Barbara J. Stock
The case of Terri Schiavo
By Barbara J. Stock
I have a suggestion for the family of Terri Schiavo. Not the man who calls himself her husband, but the real family of this unfortunate woman who is in the process of being legally murdered. If Michael Schiavo, with the assistance of the legal system, succeeds in killing their daughter, take small comfort in the knowledge that she will be safe in the hands of God. But take little time to grieve. If Terri were my daughter, I would set my sights on those collectively responsible for her death.
The second Terri takes her last breath I would immediately file a wrongful death suit against Michael Schiavo in civil court and insist that her case be re-examined as a possible murder case. Murder has no statute of limitations.
I would make each and every one of them, and the list would be long, raise their right hands and under oath, to explain their actions and more importantly, their in-actions over the past 15 years starting with Judge Greer.
I would start with the police who did not follow up on the report filed by the paramedics who responded to the 911 call the night of Terri's mysterious heart attack that seems to not show up on EKG's. The paramedics were suspicious enough about domestic violence being the cause of Terri's physical condition to file the report. Yet, nothing was ever done to discern if Terri's condition was not accidental. Years later, when forced to re-examine the evidence, the police said there would have been enough to initiate an investigation, but now, the statute of limitations had passed. They could do nothing.
Next, I would seek out the names of every doctor and nurse who treated Terri in those first days and ask them why nothing done about the other injuries she sustained. Why they did not report those injuries which included fractured vertebrae to their department of social services for follow-up for spousal abuse and domestic violence. Did a fall when she had her "heart attack" at age 26 cause these injuries? This is unlikely because she was so young. Did she suffer a heart attack and then fall out a second story window?
I would obtain the name of every nursing home Michael Schiavo moved Terri to over the years. I would obtain the names of every administrator, therapist, nurse and aide that had contact with Terri. I would even interview members of the housekeeping staff if I could find them. The housekeeping staff would be a treasure-trove of information. They hear all and see all.
As one nursing home would reach the breaking point over the total non-care of their ward, Michael would move her and place her in a new one. Where were the nurses in these nursing homes? We nurses are the ones who stand guard over our patients. We are their advocates, yet, many of these nurses just did as they were told which was continue to abuse and neglect their patient on the orders of her husband. They were told if they did not follow Michael Schiavo's cruel orders, they would be terminated.
A handful of brave nurses and aides have come forward and their sworn states were apparently ignored by Judge Greer.
In 2003, Carla Sauer Iyer, R.N., who cared for Terri from April 1995 to July 1996, made the following statement:
"Every time I made a positive entry about any responsiveness of Terri's, someone would remove it after my shift ended. Michael always demanded to see her chart as soon as he arrived, and would take it in her room with him. I documented Terri's rehab potential well, writing whole pages about Terri's responsiveness, but they would always be deleted by the next time I saw her chart. The reason I wrote so much was that everybody else seemed to be afraid to make positive entries for fear of their jobs, but I felt very strongly that a nurses job was to accurately record everything we see and hear that bears on a patients condition and their family. I upheld the Nurses Practice Act, and if it cost me my job, I was willing to accept that."
As a nurse myself, I can tell you that it is illegal to remove, alter, delete, or in any other fashion change documentation on a what is considered a patient's chart which is considered a legal document.
She went on to make these startling statements:
Throughout my time at Palm Gardens, Michael Schiavo was focused on Terri's death. Michael would say "When is she going to die?" "Has she died yet?" and "When is that bitch gonna die?" These statements were common knowledge at Palm Gardens, as he would make them casually in passing, without regard even for who he was talking to, as long as it was a staff member.
Other statements which I recall him making include "Can't anything be done to accelerate her death — won't she ever die?" When she wouldn't die, Michael would be furious." "When Michael visited Terri, he always came alone and always had the door closed and locked while he was with Terri. He would typically be there about twenty minutes or so. When he left Terri would be trembling, crying hysterically, and would be very pale and have cold sweats. It looked to me like Terri was having a hypoglycemic reaction, so I'd check her blood sugar. The glucometer reading would be so low it was below the range where it would register an actual number reading. I would put dextrose in Terri's mouth to counteract it. This happened about five times on my shift, as I recall. Normally Terri's blood sugar levels were very stable due to the uniformity of her diet through tube feeding. It is medically possible that Michael injected Terri with Regular insulin, which is very fast acting, but I don't have any way of knowing for sure."
