Let me explain a little bit up front. Judy is a living, breathing person. A private duty nurse for over 30 years, she wants real medical care and options for a full recovery from lymphendema (NOT lymphsarcoma) and cancer tumors that remain OUTSIDE all her organs (vital and non-vital) in the abdominal cavity.
After Thanksgiving, Judy awoke on Monday, Nov 27, in excruciating pain from "pain [ful] killers" at Lynn Care/BlueRidge Hospice, where a friend and presumptive power of attorney "with the best of intentions" had left Judy.
By rejecting "all meds and pain killers" for the next 24 hours -- becoming pain-free the next day -- as well as, resisting the badgering of "nurses" on Tuesday morning to sign a "Do NOT Resuscitate" (DNR) Judy saved herself with the support of a Medical Analyst friend, Kristin Kazyak, from an ugly, painful and premature Hospice "termination". Judy endured endless "exit" interviews from administrators and social workers, then signed a revocation of Hospice care. "Relax -- said the watchman -- We are programmed to receive. You can check out any time but you can never leave". Judy did leave hospice alive the afternoon of Nov 28th.
Judy's strength returned with pre-digested, bio-available RiSolubles, a patented sabilized rice bran derrivative, higher in lipoic acid, with more antioxidents, co-enzymes and co-factors than any known synthetic medication or suppliment. Judy's kidney output remained very high and substantial. Judy never lost an ounce of food and regained so much muscle power that on her 2nd day in the hospital Judy began to cough up the fluid and phlem in her lungs.
Judy outdid herself brushing her teeth, chatting, finalizing a Grant application for her Chalet Magnificat woman's shelter from the Washington Post and, surprise, found herself out of breath due to her swollen abdomen pressing lung space. Judy had recovered too fast to learn to pace herself.
Do you know of any hopsital in the USA where YOU (the patient) need to ask the nurses and respiratory staff to add water vapor, etc. to keep the oxygen from irritating and burning your lungs? Stay focused ! Judy had "no pain" from the cancer but suddenly she found herself in excruciating pain again : "My mouth is so sore, my throat, all my mucous membranes, my lungs hurt so much !"
Pain !!! Doctors and presumptive power of attorney rushed in to pressure Judy to agree to and sign a DNR to prevent breaking her ribs !!! Judy knew resuscitation did not require broken ribs. Judy repeated she wanted "FULL CODE" even with painful lungs inflamed. But Judy asked for (IM) injected morphine locally for the her (lung) pain but the doctor wrote (IV) for systemic (mind/intellect clouding) infusions.
Within 24 hours, without coding ("to prevent coding") Judy found herself agreeing to sedation on a respirator in the ICU between 6 & 7AM on Dec 1. Since nurses charged Judy's analytical friends with having "harrassed the nurses" by informing them of Judy's needs and injuries, they could no longer help or visit Judy. Doctors and "presumptive and acting" Power of Attorney now made all medical decisions (or "family" with no interest in Judy's lifelong work, wishes, or interests as a dodge for current presumptive POA accountability) and informed Judy's friends that Judy would be "dead" in 12 hours !!! Word sent throughout Front Royal reached friends at Human Life International who came to say "goodbye" with hundreds of others who sang the death durge.
8 days later Judy still fights for her life. Judy promised she would. Judy's had to fight for everything in her life and for the lives of all she helped. When Judy failed to succomb on Dec 1 to deadly drug interactions with the sedative Diprivan mixed with the narcotic pain killer Sufenta and began the next day to signal to friends with her eyes and hands to let them know she was aware of their presence and what they were saying, by Dec 3rd, Dopamine had entered the deadly IV cocktail (forget the toxicology and pharmacology warnings, just remember Judy ordered "no pain killers exept local injection of morphine as, and IF, needed -- NO systemic IV or pump narcs, psychtropic, or pain-killer drugs NOTHING to diminish mental or intellectual capacity; NOTHING to surpress respiration, heart, or cause stroke or "brain death") but "Judy didn't put it in writing".
The banana bags disappeared. No mineral or vitamin nourishment to date. Once Judy's lungs had healed, weening from the respirator became a logical requirement but Judy would regain "consciousness". Judy's friends with medical and religious knowledge, especially those who knew Judy's mind well, continue to ask why doctors mix Diprivan with other narcotics despite the warnings and in contradiction to Judy's clear wishes. A native American Indian would fair better with a "no meds" demand.
On Dec 8 Judy responded to her Pastor by very deliberately blinking her eyes and moving her hands in response to his greeting and questions.
