Elena LaVictoire's Library tagged dying → View Popular

Filter:
All
Annotated

09 Oct 09

Signs of Dying

Hands down, the best web site that I have ever found on the topic. If the inept hospice workers had given my sister and me this type of information I think we both would have actually been there when mom passed.

www.amitabhahospice.org/...signs_of_dying.php - Preview

death dying

Signs of Imminent Death

Eyes have glassy fixed stare with large pupils

Pasty grey, or blue greyish colour present especially on lips, hands
and feet

Hands and feet can be cold

Jaw open, breathing through mouth very rapid or very slow (often with
rattle) with pauses of 20-50 seconds between breaths

Unresponsive to voice or pain

It is most important not to do or say anything that
might disturb or anger the person, like speaking abruptly, arguing,
crying, rough handling; maintain a peaceful atmosphere with people praying,
meditating or chanting according to the dying person's wishes or as
instructed by their spiritual guide/teacher. Any supporters can generate
limitless universal or devotion in their hearts and the wish for the
dying person to be released from suffering with this love or devotion/faith
and become unified with love, with god or with their source of inspiration
and virtue.

CaringBridge / chrisklicka / Welcome

Update on HSLDA attorney Chris Klicka's condition. A lot of what he is going through sounds very familiar to what I read about when my mother was dying, although she didn't have as much agitation. I wonder if part of that is because she was older and female.

Mr. Pete spoke personally to Mr. Klicka a few years ago at a big homeschool convention about his multiple sclerosis. One of our sisters-in-law had just been diagnosed with MS and was failing fast. He suggested a diet that he was on that had improved his health greatly and he gave a copy to Mr. Pete. Both my brother and sister-in-law went on this diet and they too had good results with it. I will always be grateful to Mr. Klicka for that.

www.caringbridge.org/...chrisklicka - Preview

homeschooling death grief dying

22 Jul 09

More bodies go unclaimed as families can't afford funeral costs - Los Angeles Times

Interesting article to me as we just went through my mother's funeral. Fortunately for us, she had pre-planned her funeral and pre-paid.

www.latimes.com/...ed21-2009jul21,0,2534079.story - Preview

funerals death dying

- She wouldn't have to fly out- ashes can be mailed. My father's ashes were sent via the USPS from New Mexico to Ohio! - on 2009-07-22
Add Sticky Note
The poor economy is taking a toll even on the dead, with an increasing number of bodies in Los Angeles County going unclaimed by families who cannot afford to bury or cremate their loved ones.

At the county coroner's office -- which handles homicides and other suspicious deaths -- 36% more cremations were done at taxpayers' expense in the last fiscal year over the previous year, from 525 to 712.
3 more annotations...
- Once the county cremates an unclaimed body -- typically about a month after death -- next of kin can pay the coroner $352 to receive the ashes. The fee for claiming ashes from the morgue is $466.
  
  Christopher Agosta's ashes are among those waiting.
- "I know that I can't afford to handle all this," Baker said. "I can't afford to fly out there and ask questions."
  
  Coroners and funeral directors around the country say they are seeing the same trend as cash-strapped families cope with funeral costs. Just claiming a body from the L.A. County coroner costs $200. Once a body is claimed, private cremations usually run close to $1,000, Smith said. Funeral homes charge an average of $7,300 to transport and bury a body in a simple grave, according to the National Funeral Home Directors Assn.
  
  "No one is immune from this," said Bob Achermann, executive director of the California Funeral Directors Assn. in Sacramento. "The economic malaise we're in is affecting everybody.
- "Families are making different choices based on the economy, choosing different caskets or urns or holding shorter services," said Jessica Koth, a spokeswoman for the National Funeral Home Directors Assn. "They're cutting back on floral memorials. If they have a funeral procession, they're not having the family limousine."