When Ms. Iyer reported her suspicions to the police and the police asked questions, she was terminated.
Was Michael anxious to get his hands on the money involved? It seems he was. Ms. Iyer had this statement:
"Any time Terri would be sick, like with a UTI [urinary tract infection] or fluid buildup in her lungs, colds, or pneumonia, Michael would be visibly excited, thrilled even, hoping that she would die. He would say something like, "Hallelujah! You've made my day!" He would call me, as I was the nurse supervisor on the floor, and ask for every little detail about her temperature, blood pressure, etc., and would call back frequently asking if she was dead yet. He would blurt out "I'm going to be rich!" and would talk about all the things he would buy when Terri died, which included a new car, a new boat, and going to Europe, among other things."
It is appalling that this man has been left in charge of her medical care. The judge that allowed it should be removed from the bench.
No one cared about the suspicious circumstances that led to her present situation. No one cared that Terri could indeed swallow food and water but her husband would not allow it. One nurse admitted she snuck milk and jello to Terri who enjoyed it immensely and did not choke, but even the small joy of the taste of simple jello was forbidden. If Terri could eat normally, Michael could not longer starve her to death. It's that simple.
Michael wants the world to believe that he is and was a loving husband and he wants to make sure she dies for HER own good. Sworn statements for her caregivers state otherwise.
I believe that Terri has been a thorn in his side for years because she just refused to die and whatever love he may have had it has been replaced by pure hatred. The legal fees to assure her death have cost him plenty. At every turn she has managed to survive and he is bitter and angry. He is standing guard over her alright, but love has nothing to do with his death watch. I would guess he will be smiling to himself when she dies thinking, "I finally got you."
The doctors refused to follow his orders of no antibiotics for simple infections and gave them to her anyway. Michael didn't dare sue them. He would have to explain himself and that he did not want to do. So, he would move her, once again, to another facility.
Why have the speech therapists who knew Terri was speaking waited until now to come forward? Why have the physical and occupational therapists not come forward to remind people that Terri was walking until the fateful day her husband received large sums of money in malpractice suits and ordered all therapy stopped? Why did Judge Greer deny even a simple swallow test to see if Terri could live without the feeding tube? What harm would that have done? Judge Greer would be at the top my list of those to sue for wrongful death. His name would be there right under Michael Schiavo.
Another would be the neurologist hired by Michael that has kept insisting Terri is in a vegetative state. I just heard him speaking on television. He made the amazing statement that her EEG was flat. To him, this means there is no hope at all for Terri to recover even a tiny bit. But is that an accurate statement? Not according to John Morenski, M.D., Division of Neurosurgery, Division of Neurosurgery-University of Missouri-Columbia who says this about EEG's:
"What is "brain activity" that we "measure." Frankly, the best and most reliable method is the clinical exam — what you see is what you get. An electroencephalogram [EEG] measures summations of potential differences registered from the scalp. What does that mean? Good question! It does not measure "activity" at all — though the "active" brain has known patterns. The reason I stress this is because the popular conception is that EEGs measure thought or that a "flat-line" EEG means brain death. Now for what will seem like a tangent of sorts . . . EEG had become linked to brain death. Brain death involves the irreversible loss of function of the cerebrum and brain stem. An EEG that shows waves argues against a dead brain, and clinicians used this for that purpose. Does a "flat" EEG prove brain death? No. Again, Hollywood leads us to suspect it: "He has gone flat-line!"
There was an interesting interview with a friend of Terri's on television. This woman said that Terri was planning to divorce Michael. She related that Terri told her the marriage was not working and that Michael was a control freak who demanded to know her every move, every minute of the day. He had made her break ties with friends she had before she was married. Terri had had enough. The two women planned to rent an apartment together and be roommates, since both would be divorcing their respective husbands.
