When You Pull the Tube

Nothing much happens at first.

Situations I have seen usually involve provision of comfort measures, like a continuous intravenous morphine infusion, for the dying patient. I have not read anywhere that Terry has such a morphine drip going, but since these are common in Hospice situations, I might guess that the husband would have this made available to her if it appears she's in any pain.

Immediate-release oral morphine could also probably be administered to a patient such as her, avoiding the difficulties of maintaining intravenous access.

A morphine drip also can sometimes seem to speed up the dying process a little. I may be misinformed, but I do not believe that the parents have requested morphine, probably out of fear it will hasten her inevitable demise. I have heard families express that concern in similar situations.

Frist and the other Republican hammersacks that want to interfere with this have so far, to my knowledge, not come out in favor of thusly medicating this poor woman. And indeed, why would they? It's not like they really care about her.

Ironically their concern for her serves only to make an object out of her, for their own political gain. Real nice, that. And real stupid, too.

There's already enough suffering in the world, don't you think? Why make more?

Hopefully it will all be done and forgotten by the time anyone sees this, my first post.

3/19/05 dona eis requiem