Re: [QUAD-L] Shedding light on terri's situation

[Stacy Harim]

Jim,   When you first got sick you and I were in the same exact position when I first came out of the coma, although I had ADEM vs. Transverse myelitis but the conditions are that far off.  Truthfully I remember being in pain, but was pretty out of it.  I see it as I was living on machines for 6 weeks but I came around.  You and I both were able to respond in some way.  I was able to lip words and eventually turn my head.  I could answer questions in some sort of way.  When I was in the coma at first, the neurologist checked to see if I had brain waves.  If I didn't now 4 yrs later I have faith that my Dad would have done the right thing and let me go.  My mom on the other hand, I'm not so sure about.  I didn't know what was going on when I first came out of the coma, but I knew I was sick.  I remember having dreams, people talking, and so on.  Then I wanted to live.  I was very fortunate get movement back  to my waist.  I will still uphold my argument that we were still aware even though there wasn't any movement and there was and is brain activity.   Stacy ----- Original Message ----- From: Jim Lubin To: Eric Olson Cc: quad-list@eskimo.com Sent: Saturday, March 26, 2005 7:21 PM Subject: Re: [QUAD-L] Shedding light on terri's situation At 02:56 PM 3/26/2005, Eric Olson wrote: You said you wouldn't choose to live like that.  What if you ended up like the person in your example tomorrow and your mother was willing to take care of you?  Wouldn't she be going against your wishes?  This whole situation just makes me sad.  I told my mom the other day that if I was brain damaged to the extend that I was not able to communicate my wishes, I would not want to live like that. My mom said she would not even consider disconnecting the ventilator. If I was that "out of it" what would I really know about what was happening. If it made my mom feel better to have me around, even in a vegetative state, then that would be what I want. When I first got sick, I was in so much pain that I wanted to die just to end the pain. I was only able to communicate by blinking my eyes and mouthing words for at least the first 4 weeks. I had no feeling from the neck down and could not even turn my head. My heart stopped 4 times so I've been told. I remember wanting to die and that was indeed my wish at that time. I told everyone who could understand me that I wanted to go with grandma (who had died 2 years earlier). Only my mom and brother knew that, when they came and heard I was communicating that they both cried and told me "no". So, here I am almost 16 years later, years that I might not have had if I lived in another part of the world. I just try to live each day to the fullest. Try to learn new things and do something positive for others. Jim Jim Lubin wrote: I would not chose to live like that. I'm not about to decide another person's quality of life based on my personal criteria. If someone is willing to care for a person in that condition what is the harm in letting them?