I've read/listened to people saying that a feeding tube isn't medical life support like a respirator is, but I think they're similar. What's the difference between a tube that provides nourishment, and one that provides oxygen? I don't relish the idea of starving to death myself, but neither would I want to suffocate to death. (Even if it is quicker, I would think it would be a lot scarier.) That being said, I wouldn't want to live life as a vegetable either. Like Ro said, why is it that "in this 'enlightened' age of modern medical miracles, we continue to afford our companion animals more merciful deaths than the people we love the most."
On a more cheerful note, listening to NPR was a lot better this morning. There were all sorts of things besides Terri and Iraq... although the Pope did occupy a chunk of time.
Speaking of the pope, why is it that many westerners think monarchies are bad, but having a pope isn't? Sure, it's not inherited, but it's still a lifelong position once attained, and he makes statements and rules that affect a heck of a lot of people.
4 comments:
I think the respirator doesn't so much "provide oxygen" as it does "force your lungs to work". You can be given oxygen without being on a respirator.
I think the difference is that the respirator is doing work that your body should be doing and is thus "extraordinary" while the feeding tube is just providing your body with nutrients that it can still process on its own. I'm sure if you poke around on the internet a bit you can find a write-up explaining the difference better than I just did, either on a medical or a religion-oriented site.
Personally, I'm not sure it's that huge of a distinction, though. I'm personally of the opinion that I'd want to be kept alive until such time as it was determined that I either wouldn't recover, or wouldn't recover enough to have a decent quality of life. If I'm going to be a burden to whoever has to take care of me, and I'm going to be in pain and/or unable to do much of anything meaningful, I'd rather be gone. However, I'd want people to be damn sure they weren't letting me go prematurely...yeah, a tough decision to make.
Well, the way I was thinking about it was that a respirator was replacing the action of your chest muscles, and a feeding tube was replacing the action of your ability to chew and/or swallow. In both cases, what you need is there (food/air), but your body can't get it by itself. Once inside the body, the lungs/intestines take over, but the body can't get it there without mechanical help.
At this point in my life, I'm one who would want to be kept alive by any means possible to allow myself time to heal and recover. Who knows how long that "time" might be that is required for healing or rehabilitation? I believe every situation is individual and has to be treated as such. I also believe that many times we say things in our "youth" that we would feel differently about in our "wiser" years. We have a little more life experiences under our belt and seen and heard a lot more that can influence our feelings and opinions about any given subject.
As for Terri, I personally believe mainstream media did not report facts about her situation but reported information that would influence people's decision to just let her die. According to "terrisfight.org" she was not a "vegetable" as the medical profession defines it and she was not someone just laying in a bed not interacting with others or situations around her. She tried to speak and could not finish her words.
Terri was killed by starvation. What is even more horrifying is that it was done in a hospital and ordered by a judge. I still maintain that criminals are put to death more humanely, and yet what did Terri ever do to be treated worse than a criminal on death row?
Off my soapbox...after all this is YOUR Soapbox, Andrea. :)
I suppose I should clarify myself a bit here.
I do want to be kept alive by whatever means possible, if there's a chance I'll recover. So if I have a heart attack, darn right I want CPR! If I'm in a coma, there's a chance I might wake up! However, if I'm brain dead, there's no "me" left, so you might as well donate my organs to whomever can use them.
In this post I carefully didn't refer to Terri, since I have no proof one way or the other whether she actually was a vegetable. All we have for information on her is each side calling the others names. In this case, I don't think I'd make a judgement on Terri's (former) condition without seeing her myself, and talking to an *independent* doctor.
And you're welcome to "borrow" my soapbox any time... I do enjoy hearing what others think. ;)
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