A Morbid Poll I know.

[Iam46yearsold]

Now I know this may seem rather morbid to some. It really isnt meant to be. But as nurses some of the issues we have to face are the decisions that patients and families have made for the end of their life. This is a poll of what you think best applies to your thoughts and beliefs about how you would like to see the end of your life ceremony proceed. There are many different ceremonies and I cant begin to list them all.

Would you prefer.......

1 The standard traditional funeral in this country with either a closed or open casket followed by cemetery

internment with the usual body preparation at a funeral home.

2. Cremation

3. Cremation with your ashes being made into "Reef Ball" to help rebuild coral reefs.

4. Natural or green Burial, where after a viewing if wished you are buried in green or enviromentally safe fashion.

I know this is a morbid question , but I have been researching for a while. Just out of curiosity and some decisions I have had to help patients and their families with of late.

Did you know in a study, easily found on the net. That is an average 10 acre cemetery contains enough coffin wood to construct more than 40 homes, nearly 1000 tons of casket metal and another 20,000 tons of vault concrete. Add to that enough toxic embalming fluid to fill a backyard swimming pool, a human carcinogen. I can see why they are being considered as de facto landfills of nonbiodegradable materials. Classified by the EPA as hazardous waste. All this has amazed me to no end.

[Atheos]

I am already prepared to be burned in a funeral pyre (I guess that equal cremation).

Ashes to Ashes!

No toxins, no waste, no nothing.

[DroogieRN]

Interesting thread! This kind of stuff is fascinating.

Traditionalist here -- I want the whole bit (although I hope the service is joyful, and I'd like "Jessica" by the Allman Bros. played in addition to some boisterous church singing. My name's not Jessica or anything, but I cannot listen to that song without smiling...), overly made-up in some garish frock with people filing by saying, "Oh, doesn't she look so nice." Then cart me off to our family's cemetery. I already have dibs on the spot by my dad.

That said, karenG., I am sorry for your loss.

[APBT mom, LPN, RN]

I was telling my husband about the reefs. I think that would be a neat thing to do with your body but I'll donate my organs first.

One thing I learned after my grandmother passed was some places require you to get a permit to pour someone's ashes in the ocean or body or water within a certain amount of miles (here it's 3). So if you go this route without a permit make sure you REMOVE the metal identification that the crematorium's place inside the ashes.

[Sterren, BSN, RN]

Karen, I'm so sorry for your loss.

I do not want to be cremated. Even with my standard-issue nurse's stomach of steel, cremation makes me a little icked out for some reason. I don't actually have any solid ideas or desires, I hope I don't need them for quite a long time, but my family knows I don't like the idea of cremation.

[redfoxLPN]

My husband says when he dies put in the compost pill (we have a farm) and forget it. As for me what ever I don't care.

[CathyLew]

ohhhh, yep a morbid question...but as a nurse, Im sure it's one we have all thought of!

for me-cremation.

told the husband I didn't want to be hooked up to life support..but if he finds that I am, no feeding tube at all, and don't unplug me till I can fit into my skinny jeans! (just kidding!)

and on the morbid side... I think people should practice making their own obituaries. Write them up, and stick them somewhere where they will be found just in case. I think it's sad to see an obit in the paper, where you can tell the family was just caught off guard, and didn't know what to say. *He liked watching nascar and doing sudoko*

[pitcrew1234]

hi- i am registered at a cremation society, and my dad waas cremated. it felt better, for me, to just have that box up there. when my mom died i would not go up to the casket but for a few seconds, and i thought "she's not there. it's just a shell" she was not made up well and her hair was wrong. i just felt better. i don't like th eidea of remains interred in a waterproof receptacle.... just seems wrong to me- pit

[SwampCat, BSN]

I have somewhat of a death hierarchy -

First, I want my organs donated (but not my ovaries or uterus ). Then I would like to have a hole dug near a nice tree and be planted. No chemicals, no nothing. If thats not doable, I want to be donated to the body farm in TN. If they don't want me, then I guess cremation (although I'm still a bit freaked by the idea of fire :uhoh21: but I guess its better than taking up space) and dumped off somewhere I can make a difference....the compost pile, a coral reef, etc. I just ran across a website that says you can be turned into a fireworks display. Coolness.

My elderly neighbor already has her obit done and wants her ashes split into two urns. Then when her husband dies she wants him to be split into those same two and then shooken up to be intermingled forever...awww!

[prowlingMA]

I definately don't want a water burial. I am so scared of drowning. ( Have been since near miss at age 9)

Cremated and released in the wind at a signifcant place sound nice.

My husband has joked that he wants to be cremated and the ashes loaded into shot gun shells and shot out of his favorite gun. ( There is a company that will pack the shells for you). I actually think that is perfect for a good ole red neck boy like him. Either that or sprinked along the road on the way to Sturgis Motorcycle rally.

A friend of mine has a locket with some of her dads ashes in it. It seems a little creepy to me. To think about what part those ashed might have been before they were burned. ( You oved ones elbows or privates on a chain around your neck) Gross.

[kythe, LPN]

I have registered as an organ donor. I hope that my body might be in a condition that would allow some of it's organs to be used by others who need them. It's the ultimate form of recycling. I would also choose cremation over buriel. It is much cheaper and more environmental. I won't be using my body any more, so I see no reason to "preserve" it.

My parents have both chosen to donate their bodies to science. Years before making that decision, my mom used to want to be buried in a pine box without having been embalmed, because that way both her body and the container it is in would decay naturally into the earth as God intended (her view).

[Elvish, BSN, DNP, RN, NP]

Donate my organs, then whatever's left can be cremated. If dh is still alive, he can decide what to do w/ them. If he's already gone, then I just want to be close to him, wherever that is. I won't need my body anymore, I'll have a new one. I want my funeral to be a party, not people sitting around crying.

[DLS_PMHNP, MSN, RN, NP]

Cremation and scatter my ashes someplace nice, like a garden or forest. Definitely NOT the ocean. The deep ocean scares me and I'm not fond of being there. And I know I will be dead and all but I still do not want to end up in the deep, cold, dark, ocean.

Same here....