My grandmother passed away in October from breast cancer with the whole family, including me, at her side. I found myself fascinated by the process her body went through during the dying process as her grandaughter and a senior nursing student. I'm studying for a Med/Surg III exam tomorrow on heart failure, and acute pulmonary edema came up. The book describes how there is frothy sputum, bubbling respirations, and sweating (among other things) and if it's not treated the person will drown in their own fluids. My grandma started the bubbling respirations about 24 hours earlier and the frothy sputum about 30 minutes prior to dying. Did she have acute pulmonary edema? I'm thinking it might be because as the body stopped working and her heart slowed down, she could have had pulmonary congestion, leading to all the symptoms. I'm just not sure if this is considered a "normal" part of the dying process. I didn't think to ask the Hospice nurse at the time, so here I am almost 4 months later while trying to put all the pieces together. Any thoughts?
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