Schindler family: Terri Schiavo's brain could have healed

[Bluebear]

One Terry Reminding Us of Another Terri

Contact: Bobby Schindler, The Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation Center for Health Care Ethics, Inc., 727-490-7603, [e-mail]

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida, July 12 /Christian Newswire/ -- The publicity surrounding Terry Wallis has brought attention once again to the condition of Terri Schiavo. Terry Wallis suffered a traumatic brain injury in 1984 and was termed by some of his doctors to be in a “persistent vegetative state” (PVS) and then improved to a “minimally conscious state” (MCS).

Similar to Terri Schiavo, doctors predicted that Terry Wallis would last indefinitely in this condition and not improve. Researchers are now confident that, “Mr. Wallis's brain is healing itself by forming new neural connections since 2003”, according to the New York Times.

“This new finding will hopefully save many lives, as we are repeatedly seeing a growing number of people being incorrectly diagnosed as ‘PVS’ which is essentially a death sentence,” stated Robert Schindler, father of Terri Schiavo. “Sadly, this only confirms the subjectivity of the PVS diagnosis which according to a recent study by the British Medical Journal is misdiagnosed 43% of the time. As in Terri’s case, the PVS diagnosis is too often used as criteria to terminate life and common sense dictates that it should be abolished.”

Many in the media have cited doctors that are quick to attempt to draw a difference between Terry Wallis and Terri Schiavo. In reality, the only difference between Terri Wallis and Terri Schiavo was that Terri Wallis was afforded therapy and rehabilitation.

This new revelation about Terry Wallis’ brain healing reminds us that in Terri Schiavo’s 2002 trial, Dr. William Maxfield testified that he believed that part of Terri’s brain was improving (available upon request). Furthermore, the autopsy conducted on Terri Schiavo confirmed that Terri’s frontal temporal, temporal poles and insular-cortex demonstrated relative preservation. This meant that Terri’s cortex retained function and that her brain was more normal in the area that controls higher-level thinking.

“Less we forget that more than 40 medical affidavits submitted to the court stating either that Terri was not in a PVS or with the new medical advances regarding the brain, that Terri could have been helped with proper treatment, just like Terri Wallis. Sadly, no one will ever know how much Terri would have improved because she was warehoused and denied any form of therapy or rehabilitation for over thirteen years”, said Robert Schindler.

http://www.earnedmedia.org/TF0712.htm

[Midlodemocrat]

1. I don't understand. Didn't Bill Frist diagnose

brain activity over the television? :sarcasm:

I understand grief, but please, let her rest in peace. Perhaps her brain could have been healed, sometime in the future, but technology and medicine aren't there yet.

[kskiska]

26. It's not grief.

It's another attempt to smear her husband. They will never let go of this thing. There are r/w groups looking into every aspect of Michael Schiavo's life. They looked up the time he took off from work to be with Teri during the last days to see if he could be fired somehow for taking time off on the public's dime. Turned out other employees donated their vacation and sick time to him. No go. So now they're looking into whether he filled out a form properly regarding his college records. He works as a nurse supervisor for the county police dept. The county is sick and tired of these people and are rebuffing them.

Now they're enraged that one of those "nurses" just lost her license due to her blabbing on Hannity & Colmes about how she thinks Michael Schiavo tried to kill Teri with injections.

The Schindler family have all quit their jobs and are now collecting salaries from their foundation. They're speaking before right-to-life groups nationwide and lend their names to these causes. They're endorsing Randall Terry in Florida.

[Midlodemocrat]

27. I can't presume to say, although their behavior certainly is

attention seeking.

My sister in law went so far off the deep end when her mother died, (at 76 mind you after a full, rich life), we still can't find her. Grief does strange things to people.

[mduffy31]

52. I take exception to this

Now they're enraged that one of those "nurses" just lost her license due to her blabbing on Hannity & Colmes about how she thinks Michael Schiavo tried to kill Teri with injections.

I am a nurse and it is day one stuff YOU DO NOT TALK ABOUT A PATIENTS CONDITION PERIOD. That information is held confidential. So you don't go on Hannity and violate a person's HIPPA rights. That nurse is a scumbag and she needs to lose her license. I have heard that some people have been saying that Michael is a nurse and he talked of her condition so why isn't he losing his license. Now there is a world of fucking difference between the nurse charged with a patient's care and the husband and the person with POA to discuss a person's condition.


I have to stop now I am getting too mad.

[warrens]

2. Go get Frist to help you, scumbags

Terri's brain had atrophied...there was nothing left. The two cases aren't anything alike and you creeps know that, liars.