17 Jul 09

Dealing With Your Loved One's Imminent Death - Preparations and Activities - Death & Dying

www.riverwoodcenter.org/...view_doc.php - Preview

death dying

12 Jul 09

Physical Changes before Death | Bukisa.com

This is probably the best description of dying that I have seen, and it certainly explains things much better than the literature from hospice did!

www.bukisa.com/..._physical-changes-before-death - Preview

death dying

When the eyes are glassy and fixed, death normally occurs within hours.
As death does approach, breathing may become labored with the person gasping for air. A low throaty gurgling is common and is often referred to as the death rattle. These breaths will slow and come further and further apart until the final breath is taken

15 Jun 09

Florence S. Wald, American Pioneer in End-of-Life Care, Is Dead at 91 - Obituary (Obit) - NYTimes.com

Florence S. Wald was the mother of the modern hospice industry. This is a remarkable and educational story about her life and achievements.

www.nytimes.com/...14wald.html - Preview

death dying

07 Jun 09

Michigan Catholic Conference » Public Policy » MCC Board / Bishops' Statements » Living & Dying According to the Voice of Faith

A good letter about death's place in the cycle of life. Good questions for reflection at the end.

www.micatholicconference.org/...living_and_dying.php - Preview

death dying grief

The prospect of our own inevitable dying, and watching our loved ones die, naturally raises anxieties and fears about our capacity to bear the physical pain and psychological stress that might be connected to the dying process. We fear the possibility of being alone and forgotten. We perhaps lack the appropriate information about the proper steps to take in planning for our future death and that of our loved ones. We worry about the financial resources required for long-term care.
For many people the dying process is especially frightening because it seems to be the final and most complete moment of isolation, separation and loneliness. We imagine being caught in unending physical agony with no one who could possibly understand, much less comfort us. Following the voice of fear, we run away from death and desperately try to put it out of mind and sight—as far and as long as possible. And when it seems that death can no longer be avoided, we are naturally tempted to consider a quick escape or exit.
5 more annotations...
- We often think that death is the end of the story. We forget that it is foreshadowed throughout our life; dying is woven into the very fiber of our life from its inception. The voice of faith reassures us that we need not fear death but at the same time, because we are human, we can still be anxious about the circumstances of our death. Not knowing what the future may hold, we do not want to give up all the opportunities and gifts around us. When it is time for us to leave this world, it is fitting that we should want to die in a way that is meaningful, even beautiful and inspiring—for us and for all those we love.
  
  In the dying process, there is still a great scope for personal choice and responsibility: How we face the mysteries of suffering, dying, and death makes a critical difference for us and for our loved ones who wish to offer us compassionate support. As stewards of the gift of life, we see every aspect of life and death as part of a larger picture and part of our ongoing relationship with God and neighbor.
- Dying patients and their caregivers have the right and responsibility to determine whether a particular means of treatment is necessary. If, in consultation with their physician, they rightly judge a treatment to be useless or unduly burdensome, patients are free to undergo the treatment or to forgo it. When death is clearly inevitable and close at hand, a patient or caregiver can make the decision to forgo aggressive medical treatment which would impose an excessive burden on patient and family. In such cases, the Church particularly encourages pain management and hospice care for the dying. Further, patients and their caregivers have a legitimate right to insist on the best and most effective pain management and treatment to minimize suffering. One may even legitimately choose to relieve pain by use of medications which may have the unfortunate side effect of decreasing consciousness or shortening one's life, if this is done with the intent of relieving pain, and no other means are available to serve this goal. This is very different from the direct intention to take life, as in euthanasia.
- s family and friends gather around a dying person, powerful and mysterious gifts often emerge—reconciliation and healing where once there had been brokenness and division; peace and acceptance for all that has been; and the opportunity to express gratitude for a life well-lived. For such things to happen, we need time and the presence of supportive family and friends. These gifts cannot come to fruition when someone dies all alone in a motel room or in the back of a parked van.
- Even when we are dependent on medical staff, family and friends, we still have much to give to others. Silently but dramatically, dying persons remind us of our ultimate human vocation and destiny; in their absolute dependence, they teach us that being, matters more than doing.
- Facing our inevitable death, we recognize our ultimate solidarity with every other person. Dying and death are not the final separation from others, but rather something all human beings have in common. No matter what other differences may separate us, in dying we enter into the fullness of human solidarity.