved one, is to allow the body to starve until the heart and lungs finally shut down. My younger sister lived in Pinellas county where Terri lives and where we were born. It is a stones throw away from where I live now. Last April my sister ended up in the very same situation as Terri is in. We talked to some of the same Doctors and went over this same case. We also brought in some outside Doctors to view her case seperately to make 100% sure. The brain scans and body funtions were the same as in Terri's case. My brother in law, brother, her kids and myself made the only decision we could make under the same situation as Terri is in and that decision was made with love and full understanding of the medical facts and findings. We as humans could not change those facts no matter how much we loved her. My sister was medically gone and would never return to any kind of life, but that her heart and lungs were very strong and it would probably take 7 to 10 days for the body to shut down with out food or water. It was the only legal way to let her go. It ended up being 13 days, but she was finally put to rest where she herself would have wanted to be under those conditions. I can't really blame the parents for their actions of love and lack of excepting medical reality. I do blame the media and always will. Truth, facts, reality and the complete medical findings do make a big difference in how we make a very difficult decision when it comes to life and what is not life at all and never will be again. Respectfully, Walk
AI
