I wonder what no food/water in 7 days feels like...

[NeoConIV]

Just curious. Think the longest I've ever gone without food was 1 day, maybe 1 and a half. Pretty certain I've never had anything to eat in more than 48 hours.

[Mr. Ash]

When I was young and stupid, I fasted for two weeks as part of a sort of college dare and 'experiment'. At first it was constant headaches and hunger. After four or five days, I don't remember being hungry or in any way impaired. At 13 days, I passed out cold for about 10 seconds - and that was the end of that. The first meal I had came right back up - was not fun. I was sporadically dizzy and nauseous for about a week after that.

I drank water regularly throughout this. Dehydration would be a completely and utterly different experience.

[The Ressurrected One]

It's painful. Very, very painful.

[exstatic]

If this is about TS, she is reportedly on morphine.

[FromWayDowntown]

I'm sure that it's not a pleasant experience.

But I'd say this, too: the pain you would normally feel might be mitigated if you had suffered brain damage that rendered you incapable of feeling pain, or if you were administered something like morphine to offset the pain.

[spurster]

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/20/national/20death.html

March 20, 2005
Experts Say Ending Feeding Can Lead to a Gentle Death
By JOHN SCHWARTZ

To many people, death by removing a feeding tube brings to mind the agony of starvation. But medical experts say that the process of dying that begins when food and fluids cease is relatively straightforward, and can cause little discomfort.

"From the data that is available, it is not a horrific thing at all," said Dr. Linda Emanuel, the founder of the Education for Physicians in End-of-Life Care Project at Northwestern University.

In fact, declining food and water is a common way that terminally ill patients end their lives, because it is less painful than violent suicide and requires no help from doctors.

Terri Schiavo, who is in a persistent vegetative state, is "probably not experiencing anything at all subjectively," said Dr. Emanuel, and so the question of discomfort, from a scientific point of view, is not in dispute.

Patients who are terminally ill and conscious and refuse food and drink at the end of life say that they do not generally experience pangs of hunger, since their bodies do not need much food. But they can suffer from dry mouth and other symptoms of dehydration that can be treated effectively.

Once food and water stop, death usually comes in about two weeks, and is caused by effects of dehydration, not the loss of nutrition, said Dr. Sean Morrison, a professor of geriatrics and palliative care at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. "They generally slip into a peaceful coma," he said. "It's very quiet, it's very dignified - it's very gentle."

The process of dying begins in the kidneys, which filter toxins from the body's fluids. Without new fluids entering the body, the kidneys produce less and less urine, and the urine becomes darker and more concentrated until production stops entirely.

Toxins build up in the body, and the delicate balance of chemicals like potassium, sodium and calcium is disrupted, said Deborah Volker, an assistant professor of nursing at the University of Texas who has written extensively on end-of-life issues.

This electrolyte imbalance disrupts the electrical system that triggers the action of muscles, including the heart, and eventually the heart stops beating.

Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company

[NeoConIV]

I wonder if she realizes that's she's being killed intentionally....that must be terrifying.

[exstatic]

I wonder if she realizes that's she's being killed intentionally....that must be terrifying.

Doubtful. Have you seen MRIs of her brain? There is a lump about as big as an orange in the center. The rest is fluid. I wish her husband would turn control over to her parents, but I doubt she's suffering in any sense.

[GoldToe]

It feels like you are dying of thirst and hunger.
WTF do you think it feels like?

[exstatic]

She's on morphine. She probably isn't feeling much of anything, other than high.

[Duff McCartney]

Dying of thirst...is like having a very bad hangover.

[GoldToe]

Or cotton mouth.

[NeoConIV]

I wonder what will read on her death certificate.

"Starvation" or some other candy coated half-truth bull .

[GoldToe]

Natural Causes.

[NeoConIV]

Natural Causes.

candy coated half-truth bull .

Natural causes assumes one was not starving. Yes?

[The Ressurrected One]

I wonder what will read on her death certificate.

"Starvation" or some other candy coated half-truth bull .

Homicide. (Not murder). Her death is the result of the actions of another and not from natural causes.

[samikeyp]

probably something like complications due to her condition. not sure.

[NeoConIV]

probably something like complications due to her condition. not sure.

Huh? We all know how she is dying. STARVATION!!

What, are you in a vegetative state?

[samikeyp]

It was a guess.

[Drachen]

Homicide. (Not murder). Her death is the result of the actions of another and not from natural causes.

No, actually her LIFE is the result of the actions of others.

[The Ressurrected One]

No, actually her LIFE is the result of the actions of others.

As is everyone's

[MannyIsGod]

It would not be cide on her death certificate. It would have to be dehydration, which probably occours before starvation.

[Drachen]

As is everyone's

You know what I mean. In other words the feeding tube being inserted is the action of others that kept her alive. The pulling of the tube is just a return to where she was before.

[SpursWoman]

This is an incredibly insensitive thread. She and her family are by far not the only ones to experience this type of situation, and the media has absolutely no ing place in it.

[The Ressurrected One]

It would not be cide on her death certificate. It would have to be dehydration, which probably occours before starvation.

When a person dies from other than natural causes it is either homicide or suicide or accidental. Which is this?

A shooting victim dies of gunshot wounds a result of homicide or suicide or accident.

When someone removes a feeding tube from a person unable to do so themselves, it's starvation by either homicide or accident. Which is this?

Starvation isn't a natural cause of death; only disease processes can make that claim.

I would point out that I make the distinction between homicide and murder. One speaks to outcome, the other intent.