4 things I learned from watching people die

[Magical Realist]

http://www.cracked.com/personal-experien...igW21ltzxg

"Everybody dies." That's not merely the tagline for George R.R. Martin's next book, nor the creepy guy from accounting's email signature. It's a fact. You will die, and I have the enviable job of helping you do it. No, I'm not Bruce Willis; I'm a hospice nurse. I can't tell you exactly when and how you'll die -- that's still the exclusive territory of witches and Christopher Walken -- but I can tell you what most of your final days will look like..."

[C C]

Around 1:00 one morning, I was called in for a death pronouncement on a woman who resided in an assisted living facility. I went about my usual routine, calling the funeral home and the patient's emergency contact. I had to tell the latter that, due to the very common misconception that all hospice patients have default "do not resuscitate" orders, their loved one died because of the response team's neglect.

An hour later, that emergency contact -- a family member -- arrived, screaming loud enough to wake the dead. Which, unfortunately, does not work. Otherwise, that problem would have fixed itself. Soon, more family members arrived -- cousins, nieces, nephews, grand-uncles, dog-walkers -- every one of them hollering and crying. One saw the body and instantly threw herself on the floor, shaking violently. Then she got up and lay atop the corpse, still crying and shouting. Remember, this wasn't the funeral. The patient had died hours before, was not embalmed, and was probably leaking all kinds of fluids.

It was close to 4:00 a.m. before the funeral home arrived to pick up the body and those distraught family members started to leave. That reaction seems Hollywood-caliber extreme to most of us, but maybe that's because we don't have anybody who loves us enough to go Pentecostal at our passing.

Lucky dead woman.

"There is only one happiness in this life, to love and be loved." --George Sand

"It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both." --Niccolo Machiavelli

~

[Zinjanthropos]

Watching my father die was hard to accept. A once proud man ravaged by cancer. His last night wasn't pretty. Drugged to the hilt he suddenly went into some kind of convulsion, throwing up some unimaginable bile and vomit, the likes of which I'd never seen before. Then his heart stopped. My brother immediately tried CPR but it was to no avail. However I felt some degree of happiness, knowing that for my dad, all the pain and suffering was finally over.

Watched my M-I-L die a much more peacefully. Dementia and body shutting down organ by organ. The rest home had some woman come in and play some songs on a guitar and as her breathing and heart slowed she finally gave one last big gasp and was gone. All seemed pretty natural.

I think everybody has watched actual video footage of plane crashes and war, etc. I know people died but somehow don't feel the connection, just glad it wasn't me.