Terri Schiavo Moved to New Facility, Hospice Undergoing Repairs

 December 18, 2003

By Steven Ertelt, LifeNews.com Editor

 Comments or questions? Email us at news@lifenews.com

Pinellas Park, Florida (LifeNews.com) - Terri Schiavo has been moved from the Pinellas Park hospice facility where she has lived for years. She was moved temporarily to a retirement home in nearby Clearwater while renovations are taking place at the hospice.

Hospice workers will continue to care for Terri at the Park Place assisted living facility.

Terri's father and brother visited her on Wednesday and they say she is responding to them more than she has at any point since her feeding tube was removed for the second time in October.

"We really had a good session with her today," her father Bob Schindler told the Associated Press. "She talks to me and she is saying something."

Schindler said Terri appeared to laugh when he kissed her.

Bobby Schindler, Terri's brother, told the Tampa Tribune newspaper that Terri was "really reacting to my Dad today." He said Terri was "clearly trying to communicate" and that it was "heartbreaking" that Terri's estranged husband Michael continues to deny her speech therapy.

Nancy Valko, of Nurses for Life, says it's a "shame that Terri has been living in a hospice care facility for so long.

"Terri has been in hospice for years even though hospice is supposed to be only for people with less than a six-month life expectancy," Valko said.

Valko wondered if George Felos, the assisted suicide advocate who is Michael's attorney, will now claim that the opposition to Terri being placed in a hospice is moot.

"Of course, providing rehab for Terri now instead of fighting it while the case goes on
would seem to make common sense and save time, but there is little that
makes sense from the husband's side in this case," Valko said.

"Thankfully, it sounds like Terri is doing well even though many brain-injured people have what is often called 'transfer trauma' when moved to a different location. Transfer trauma can cause a period of regression after a move due to being in new surroundings with new routines," Valko explained.

Terri's family was concerned about Terri suffering as a result of repeated moves from the hospital to the hospice in October while she was undergoing hospital care for an infection.

Meanwhile, Terri's family asked Circuit Judge George Greer to transfer the lawsuit Terri's family has filed seek to replace Michael as Terri's guardian with her brother Bobby. They were hoping Greer would transfer the case to another judge in St. Petersburg, where Terri lived. Greer didn't rule on the request.

Copyright 2003 LifeNews.com

Related web sites:
Terri Schiavo's family - http://www.terrisfight.org