Judy continues to fight for her life. Pearl Harbor Day, Dec 7, saw Judy's 64th Birthday. A friend praying to Terri Schiavo for Judy's safe deliverence and restoration to health, asked Bobby Schindler to overnight a relic of Terri that he had touched to his sister while Terri was being starved and dehydrated to death. The relic arrived on Judy's Birthday! Judy's friends ask that all Pro-Lifers pray two prayers asking Terri to intercede with God on Judy's behalf and for the medical personnel assigned to Judy:
Prayer for the Cause of Theresa of the Forgotten
Merciful Lord, you filled the heart of Terri Schindler Schiavo with a spirit of profound sacrifice for love of neighbor. She became a holocaust offered to Your Heart for the end of the culture of Death. Through Terri's excruciating agony and death, we plead for a change of heart in all who have compromised or failed the cause of life.
In life Terri would say, "Where there is life, there is hope." Bring hope to my cause that seems hopeless. May I have unbounded trust in Jesus, Most Merciful for Judy Schiminsky's deliverence from the dangers of imposed death (epivalothanasia) and "harvesting" and for Judy's full recovery to continue her Pro-Life work.
My sins render me unworthy of Your Mercy, but be mindful of Terri's sacrifice of Love. I offer this prayer to Your Glory, and confident of your help. Amen.
Prayer to the Holy Spirit, Giver of Life
O come Holy Spirit, Creator of all things, You Who breathed over the waters, at the dawn of creation, and brought forth all living beings. You Who, on the last day, will breathe again over the dead and raise them from the grave. Come to us today, and deepen in our minds and hearts the truth about life and its greatness, its dignity, its reflection of the eternal God. Make us appreciate ever more the truth that is always a good and that every life is of equal dignity, despite all the different characteristics people have, or the different circumstances under which they come to be.
Come, O Holy Spirit, and as You immerse us in Your Truth, so make us effective witnesses of that truth within our families, among our friends and the world.
Come, O Holy Spirit, as You are the Advocate, so make us advocates. As You hear our cries for mercy, so let us hear the cries of others for mercy. Save us from the misfortune of seeking mercy only for ourselves, while being deaf to others.
Come! Come O Holy Spirit, and breathe on our world again, immersed as it is in the Culture of Death. Come, O Lord and Giver of Life! Defeat the works of death in our midst and free all Your people from the falsehoods and sins that they may no longer blind our consciences and stain our souls and land.
We worship You, O Holy Spirit, and we rejoice in You. We know that no matter how strong the forces of death may be, we can still find in You the endless source of life. Renew that life in each of us, and make us worthy apostles of the Culture of Life in our day! Amen.
(adapted and edited from prayers by Fr Frank Pavone, Priests For Life)
Ph: 540-636-0300
Call Warren Memorial Hospital and ask them to give Judy Schiminsky proper care for health, recovery and life to stabilize her and to enable her to return home in good health. "Where there's LIFE, there's Hope !"
Judy needs you. Make the call
If Judy is conscious and able to communicate her wishes, I don't understand how the POA is effective at this point.
Someone is seeing her in the hospital. That person should get her consent to find an attorney for her.
If she is incapable of giving consent, the number 1 person on the POA should go to court and get an emergency guardianship.
She is not awake anymore. They are trying to keep her sedated until she is dead.
Do I understand that they are giving no food and fluids at all? Or is it just the extra-nutritious food and fluids they are not giving?
It looks to me like this may be a case of the hospital's trying to bury its mistakes. If her immediate injury was indeed the result of malpractice (administering the oxygen incorrectly), then there would be a possible suit. Possibly the idea is that if she dies at this point the cause of death will be listed as "cancer."
Question for Jerri: Some of us have very extensive "living wills" that attempt to insure that we are not dehydrated to death, that ask that we receive all possible care and so forth. Should this story make us think of adding a section refusing significantly mind-altering or death-hastening types and dosages of drugs, except during surgery, or something like that? No one has suggested that before, and I wonder if it would be legally enforceable against a hospital.
She is getting IV hydration with (we think) sodium sulphate, but they took away the banana bag, which she asked for, & was what was helping her recover.
I called the Warren Memorial Hospital #. The operator transferred me to the ICU and, when I gave the message of concern for Judy Schiminsky, I was told I would 'have to take it up with her POA'. Of course, they said they couldn't provide the POA's contact information.
Lydia,
I would consider adding such a thing, as I have seen similar situations where families believe that hospitals are over-sedating. I think that it would depend on the State where the Advance Directive or Living Will is executed.
Also, why are none of her friends attempting to get emergency guardianship? What is the story with this POA?