Death

[DNR]

I am not a black hearted guy, I am just not running at the same level as most people. You have got to believe this is a good day.

You wondered about my Avatar, Boom - Headshot - well - this is a headshot. I got an idea and I am going to try to blow it right into your skull like a 230gr .45 caliber bullet. The idea will split your head wide open..

I finally figured out Death.

As usual, its me working in the hospital, cardiac unit, its not a job, but a fucking adventure. Hacker displaced, I make the best of it by learning what I can.

I am finally convinced, that death is a part of life. Just like you cannot have Light without darkness, you cannot have life without death. They are both one and the same. Don't try to accept them as separate things - you'll find out at the very last minute exactly what I mean. Hold still while I press the cold steel of my keyboard against your head and squeeze the trigger..

If you fear death, you fear life. If you are afraid of death, you are afraid of living life to its fullest. I bet, you can see the same thing I saw - people afraid to live life to its fullest extent. They lived in their heads and not by their actions. They chose to benefit themselves by taking coffee breaks, a smoke break, and just looking the other way. I am not afraid to walk into the next room to find whats happened, I am not afraid to pick myself up and go on - when I am feeling "what the fuck for?!"

How you live, will determine how you will die. The people that whine and spit hurtful comments as they die, were the same in life - hateful, needy people.
The people that choose to live in adventure, take risks and challenge - they have no problems when it comes to facing death - its another adventure - the risk they took to live, and the ultimate challenge of course. How brave will you be when you die? Will you be just as brave as when you lived?

I am all set, I got no worries now. I know how I am going to die.

I'll die standing up. I'll die fighting. And I'll be laughing on the inside, all the way. No way would I let some motherfucker get me down, not on my best day nor my worst.

I am a DNR.

[nightkid]

you has blown my mind.

[Swan]

For me...having already met him once, Death without any sense of melodrama or hyperbole is a dear friend.

When you were younger (all of you) did you happen to go to a club, to a friends house, or have a curfew? You enjoyed yourself, you had a good time at the event, but you know that at that certain time things would draw to an end. Death is like a patient lover, who gently hovers over us from the day that we are born, ever waiting to take us home. A figure who is met with ridicule, fear and abject contempt, Death is little more than a dear friend to us all. Death is a release of pain, and the end of all things. Pain, fear and worry all disappear in that single second as we breathe our last, and

Death is such an inevitable part of life, crucial and fundamental to our very existence. Frankly put, without death, there cannot be life, period.

I myself would much rather die in bed with my wife beside me, or drift away peaceably. But, in this world of uncertainty, I will gladly take, what I can get.


DEATH be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadfull, for, thou art not so,
For, those, whom thou think'st, thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poore death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleepe, which but thy pictures bee,
Much pleasure, then from thee, much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee doe goe,
Rest of their bones, and soules deliverie.
Thou art slave to Fate, Chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poyson, warre, and sicknesse dwell,
And poppie, or charmes can make us sleepe as well,
And better then thy stroake; why swell'st thou then;
One short sleepe past, wee wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.

[DNR]

oh yea, one last morbid detail.

Your life does flash before your eyes before you die. I could almost look in to their blank thousand-yard stare and see it playing out like a movie reflected off their retinas.

As they get into agonal breathing, the neck and mouth trying to suck in every cubic inch of oxygen, they start to drift off. Instead of anxiety and restlessness, a calm starts to come over them. Thats when their eyes lose focus of reality and begin to watch the vivid movie inside their eyes.

As I said before it takes a stronger man to be humble. If there is no family member present I try to talk to the person and hold their hand. Its like the last decent thing a human being could do for another, it is inherent inside all of us to be kind. I tell the patient "Its ok, you did a great job" because I think before people die - they regret things have left things undone and wonder if they were a good person in life. Not everyone will ask about God, but I find every dying person does ask for absolution.

Don't think you know death just because he slapped you on the head (once or twice). Just like you can't say you know computers because you took a class on it, while others know computers because they got schooled in the university. Assumption is the mother of all fuck-ups.

I can't believe I wrote this post last night, it was a rough week at work. I even got to stand by and watch tech de-activate a good patient of mine's Pacemaker/Defib. It was like pulling the plug on the guy, and he was having a good day.

DNR

[n3rd]

I want to know how death changes your life if you are resuurected :/

[DNR]

I think you meant Resuscitated. Resurrection is done in Haiti or New Orleans - do you want to be a Zombie?


