What now?

I guess by now we all know the sad resolution to the Terry Shiavo case. Many people can now get back to the normal routine of their lives. For me it will linger. One thing that really struck me and will continue to be something I ponder is the fact that in this country now, it is wrong to be voiceless. If circumstances put you in a place where you cannot express your feelings, you are considered as good as dead. There is actually a disability group called "Not Dead Yet". The only thing we really know about people like Terry is that they have not YET found a path to communicate with us. That is ALL that science can actually prove. There are medical diagnosis that are questionable at best. And that is a point that can be debated strongly on several sides. But for sure, many doctors will agree if you push them, that they make clinical diagnosis based on clinical presentation and that is a physical manifestation and not a neurological one. It cannot be proven because unless you can "get into" someone's head and read their thoughts you don't know what thoughts they have if any.
I won't go into all the stories I have read about people who could not communicate to others that they were still in there and were forced to listen to doctors tell their families there was no hope, withdraw life support,etc. Luckily circumstances have sometimes provided means for these few to be able to find their voice before it was too late.
I hope that if the Terry Shiavo case does one thing, it will start a push for better understanding of people who have suffered a brain injury. I hope it will lead to further investigation. Living Wills are what most people seem to have taken away from this case, but if the diagnosis is questionable that point isn't so important.
We are all just a stroke, car accident, bad fall, heart attack or other accident away from this puzzling condition. It can happen to anyone at any time. When it is someone else it is easy to make value judgments. When it is you or your loved one, you may look at if differently.