[SensibleAmerican]

31. Have you ever had a loved one with a terminal medical condition ...

who did NOT leave a living will?

I believe the husband was right, at least legally, but I do not fault the parents for doing what they did, especially consdering this case, rare as it is a person in a PVS did wake up, and considering that the husband did have a live-in girlfriend before he made the decision to pull the plug.

Frist and Bush are another matter entirely. They should not have been clouded with emotions.

[Name removed]

46. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[SensibleAmerican]

53. You're so fucking retarded?

Have some confidence in yourself ... I know it can be hard ...

[Blue-Jay]

3. Brains are not weeds. They don't "grow back".

WTF is wrong with these people? Why do they hate science?

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

4. Good God, will this family ever "go away"....

Will someone please inform them their "15 minutes" was up a long time ago....

[acmavm]

7. This is probably a lucrative living for these people now. It is

more than a cause.

That whole family suffers from brain shrinkage.

[mzteris]

9. their coffers are running low

what do you think they live off of? Terri's their cash cow.

[TheMadMonk]

28. 4, 5, 6, & 9 do you lot realise just how much you're...

...sounding like Ann Coulter on the 9/11 widows right now.

Terri's parents may or may not be very nice people, however I strongly susspect that they themselves have been victims of the various "movements". Parents of dying children are deperate, desperate people and many will leap upon the slightest hint of a fix, any fix that will make their baby better. Many parents will clutch at any straw in the hope of a cure: God; Faith healers; dodgey (and simetimes deadly) alternative therapies.

If someone tells them the doctors are wrong, they are already primed to believe this.

None of this excuses a desperate parent's actions or make them right. However, it does explain them.

[mzteris]

35. I've followed this story

since I was hoodwinked into writing Jeb the first time. Then I got to investigating the story (it just smelled, you know?) - and I am VERY familiar with this family and their tactics.

They never believed for one minute except that it was ALL about the $$$. Always was. Always will be.

The "dad" and her brother were abusive to her when she was alive - why should they stop now?

[wellst0nev0ter]

41. *ahem*

Schindlers' lists

Direct-mail firm using Schindlers' donor list

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Thousands of people who helped Terri Schiavo's parents finance their protracted legal battle could soon start receiving solicitations from groups who purchase their contact information from a conservative direct-mailing firm.

[LostinVA]

55. They do live off the money her condition and death have generated

The poster is correct. They sell that disgusting videotape-- taken ILLEGALLY.

I used to have some sympathy for the family a long time ago... that stopped about two years ago. They are truly sickening. It has went far, far beyond grief, especially for the father and siblings. They have literally pimped out poor Terri Schivao, both in her life and now in her death. They have no shame.

[Bob3]

5. somebody needs to heal their brains

give it the hell up -
I don't think Wallis's brain had shrunk to half its normal size before he woke up.

[calico1]

6. But who is going to save the brains of the

Schindlers? :shrug:

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

8. Well, maybe she can still heal.

Better dig her up.

[Bluebear]

10. ..

:spray:

[WoodrowFan]

54. if I could vote for a single post

if I could vote for a single post for the greatest page, this would be it!

[KamaAina]

11. Jesus H. Christ on a trailer hitch!

Hadn't seen that one for a while. :rofl:

Aren't they taking the Terry/Terri thing a bit far?

Many in the media have cited doctors that are quick to attempt to draw a difference between Terry Wallis and Terri Schiavo. In reality, the only difference between Terri Wallis and Terri Schiavo was that Terri Wallis was afforded therapy and rehabilitation....

Less (sic) we forget that more than 40 medical affidavits submitted to the court stating either that Terri was not in a PVS or with the new medical advances regarding the brain, that Terri could have been helped with proper treatment, just like Terri Wallis.

While we're at it, what about Randall Terry? Anyone take a CAT scan over there lately?

[Bluebear]

14. Less we forget!!!!!!!!111

:eyes:

[BOSSHOG]

12. limbaugh's brain may heal as well

[Cha]

16. Too bad there isn't

Viagra for the brain.

[NYC Liberal]

18. Let's not get ahead of ourselves now.

[TankLV]

47. At least terry still had a brain, unlike those in OUR White House!

[Freedom_from_Chains]

These people are just not going to give it up.

I really feel sorry for them as they will spend the rest of their lives being resentful and believing that they were somehow wronged. But then again, it is their choice.

The gal in the top picture is my favorite. Every time I see it, it reminds me why it is so important to keep these people from gaining political power. Or really I should say more political power.

[blogslut]

22. I don't feel sorry for them

They have and still use their defenseless daughter to gain fame and money. Screw them.