Did Terri tell Michael that she was divorcing him that fateful night? Did control- obsessed Michael explode in anger and put Terri in the situation she is now in? Only two people know — Michael and Terri — and Terri was silenced years ago. Michael saw to that. Many women have met a similar fate when telling abusive husbands that they were breaking the chains placed on them by their husbands. The only mistake Michael may have made is that Terri didn't die that night.
I find it amazing that it took seven years and multi-million dollar settlements for Michael to remember that Terri's wishes were to be allowed to die should something happen to her. I find it remarkable that the "witnesses" to this statement are all members of the Schiavo clan. Why did she say the opposite to her friends?
Why did Michael keep his present common-law wife and children a secret from Terri's family? They only found out when they read the obituary of Michael's father where Michael's children were listed.
Why has Terri's fate been left in the hands of the man who may well have put her where she is today? Why did Terri's parents have to get a court order to be allowed to see the medical records of their own daughter? If Michael had nothing to hide, why did he want them sealed? Why, when Terri was nearly starved to death before, did he order her body immediately cremated without any autopsy? Is he so cruel that he will deny her family even a body to bury? It seems so. Or is it that he fears what might be found in a post-mortem?
I would make Michael Schiavo spend every penny he received from Terri's death, whether it was money from settlements or life insurance policies, to defend himself and his cruel and barbaric treatment of his handicapped wife. I would haunt his every move and be present in his every thought. In short, I would make it my life's work to make his life a living hell. The same hell he put Terri through. Even if I didn't win, I would know that he did not profit from Terri's death but was forced to spend every ill-gotten penny keeping himself out of jail.
Last but not least, I would issue a warning to Michael's common law wife. If Michael gets away with killing Terri, you could be next. Be sure to put down in writing that you want anyone but Michael Schiavo to have his hand on the plug controlling your life or death. Better yet, take your children and run, now, while Michael is busy killing his first wife. Run, while you still can.
© Barbara J. Stock
I have a suggestion for the family of Terri Schiavo. Not the man who calls himself her husband, but the real family of this unfortunate woman who is in the process of being legally murdered. If Michael Schiavo, with the assistance of the legal system, succeeds in killing their daughter, take small comfort in the knowledge that she will be safe in the hands of God. But take little time to grieve. If Terri were my daughter, I would set my sights on those collectively responsible for her death.
The second Terri takes her last breath I would immediately file a wrongful death suit against Michael Schiavo in civil court and insist that her case be re-examined as a possible murder case. Murder has no statute of limitations.
I would make each and every one of them, and the list would be long, raise their right hands and under oath, to explain their actions and more importantly, their in-actions over the past 15 years starting with Judge Greer.
I would start with the police who did not follow up on the report filed by the paramedics who responded to the 911 call the night of Terri's mysterious heart attack that seems to not show up on EKG's. The paramedics were suspicious enough about domestic violence being the cause of Terri's physical condition to file the report. Yet, nothing was ever done to discern if Terri's condition was not accidental. Years later, when forced to re-examine the evidence, the police said there would have been enough to initiate an investigation, but now, the statute of limitations had passed. They could do nothing.
Next, I would seek out the names of every doctor and nurse who treated Terri in those first days and ask them why nothing done about the other injuries she sustained. Why they did not report those injuries which included fractured vertebrae to their department of social services for follow-up for spousal abuse and domestic violence. Did a fall when she had her "heart attack" at age 26 cause these injuries? This is unlikely because she was so young. Did she suffer a heart attack and then fall out a second story window?
I would obtain the name of every nursing home Michael Schiavo moved Terri to over the years. I would obtain the names of every administrator, therapist, nurse and aide that had contact with Terri. I would even interview members of the housekeeping staff if I could find them. The housekeeping staff would be a treasure-trove of information. They hear all and see all.
