http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terri_Schiavo_case
Excerpt:
The Terri Schiavo case (surname pronounced /ˈʃaɪvoʊ/) was a legal battle between the legal guardians and the parents of Teresa Marie "Terri" Schiavo that lasted from 1998 to 2005. At issue was whether the husband's granted motions and later court findings to forgo further life-prolonging procedures or life support treatment for Terri, who was diagnosed by doctors in a persistent vegetative state, would be carried out. The highly-publicized and prolonged series of legal challenges presented by the parents and by state and federal legislative intervention effected in total a seven-year delay before finally being properly carried out. In carrying out those decisions, the staff at the facility where Terri was being cared for disconnected a feeding tube and did not make any attempt or allow anyone else to make any attempt to provide her with regular food and water orally, thereby soon leading to her death via dehydration.


mystuffs ...cal
On this date 29 years ago the doctors in Modesto Doctors Hospital and my family disconnected my father from life support.  It was devastating and it broke up my family with the way it was handled. 

It was told to me by my family on Friday that if taking my Daddy off of the respirator didn't kill him they would put him in a room without food and water.  hmmmmmmm.  (I thank mygod quite often that he died when they took him off the respirator (on the following Monday) as I cannot imagine how I would have responded if they had shut him up in a room and let him starve and die from dehydration.)   My uncle, my dad's brother died a few years ago and to tell you the truth I didn't shed a tear. 

Don't get me wrong, I knew my father very well and he would have agreed to just what the doctors and the males in my family suggested.  My major problem was the way it was handed to me.  (I am my father's only blood heir and it screamed abuse by the white males in my family.) 

Anyways today was a very difficult day for me and I wanted to share this with you so nobody else has to go through this.  It would have been nice if my father had something in place so the destruction of his family could have been avoided.  Matter of fact, he could have sat me down, as I assume he did my brother and uncle and talked it over with me. 

Sit and communicate with your family no matter what age you are what you would like to be done in a situation similar to mine.  Communication is the only thing that can ensure a family isn't broken when something like this happens.