Let Me Rest In Peace

As you all know, I try to keep my posts in TWIT funny and/or informative, and I keep [most of] my opinions on controversial subjects to myself.  I decided last week that I would not comment on the horrific Terri Schiavo case, but I've received several emails and calls from you, my faithful readers, asking me to write about it.  So here it is - my opinion on the Terri Schiavo case.  I'm not going to choose sides on this - all I can do is tell you what I would want or would not want if I were Terri Schiavo.

I would not want to live that way.  If I couldn't laugh, or sing, or be able to communicate to my family and friends that I love them, I wouldn't want to live with no quality of life.  I would not want to be in the persistent vegetative state, a phrase we'd heard little about until a couple of weeks ago.  An online medical dictionary defines persistent vegetative state as "a condition in which individuals have lost cognitive, neurological function and awareness of the environment, but retain noncognitive function and a sleep-wake cycle."  This is commonly referred to as being brain dead - when the person is technically alive (they're breathing and their heart is still beating) but their brain is dead. 

I would not want my parents put through a living hell.  I wouldn't want them to watch me just laying in some hospital bed.  I wouldn't want them to live their lives in one continuous dream - hoping that after being brain dead for over 15 years, I would recover. 

I would not want the government, state nor federal, making the decision about when I die.  I think it's ridiculous that the gonvernment - from the state level all the way to the Oval Office - has gotten involved in this.  But then again, they're right in the middle of the steroids-in-baseball drama, too.  It's embarassing to see our elected officials make nonsensical statements about this case, as if they were medical experts.  Rep. Anne Northup, a woman I once greatly admired and voted for, said "She is not on life support, nor is she in a coma."  Well, yes and no, Anne.  No, Terri Schiavo is not in a coma.  Yes, Terri Schiavo was on life support.  The feeding tube was as much life support as a ventilator. 

I would not want my parents and my spouse on opposite sides of my life and death.  Thanks to the Living Will that I have, hopefully that will never happen.  I pray that the people that I love will follow my instructions. If the doctors caring for me say there is no hope that I will ever recover, then let me die with dignity, and not as the cause of a great political and ethical debate. 

I urge you, my faithful readers, to take some time this week if possible, and get a Living Will.   Make sure your family, friends, and your lawyer know that you have one. 

I pray that you will rest in peace, Terri Schiavo.