As one nursing home would reach the breaking point over the total non-care of their ward, Michael would move her and place her in a new one. Where were the nurses in these nursing homes? We nurses are the ones who stand guard over our patients. We are their advocates, yet, many of these nurses just did as they were told which was continue to abuse and neglect their patient on the orders of her husband. They were told if they did not follow Michael Schiavo's cruel orders, they would be terminated.
A handful of brave nurses and aides have come forward and their sworn states were apparently ignored by Judge Greer.
In 2003, Carla Sauer Iyer, R.N., who cared for Terri from April 1995 to July 1996, made the following statement:
"Every time I made a positive entry about any responsiveness of Terri's, someone would remove it after my shift ended. Michael always demanded to see her chart as soon as he arrived, and would take it in her room with him. I documented Terri's rehab potential well, writing whole pages about Terri's responsiveness, but they would always be deleted by the next time I saw her chart. The reason I wrote so much was that everybody else seemed to be afraid to make positive entries for fear of their jobs, but I felt very strongly that a nurses job was to accurately record everything we see and hear that bears on a patients condition and their family. I upheld the Nurses Practice Act, and if it cost me my job, I was willing to accept that."
As a nurse myself, I can tell you that it is illegal to remove, alter, delete, or in any other fashion change documentation on a what is considered a patient's chart which is considered a legal document.
She went on to make these startling statements:
Throughout my time at Palm Gardens, Michael Schiavo was focused on Terri's death. Michael would say "When is she going to die?" "Has she died yet?" and "When is that bitch gonna die?" These statements were common knowledge at Palm Gardens, as he would make them casually in passing, without regard even for who he was talking to, as long as it was a staff member.
Other statements which I recall him making include "Can't anything be done to accelerate her death — won't she ever die?" When she wouldn't die, Michael would be furious." "When Michael visited Terri, he always came alone and always had the door closed and locked while he was with Terri. He would typically be there about twenty minutes or so. When he left Terri would be trembling, crying hysterically, and would be very pale and have cold sweats. It looked to me like Terri was having a hypoglycemic reaction, so I'd check her blood sugar. The glucometer reading would be so low it was below the range where it would register an actual number reading. I would put dextrose in Terri's mouth to counteract it. This happened about five times on my shift, as I recall. Normally Terri's blood sugar levels were very stable due to the uniformity of her diet through tube feeding. It is medically possible that Michael injected Terri with Regular insulin, which is very fast acting, but I don't have any way of knowing for sure."
When Ms. Iyer reported her suspicions to the police and the police asked questions, she was terminated.
Was Michael anxious to get his hands on the money involved? It seems he was. Ms. Iyer had this statement:
"Any time Terri would be sick, like with a UTI [urinary tract infection] or fluid buildup in her lungs, colds, or pneumonia, Michael would be visibly excited, thrilled even, hoping that she would die. He would say something like, "Hallelujah! You've made my day!" He would call me, as I was the nurse supervisor on the floor, and ask for every little detail about her temperature, blood pressure, etc., and would call back frequently asking if she was dead yet. He would blurt out "I'm going to be rich!" and would talk about all the things he would buy when Terri died, which included a new car, a new boat, and going to Europe, among other things."
It is appalling that this man has been left in charge of her medical care. The judge that allowed it should be removed from the bench.
No one cared about the suspicious circumstances that led to her present situation. No one cared that Terri could indeed swallow food and water but her husband would not allow it. One nurse admitted she snuck milk and jello to Terri who enjoyed it immensely and did not choke, but even the small joy of the taste of simple jello was forbidden. If Terri could eat normally, Michael could not longer starve her to death. It's that simple.
Michael wants the world to believe that he is and was a loving husband and he wants to make sure she dies for HER own good. Sworn statements for her caregivers state otherwise.
I believe that Terri has been a thorn in his side for years because she just refused to die and whatever love he may have had it has been replaced by pure hatred. The legal fees to assure her death have cost him plenty. At every turn she has managed to survive and he is bitter and angry. He is standing guard over her alright, but love has nothing to do with his death watch. I would guess he will be smiling to himself when she dies thinking, "I finally got you."
