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Mar. 17, 2005 I am in no way here to cause anyone to change their thoughts on Terri Schiavo's condition. Nor do I pretend to have the answer to the very important question. "Will She feel it if we let her go?" My only purpose is to pass on to you my own experience in what may be a similar case. Twenty-one years ago, I met and married the love of my life. We camped,hunted,jogged,were even chastized by her parents and our friends for never being home. Our life was one of non stop going and we loved every minute of it. If you wanted to see us, you had to have a backpack on and be ready to walk a few miles back into the woods to find us camping near the lake. One year almost to the day, Sheila burned her finger while cooking breakfast. Within days, her finger was black and her hands began to follow suit. We had a baby girl that was less than a year old. After some hospital stays and a lot of doctors she was diagnosed with Raynauds Syndrome. She continued to weaken and spent a great deal of time in the hospital. Finally the doctors discovered she had polymyositus,one of the 40 nueromuscular diseases that make up the list of Muscular Dystrophies. Meds were changed and treatment plans revised until she was able to finally come home. We enjoyed almost a full year of remission and in that time found that we were going to have another baby. The pregnancy brought the disease back to the surface and away we went again. She spent the last 5 months of her pregnancy in the hospital, not coming home in between. Her illness continued to chew away at her muscles and my daughter was taken 7 weeks early. Weighing in at 3lbs., she stayed in the hospital for almost 7 weeks. My wife remained in the hospital for another 5 months after my daughter came home with me. My day consisted of waking at 7a.m., feeding my daughters, going to spend the day with their mother until 2p.m.,going to work until midnight,stopping by to see my wife on the way home, feeding my youngest at 1a.m., eating dinner, falling asleep at 3a.m., getting up at 4 to feed my daughter,sleeping from 5 to 7a.m. and starting all over again. Throughout the next 18 years she was hospitalized 38 more times. She stayed in the hospital for over one year straight during one of these times. Many times she could not feed herself and 11 times during those years, I was called to the hospital to tell me she would not live through the night. She didn't know where she was and laid in a fetal position, seldom moving or speaking. But she always recovered and came home. Three years ago, following an operation, she aspirated during recovery. She slipped into a coma and was placed on 100% life support. I was asked what I wanted to do and I responded "Whatever needs to be done to keep her alive!" I did this because I had seen the fight inside of her through many,many such times. Each time she came back to me, we lived and made more memories. She was a fighter from the start and I was not going to be the one to take that fight from her. She remained in the coma for almost 60 days and I never left the hospital for those 60 days. If they removed the life support, she would die. I read novels to her,sang songs to her,played music for her and prayed for her every day. Though the doctors told me they were unsure that she could even hear me, I never stopped. Though she was deep in sleep, I know in my heart that she could feel pain and hear me. After sixty days and many attempts to wake her {her heart would fail her when they tried to wake her} she did wake up. Thinking it was the day of the surgery, she had no idea that 2 months of her life had passed her by. She did however recall hearing me read to her, though she didn't know where I was. Her mind was still feeling, still hearing although no one was certain that she was. We still battle the disease as well as many others that came along for the ride. She is going in for heart surgery in one week. I will wait for her to wake from this also. She is in a wheelchair but we spend each and everyday loving and living and cherishing every moment we are graced with. As you read this, stop and think of what a different article this would be if I had said just once... "No more food for her, no more machines... Let her go." She would have no doubt suffered the very cruel death that faces Terri if I had said those words. Though I would not have ever known for certain, she would have felt the death coming and the pain that went with it. No matter what the machines say,what the doctors say, we have no true way to know what she will or will not feel if the Judge orders her tube removed. No one in this world can answer that question except Terri, the only one that has no say in all of this. Perhaps her parents, like me, simply do not want to wonder the rest of their days if she suffered or not. Decapitation was banned partly because we were no longer certain how long the brain continued to function after it was seperated from the body. Instant death??? And we know this because why? The person without a head certainly didn't tell us. If this is what the Judge orders then at least give her a gentle way to go. If they are so certain that she feels nothing, than a poke of a needle and a gentle going to sleep isn't so far from humane, is it!? Though I do not totally support helping someone die, I certainly would sleep better knowing that she was allowed to go gently and painlessly rather than the alternative. It is always easier to say "do it" when it isn't your loved one suffering.Put yourself in her parents place for just a moment... Not so easy, huh??? ------------ About the author: Darrel Day is the author of Abduction, available in stores everywhere and through publishamerica.com, amazonbooks.com, barnes and noble books and Books A Million. He resides in a small town in Iowa with his wife and two daughters. He is also the author of soon to be released "Until Death Do We Meet". He has studied and taught the word of God throughout the past twenty years. He does NOT condemn nor judge anyone because of their beliefs. That... is between them and God... I also have an MSN Group site http://group.msn.D-R-Day that you can join. My web site also up though I am still adding to it. www.angelfire.com/crazy3/darrelday Email: boogieman_50627@yahoo.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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