15 years ago, Terri Schiavo's 'last hope' - S.P. Times article

[steve2470]

http://www.sptimes.com/2005/03/24/Floridian/15_years_ago__Terri_S.shtml


To date, The St. Petersburg Times has published about 500 articles about Terri Schiavo. The first one appeared almost 15 years ago, on Nov. 15, 1990.

At the time, the city of St. Pete Beach was still called St. Petersburg Beach and Michael Schiavo and Terri's parents were still speaking to one another. Here is the story, exactly as it was published.

- MIKE WILSON, assistant managing editor/Newsfeatures

* * *

ST. PETERSBURG BEACH - Mike Schiavo vividly remembers the morning of Feb. 25. Usually a late sleeper, Schiavo awakened suddenly about 5 a.m. and started to get out of bed.

"For some strange reason that day, I was just taking the covers off, and then she hit the floor," he said.
<snip>

[ohio_liberal]

1. When did she come out of the coma?

I know she was comatose first, then PVS.

[steve2470]

2. GAL opinon, answer in here I believe

http://jb-williams.com/ts-report-12-03.htm

On the tragic early morning of 25 February 1990, Theresa collapsed in the hallway of her apartment, waking Michael, who called Theresa's family and 911. The lives of Theresa, Michael and the Schindlers were to change forever.

Theresa suffered a cardiac arrest. During the several minutes it took for paramedics to arrive, Theresa experienced loss of oxygen to the brain, or anoxia, for a period sufficiently long to cause permanent loss of brain function. Despite heroic efforts to resuscitate, Theresa remained unconscious and slipped into a coma. She was intubated, ventilated and trached, meaning that she was given life saving medical technological interventions, without which she surely would have died that day.

The cause of the cardiac arrest was adduced to a dramatically reduced potassium level in Theresa's body. Sodium and potassium maintain a vital, chemical balance in the human body that helps define the electrolyte levels. The cause of the imbalance was not clearly identified, but may be linked, in theory, to her drinking 10-15 glasses of iced tea each day. While no formal proof emerged, the medical records note that the combination of aggressive weight loss, diet control and excessive hydration raised questions about Theresa suffering from Bulimia, an eating disorder, more common among women than men, in which purging through vomiting, laxatives and other methods of diet control becomes obsessive.

Theresa spent two and a half months as an inpatient at Humana Northside Hospital, eventually emerging from her coma state, but not recovering consciousness. On 12 May 1990, following extensive testing, therapy and observation, she was discharged to the College Park skilled care and rehabilitation facility. <snip>