Who knows? I met a few survivors and some did change their outlook on family and life. Depending on how bad your damage was, your life is changed physically anyway. People that have only partial use of their heart muscles will suffer from Congestive Heart Failure. People that suffer from heart arrhythmia can live normally with a pacemaker. I have met 23 yr old heart attack victims, and I met 106 yr olds that never had one. Arteriosclerosis is genetic and dietary.
Cardiac ischemia occurs when blood flow to the heart muscle is caused by a partial or complete blockage of a coronary artery. A sudden, severe blockage may lead to a heart attack Cardiac ischemia may also cause a serious abnormal heart rhythm, which can cause fainting or even sudden death. You can get mini strokes - Transient Ischemia Attacks, blockages of blood flow to your brain. The person strokes out, but it resolves quickly (minutes, otherwise its a full-on STROKE!). Medication will take care of that.

More cool assed facts I know

You got ten minutes of no breathing and no circulation until brain death. The longer you go without, cellular breakdown gets so bad its attacking the organs and will be unable to normalize to reverse damage. Its about bio chemistry at the cellular level. Freezing a person to around 87 degrees F reduces the amount of cellular damage, including damage to the heart muscles.
Heart attacks are caused by blockages in your arteries, my unit performs the emergency cardiac intervention - insertion of a stent in your main artery near the heart - by your femoral artery. The quicker we get you from the ambulance and into the Cardiac Cath Lab, the better your chances of a useful life after a heart attack.

Sudden cardiac death is when your heart cannot sustain a beat - it does not allow your heart to fill with blood properly, and it does not eject it. The muscle can either just stop or tremble uselessly inside you. This is fatal arrhythmia. Bad diet, drug use, electric shock, ill health, disease, and genetic defects can include all ages in this occurrence.

Performing CPR on most cases of cardiac arrest or respiratory failure has a great chance of saving the person. You do it until help arrives (with a AED) or until you are tired. You are breathing and circulating for that person, until the heart resumes a normal useful rhythm, a Defibrillator shocks the heart back to normal rhythm, or you stop. Its 30 compressions, 2 breaths. Repeat.

Strokes are bad news - I hope me or none I know gets stroked. Thats when you get blockage in your brain, and it kills it because the blockage was not resolved within ten minutes. You will likely suffer from permanent sided damage, usually your left side will be very weak or useless. You'll likely piss yourself alot and need assistive care, you can stroke so bad you'll be a vegetable - kind of alive but in body you can't use. People that drink too much in old age will stroke out, a warning to those embarking on their drinking years.

Enjoy life!

DNR

[Insection]

What would you live for if you had nothing to die for?

[computathug]

What can i say on all the above? i have read and read and tried to think of the right word to come out of my typo!!

Death comes upon us all! Yet we choose not to think about it. To look into someone's eyes at the final moments is something no-one can describe!

Death changes everyone and affects us all in different ways. To face it yourself is another effect we cannot think any one else could ever understand.

I have faced death in many forms.... I am a slaughter man so i have killed and looked into the eyes. I have watched people die in front of me and tried my best to help them, including direct family and i have been sat on the doorstep of death waiting for me which i dont care to talk about. Yes it was a situation i put myself in so i have no-one to blame....all i can say is 'i am still here'! Yes I think about things before me and the things i may never see again. I have been to funerals where hundres have been there, one family, one a friend, and others where there have been maybe 20. I have been to over 60 funerals in my time and at such a young age, im 35 which you can think... isn't that old! i have seen many friends and family taken to the earth and can only hope i will be remembered for better rather than worse!

I am no angel but i do try!!!!!

[floodhound2]

DNR,
I hope that your psyche can endure the pain or morbid thoughts that often death brings. As you know more than I; your job can take a toll on your mental faculties. I am stiff lipped just knowing that you helped people die and respect your ability to continue.

Peace ~

[computathug]

FH, your right. to be in that situation every day must take its toll mentally. Not many people put them selves in that position day in day out!

Each one in and out like cattle but all you can do is comfort them, they know and you know. We can all see it from time to time but daily is something we dont have to think about.

Its often someone elses words that lets our minds see in other directions.

I thank you for your words as well as DNR for his way and view on life itself.... and death!

It comes to us all and we never know when its our turn next!

[DNR]

I don't think I got jaded or numbed to the situation. I still feel bad for certain patients, some patients I admit - they die and I feel nothing.
I don't have to feel bad about death - these people die not for lack of care or medical technology, but because its the end of their life.
I suppose I would feel bad if it was different, war, crime, and stupid things people do. When death plays out like it is supposed to, and the person feels comfortable about it, it can be the most peaceful thing you'll see.
"The cries of a dying songbird will not be plainative, just as the words of a dying man will be great."

I am not a monster, created from too much exposure to death and violence, but I am a humbled man.

DNR