Michael Schiavo profiled

Considering all the hysterical nonsense that the right-wing is pumping into the atmosphere about Michael Schiavo, it is refreshing to see some facts:

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/news/epaper/2005/03/24/a16a_mikeschiavo_0324.html

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On Feb. 25, 1990, Schiavo says he awoke at 4:30 a.m. when he heard a thud and found his wife, then 26, on the floor of a hallway, unconscious. Doctors say she had a heart attack because of a chemical imbalance that might have been caused by an eating disorder. Schiavo and others say Terri was bulimic. Those who have bulimia nervosa alternate between gorging and purging, to feed a hunger that never seems to go away.

At first, when doctors told Schiavo his wife's condition was hopeless, he didn't believe it. He flew Terri to California for experimental surgical treatments, then back to Florida to a brain-injury center. He even went back to school to study nursing so he could care for her. Friends say he would dress her daily, even apply her makeup.

In November 1992, he sued her doctors for malpractice and won $1 million: $700,000 put into a trust for Terri's health care and $300,000 for his loss of companionship.

At this point, the relationship between Schiavo and the Schindlers became acrimonious. Both sides say the dispute was about the money.

It wasn't until more than seven years after his wife collapsed and the death of his mother that Schiavo came to believe that his wife would never recover.

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Schiavo said his father-in-law called him "a few choice words," then stormed out of the room. Schiavo said he started to follow him, but his mother-in-law stepped in front of him, saying, "This is my daughter, our daughter, and we deserve some of this money."

Damn RW fundies.

That should say a lot right there....

And he applied makeup to her daily and dress her in clothes (instead of those hospital garments) and it took him 7 years to realize she wasn't going to recover.....

This man sooooo loved her and anyone challenging that fact is just plain ignoring the facts in this case and is nuts!

She weighed 200 lbs when she was 16 years old. COME ON. Her uncle was talking about today.

he did re-start his life and every one seems to hate him for that. I do not see anything wrong with it. I may have not do it that way but he waited a while and this women was brain dear years and years ago.

Terri is blessed to have a husband like that..he's still fighting for her to make sure she'd still keep her dignity..to the end. Bless Michael's heart. (the very reason he has another woman now.. his capacity to love, because of Terri)

I saw him in an interview and while he didn't want to get into describing or talking much about his personal life, he said something to the effect of "one can love more than one person"....

I have absolutely no doubt that he loves Terri and always will...I bet his heart will ache when she dies and yet at the same time, have peace in knowing she is finally at peace. The sad truth, is that only he and she will be the ones to have peace. Her parents are the ones with tortured souls and probably will never find peace, and this "drama" is really about their own souls and issues.

On the fact that he has a fiancee and children, I think that there is nothing wrong with that considering the circumstances and he clearly showed committment to her all the way. Terri's parents according to court testimony actually show that he was encouraged by them to "go date" and get on with his life because of Terri's condition. I know that if I had gone into a coma or vegetative state like her and somehow "came out of it 15 years later" and my husband had remained a celibate monk, I think that I'd find that almost sad and utterly pathetic. If I awoke and my husband had "gotten on with life", I'd understand, even if it was a hard thing to deal with...

All these people accusing them of "adultery" and even accusing him of being a "murderer"....who are any of them to judge him or someones' marriage....that is between him and Terri....like I said, I believe that both Michael and Terri will be at peace....

very enlightening. I learned a lot about Michael that really impressed me, especially the part about him going to nursing school so he could care for Terri.

Money seemed to have been the catalyst that drove a wedge between Michael and the Shindlers. It's really too bad because they all love
Terri and now they're all fighting with each other.

Michael Schiavo shuns the spotlight and that is another thing that impresses me. He doesn't seem to want any publicity for himself and modestly stays in the background while he's being vilified by the Schindlers and the fundies.