[deucemagnet]

13. Here's an important little bit...

...that the Christian Newswire failed to mention:

<snip>
"The nerve fibers from the cells were severed, but the cells themselves remained intact," unlike Schiavo, whose brain cells had died, said Dr. James Bernat, a neurologist at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire, who is familiar with the research. <snip>

More: http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/07/03/brain.recovery.ap/index.html

[kestrel91316]

42. Yeah, but neurologists don't really know anything about the brain.

Only Christofascists do (God whispers it's secrets in their ears).

[KharmaTrain]

15. Onward Christian Checkbooks

The Swindlers must be needing more money. Doesn't matter how definitive things are, they have profited from playing "victim" of the fundies and the Christian right. They'll still pack 'em in at churches and flood the phone lines on the Christian radio stations...black is white and all you need to do is write a check to "keep Terri's Memory" alive. There are plenty of gullible "believers" out there that threw money at them the last time and will do so again.

[azurnoir]

17. Did Oral Roberts say so?

This family lost their "meal ticket" but with the "lords" help has found a way to continue their "mission".

:sarcasm:

[hyphenate]

19. This family lives in

a PVS--let's face it. Their brains aren't doing them a whole lot of good, and they're all WIDE AWAKE and supposedly conscious.

Ah well, anything to make money, I guess, or make people feel sorry for you, even though they don't deserve one fucking iota of the attention they're getting. JHC--these people are too self-centered to get their own goddamned lives outside of their relation to Terri Schiavo.

[Cleita]

20. I suppose if there was such a thing as a brain transplant

that could be possible, but then it wouldn't be Terri. It would be the person whose brain was put into Terri's body. Now that could be really confusing especially if both donor and donee were married women. Which husband would they go home with?

[Mojorabbit]

21. I never get tired of seeing

Jesus on a trailor hitch. Cracks me up every time.

[eppur_se_muova]

23. DU'er longship called it ... Liberal Arkie rebutted.

from this thread: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=222&topic_id=9457&mesg_id=9457

"Can you imagine with the Terry Schiavo nuts are going to make out of this?
Can't wait."

"Wallis had a brain to rewire, Terry Schiavo did not."

MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin (AP) -- Doctors have their first proof that a man who was barely conscious for nearly 20 years regained speech and movement because his brain spontaneously rewired itself by growing tiny new nerve connections to replace the ones sheared apart in a car crash.

In other words, this guy's brain cells were still alive, but the connections beween cells were broken. Schiavo's autopsy revealed large voids in her brain where vast numbers of neurons had died, resulting in shrinking of the brain tissue.

"her brain was about half of its expected size when she died" http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8225637/

[kestrel91316]

43. Wallis: traumatic impact. Schiavo: hypoxia. Completely different

mechanisms of injury going on here. For those who know their physiology and pathology...........

Wallis: injured brain. Schiavo: dead brain, except the "keep breathing" part.

[Avalux]

24. Schiavo did not have a brain; it was atrophied.

These people are maddening; it's like they're living in the dark ages. No matter how much they want to believe it, her brain would not have grown back. x(

[niyad]

25. were any of these 40 doctors actually certified somewhere? is there

any evidence of this from credible medical sources? other than cat-and gorilla-killer frist, I mean.

[tanyev]

29. They had plenty of time to get Benny Hinn, Pat Robertson, or Bob Tilton

in there and pray over her. Now they need to just let it go.

[slackmaster]

30. Forget Terri's brain; CAN THEY RE-ANIMATE TED WILLIAMS?

[TankLV]

48. Hey - I want the KENNEDYS back!

Save our goddamned country from the abyss it's fallen into.

[noonwitch]

32. I feel for the Schindlers, though, it's hard to lose your daughter

I disagree with them about their daughter's prospects for recovery, but I had a problem with the concept of starving/thirsting Terri to death. It is just ironic in the "richest country in the world" for someone to be starved to death.

I personally think that giving her an overdose of something would have been more humane, but that crosses the line into euthanasia.

[Bluebear]

33. It's very hard to lose a child. But their using her politically is sad. nt

[midnight]

56. Grief is a process that is unique to everyone.

I will say that this approach to Terri S. life by Jeb Bush, and the Gop should apply to all medically ill person's, or all human beings. But not all life is precious to the Gop, just the convenient lives that maybe have a more target rich message they can use.

[mzteris]

36. she wasn't "starved" -

she wasn't "there" - there was no cognitive function.

I agree that euthanasia is a better choice for all parties concerned - but the fundies freak out when you mention it.

[dogday]

34. No offense

but this is a perfect example of beating a dead horse... Give it up people, the girl is gone and her brain was mush..... Stop using this poor girl for your causes....

