Thinging about death
 

I've only witnessed the deaths of two people. One was a woman in a car accident and the other was my mother.
The body of the woman in the car was obviously broken. The trauma to her body seemed irreversible. It's like a vessel was smashed and the contents couldn't be saved. It made sense.
I once read an essay about a muskrat that had fallen into an empty swimming pool. The writer watched as someone shot it to death, then described in great technical detail what happened to the animal's body as it died. I can apply that to the death of the woman in the car. I understand disconnected nerve circuitry and obliterated organs.
But I wonder about the technical details of someone dying of "natural causes." I would really like to know what happens. My mom was just lying there. Apparently the chemical magic that makes our bodies function had gotten out of whack, but it wasn't obvious. She looked just fine - a little pale and thin, but not broken. It seemed like all we had to to was bring the chemicals back into balance and it would have been OK. It didn't make sense. I need to find an essay like the one about the muskrat.

Have you read "The Tibetan Book Of The Dead"?

Oversimplified and from the hip:
Ultimately, aerobic organisms die because some process (bleeding, dehydration, starvation, heart and/or respiratory failure, suffocation, poisoning...) results in tissue (cells) being deprived of oxygen and/or nutrients necessary for the citric acid Krebs/cycle to continue producing energy. The brain consumes oxygen very quickly and loss of consciousness occurs shortly after oxygen stops showing up. Anaerobic metabolism won't sustain an aerobic organism for long.

Saw this documentary a while back. I'm sure there are numerous scenarios that constitute "natural causes." This video outlines "Bob's" demise...

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I am thinging about ice cream.

What do you wanna know? I was a hospice nurse. Saw many people die. Actually very peaceful deaths...

Me too. (thinking) *thinging* :D I have witnessed someone dying. I have seen death up close. Airplane accident, car wreck... my father dead. I try not to think more of it then its a natural part of life. I know my dad is in a much better place. :)

Modern Americans are taught to fear and fight against it as un-natural.
Original Americans were taught to accept it as spiritually benefitting the source where they came from(mother nature).

In any form, it will eventually happen.

This confirms what we already knew. You are an Angel.

The brain consumes oxygen very quickly and loss of consciousness occurs shortly after oxygen stops showing up.
http://www.oifinance.com/songht1.jpghttp://www.tmetv.com/7.jpghttp://www.oifinance.com/song12.jpghttp://www.oifinance.com/song10.jpghttp://www.oifinance.com/song2.jpg

You can think about anything you choose. You can think about sadness.

I would prefer to think about life.

Wouldn't it have put a hole in the swimming pool?

In the case of my eldest brother, cancer had destroyed his lungs. He was on oxygen for the last three months, in hospice for the last ten days. I guess in the end, his lungs were filling with fluid and no oxygen was getting into the bloodstream. The cancers were attacking other parts of his body as well.

At age 81, he had crossed off everything on his "bucket list" and had accepted the fact his body was shutting down. I made it out for a visit for the last four days. The best thing we could do for him was be close, supportive and keep the drugs coming in an appropriate quantity.

Hospice nurses: as stated above, Angels in my view. Most of us in that situation have so little understanding of what is actually happening and are experiencing a wide range of emotions. These amazing people help us and our loved one through with their compassion and competence.
I hugged them all before we left.

When you consider the body and the systems which allow us to survive, you tend not to do the crazy things which seemed normal in your youth.

Best
Les

Death is the one great equalizer. Everyone and everything alive will eventually die. It does not matter if you are rich or poor, good or bad, attractive or ugly, your time alive is limited. What you do with that time is what matters.

I have only witnessed one moment of death. I have seen a lot of the aftermath.

Everyone dies. Not everyone really lives.

FWIW - there was an interesting piece dealing with this subject on a series "Through The Wormhole" hosted by Morgan Freeman on a Natgeo or PBS station a few months back. I believe it was called "Is There Life After Death?". It had a more scientific approach rather than theologic & as usual with subjects such as these, it raised more questions than it answered. To quote Woody Allen - "I am not afraid of death, I just don't want to be there when it happens". "Nobody gets outta here alive" so therefore I try to put the whole issue out of my mind & enjoy life & the time I have left.

Cheer
JB

So sweet of you to say. But to tell you honestly, my hospice patients and their families taught me more than I ever taught them. Funny how you learn more about life in times of death. Like I said, what do you want to know? Each death is different. Each person is different. Each life is different. Each patient was a different experience for me. But each one special.

Lee,
Thank you for the video. It made me sad because my elderly friend just passed a few weeks ago. I've seen many deaths, some peaceful and planned... some not. Each one is different, but I've never seen anyone die in pain. The traumatically wounded that I've treated died while in shock and the peaceful deaths were not painful, either. My grandfather's passing was quiet and almost imperceptible. His last meal was a peanut butter sandwich and when I told him the end was near and asked if he wanted anything, he said "No, I'm good"...

tweezers74,

Thank you for your service as a hospice nurse, you'll never know how much you helped those families...

Something that is not talked about is the use of drugs(morphine) to end a patient's life when the body is virtually overwhelmed with cancer. How hard is that for the nurse to administer the fatal overdose? Is that all in a day's work? Does the nurse suffer stress doing this? It cannot be easy! It probably won't be answered in this forum but it is something to think about.:eek: I don't know the truth and I will probably never know.