Wednesday, January 13, 2016

MY BRAIN HURTS

bink's dad is still hanging on... The hospice nurse said sometimes people with lung disease are so used to struggling for breath, they hang on, fighting to breathe, longer than others.
I don't know if that's just anecdotal, but it feels fitting in this case.

It's possible I may have the opportunity to go to hospice with bink again tomorrow, but I am taking today off, for various reasons, including...

3 comments:

Zhoen said...

That's really terrible, so much so that it's strangely funny. No idea how the guys that did that were as funny as they were. But I get why Cleese won't watch the show.

Yeah, the high C02 sensor is burned out, so the low O2 one keeps going. They tend to linger. They can even keep breathing after their heart stops. Had a patient do that right before lunch, called the mortuary and the MD checked her, she was gone, but still having some reflexive breaths - not moving any air.

We served lunch to everyone else. Two women approached me to let me know their friend died, they watched her take her last breath. I made no mention of the fact she was already gone, nearly an hour. They were obviously deeply comforted that they'd made it in time. Who was I to take that away?

Frex said...

I know---it's soooo tasteless!
And yet, I am laughing hard.
Do you ever wander around the OR yelling "ANESTHETIC"?
(Ohgod, no.)

I didn't know Cleese wouldn't watch the show---I wonder if he feels differently about the perfect "Fawlty Towers"?

Wow--that's fascinating about the physiology of lungs and death. Thanks for saying.
So, it's not just anecdotal...

Bodies are weird and wonderful, that's for sure.

Zhoen said...

I can honestly say I have never done that in the OR. I've done many silly and inappropriate things, but not that.