A Thirteen Year War: On Terri Schiavo

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A Thirteen Year War: On Terri Schiavo

Introduction

        At the age of twenty-seven, three years after marrying Michael Schiavo, Terri Schiavo suffered from cardiac arrest and severe loss of oxygen to the brain. Her husband immediately called 9-1-1 and Terri was rushed to the hospital. Her heart attack was said to be caused by an imbalance of potassium, but the real reason is unknown. Unfortunately, the doctors could not help Terri, and she never regained consciousness. In August of 1990, six months after the incident, Terri was sent home for her husband and family to care for. In November, she was taken to California for further treatment and diagnostics.  Soon thereafter, Michael and Terri's family stopped living together and he received one million dollars in a medical malpractice claim over Terri's care. The following year, Terri was moved to a nursing home where the war began between the Schiavos and the Schindlers.

        In 1998 a petition to the court was filed. A decision needed to be made whether or not Terri's feeding tube should be removed. Michael Schiavo took the stance for her tube to be removed, while her parents opted to spare her corpse and keep her on the feeding tube. Terri's feeding tube had been removed and reinstated over and over and new treaments on Terri have been made in the past thirteen years. Michael Schiavo continues to fight for Terri's "wishes" and her parents continue to fight back.

        This war has been set in the hearts of not only the family, but also the community. The big question that races through everyone's heads is, "Should Mrs. Schiavo live or die?" a topic that will always remain unanswered. The battle of Schindler versus Schiavo needs to end and Terri must move on to something better; perhaps, heaven. Over a decade of trauma is enough and it is now time for peace to be made.

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        Terri Schiavo's heart stopped and oxygen was shut off to her brain for fourteen minutes. She suffered "severe hypoxic brain damage" [1]. The damage left her with no functions and ability of any type of physical work. She was stuck on a feeding tube and now it has become her only way to living. Physicians say that her body may be alive, but she is not.

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        According to the numerous doctors Terri Schiavo has seen all over Florida, and out of state, she has been in a "persistent vegitative state." Experts at the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke says that PVS, as it shall be called, is a state in which people "have lost their thinking abilities and awareness         of their surroundings, but retain non-cognitive functions and normal sleeping patters. Spontaneous         movements may occur, and the eyes may be open in response to external stimuli" [2].

Despite Terri's obvious condition, doctors still present both sides to the issue, whether of not she falls under ...

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