[ComerPerro]

37. I am really starting to doubt the sincerity of those people

I honestly don't think they gave a shit about their daughter or what she wanted.

They wanted her alive for themselves, and they seemed to relish in their celebrity status

[Zhade]

38. CEREBRAL. CORTEX. GONE.

IDIOTS! It is literally impossible for her to have recovered from that!

[RagAss]

39. I'm not going trouble my Beautiful Mind with this crap !!!!

[AlCzervik]

40. When my mothers brain cancer metastasized i also hoped her brain

could be cured, i hoped and prayed but the rational part of my brain new her condition would worsen. My Mom died at the ripe old age of 44, i was 17 and at the time and i think if hadn't been for the wonderful people from hospice i don't think i would have made it through.

[Swamp Rat]

44. The lunatic is on the grass

The lunatic is on the grass
The lunatic is on the grass
remembering games and daisy chains and laughs
got to keep the loonies on the path

The lunatic is in the hall
the lunatics are in the hall
the paper holds their folded faces to the floor
and every day the paper boy brings more

And if the dam breaks open many years too soon
and if there is no room upon the hill
and if your head explodes with dark forbodings too
I'll see you on the dark side of the moon

The lunatic is in my head
The lunatic is in my head
you raise the blade, you make the change
you rearrange me ' till I'm sane
you lock the door
and throw away the key
there's someone in my head but it's not me

And if the cloud bursts, thunder in your ear
you shout and no one seems to hear
and if the band you're in starts playing different tunes
I'll see you on the dark side of the moon

[TankLV]

45. And whales will fly out of my ass - oh, wait, that was just a blow-out!

[NMMNG]

49. I'm so tired of people who can't accept reality

The science was there. Her cerebral cortex was dead, and brain cells do not regenerate.

“Less we forget that more than 40 medical affidavits submitted to the court stating either that Terri was not in a PVS or with the new medical advances regarding the brain, that Terri could have been helped with proper treatment, just like Terri Wallis.


You mean like when Bill Frist diagnosed her via heavily edited videotape? :eyes:

And :wtf: is with that whackjob in the bottom picture? Does she think mimicking a woman in a PVS is cute or something? :puke:

[LittleClarkie]

50. Jesus on a trailer hitch

Literally.

Hoo boy.

Why do these folks think they know more about medicine than the doctors. They've said that this Terry had more to work with, that his brain hadn't died like Ms. Schiavo's had.

The autopsy showed that there was NOTHING there.

These people are SO divorced from reality. It would be sad if it wasn't so scary to me that these people are among those who voted Bush in. Even now, I bet their faith in him is unshakeable, just as some still think Lay was a Godly man just because he said so, despite actions to the contrary.

Oh sure, Michael Schiavo didn't give a shit about his wife. That's why he went to school to become a nurse so that he could take care of her. Because he didn't give a shit. Sure, that makes sense.

The Schindlers are just pissed because Michael beat their speed in figuring out the reality of the situation, is all.

[politicat]

51. Talk to the hand... They are so no longer relevant, if they ever were....

What a waste of molecules these people are.

Get over it. She's dead. Move the fuck on.

Oh, wait. There's money from the forced-birth and forced-life people, isn't there? They're gonna milk this for all they can.

(Yes, I'm a bitch. Nothing new about that...)

[Bridget Burke]

57. Mr Schiavo did NOT deny therapy or rehabilitation....

Schiavo came home to her family in September; however, after becoming overwhelmed with her needs, the family sent her back to the College Park facility. In November, Michael took her to the University of California, San Francisco for an experimental procedure involving the placement of a thalamic stimulator implant in her brain. The experimental treatment took several months but was unsuccessful. Michael returned to Florida with her in January 1991 and admitted her to the Mediplex Rehabilitation Center (specializing in brain injuries) in Bradenton, Florida, often "taking her to parks and public places in hopes of sparking some recovery". There she received 24-hour care. On July 19, 1991, Schiavo was transferred to the Sable Palms Skilled Care Facility, where she received neurological testing and regular speech and occupational therapy until 1994.

Michael trained and became a respiratory therapist and emergency room nurse and continued to personally provide Terri with some of her care.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terri_Schiavo

Unfortunately, his efforts were in vain. The damage was too great.

[spanone]

58. Two words.....'dumb asses'

[gulfcoastliberal]

59. There they go again!

Fundie family values and trying to drum up more speaking engagements and spur additional direct cash "donations". Funny that the Swindlers were so nice to Mr. Schiavo up until they were refused monies from the malpractice award. That's the root of their toddler-ish temper tantrums and fantasy world which they now find themselves trapped in. Ugh.