The doctors refused to follow his orders of no antibiotics for simple infections and gave them to her anyway. Michael didn't dare sue them. He would have to explain himself and that he did not want to do. So, he would move her, once again, to another facility.
Why have the speech therapists who knew Terri was speaking waited until now to come forward? Why have the physical and occupational therapists not come forward to remind people that Terri was walking until the fateful day her husband received large sums of money in malpractice suits and ordered all therapy stopped? Why did Judge Greer deny even a simple swallow test to see if Terri could live without the feeding tube? What harm would that have done? Judge Greer would be at the top my list of those to sue for wrongful death. His name would be there right under Michael Schiavo.
Another would be the neurologist hired by Michael that has kept insisting Terri is in a vegetative state. I just heard him speaking on television. He made the amazing statement that her EEG was flat. To him, this means there is no hope at all for Terri to recover even a tiny bit. But is that an accurate statement? Not according to John Morenski, M.D., Division of Neurosurgery, Division of Neurosurgery-University of Missouri-Columbia who says this about EEG's:
"What is "brain activity" that we "measure." Frankly, the best and most reliable method is the clinical exam — what you see is what you get. An electroencephalogram [EEG] measures summations of potential differences registered from the scalp. What does that mean? Good question! It does not measure "activity" at all — though the "active" brain has known patterns. The reason I stress this is because the popular conception is that EEGs measure thought or that a "flat-line" EEG means brain death. Now for what will seem like a tangent of sorts . . . EEG had become linked to brain death. Brain death involves the irreversible loss of function of the cerebrum and brain stem. An EEG that shows waves argues against a dead brain, and clinicians used this for that purpose. Does a "flat" EEG prove brain death? No. Again, Hollywood leads us to suspect it: "He has gone flat-line!"
There was an interesting interview with a friend of Terri's on television. This woman said that Terri was planning to divorce Michael. She related that Terri told her the marriage was not working and that Michael was a control freak who demanded to know her every move, every minute of the day. He had made her break ties with friends she had before she was married. Terri had had enough. The two women planned to rent an apartment together and be roommates, since both would be divorcing their respective husbands.
Did Terri tell Michael that she was divorcing him that fateful night? Did control- obsessed Michael explode in anger and put Terri in the situation she is now in? Only two people know — Michael and Terri — and Terri was silenced years ago. Michael saw to that. Many women have met a similar fate when telling abusive husbands that they were breaking the chains placed on them by their husbands. The only mistake Michael may have made is that Terri didn't die that night.
I find it amazing that it took seven years and multi-million dollar settlements for Michael to remember that Terri's wishes were to be allowed to die should something happen to her. I find it remarkable that the "witnesses" to this statement are all members of the Schiavo clan. Why did she say the opposite to her friends?
Why did Michael keep his present common-law wife and children a secret from Terri's family? They only found out when they read the obituary of Michael's father where Michael's children were listed.
Why has Terri's fate been left in the hands of the man who may well have put her where she is today? Why did Terri's parents have to get a court order to be allowed to see the medical records of their own daughter? If Michael had nothing to hide, why did he want them sealed? Why, when Terri was nearly starved to death before, did he order her body immediately cremated without any autopsy? Is he so cruel that he will deny her family even a body to bury? It seems so. Or is it that he fears what might be found in a post-mortem?
I would make Michael Schiavo spend every penny he received from Terri's death, whether it was money from settlements or life insurance policies, to defend himself and his cruel and barbaric treatment of his handicapped wife. I would haunt his every move and be present in his every thought. In short, I would make it my life's work to make his life a living hell. The same hell he put Terri through. Even if I didn't win, I would know that he did not profit from Terri's death but was forced to spend every ill-gotten penny keeping himself out of jail.
Last but not least, I would issue a warning to Michael's common law wife. If Michael gets away with killing Terri, you could be next. Be sure to put down in writing that you want anyone but Michael Schiavo to have his hand on the plug controlling your life or death. Better yet, take your children and run, now, while Michael is busy killing his first wife. Run, while you still can.
© Barbara J. Stock
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