Please share with me your experiences with this....

[*LA*]

Ok, well, here goes.

m new here. I actually found this site when I was looking for "white nurses clogs". I googled that phrase and a journal from this site came up. ( Im going back to work soon, after being home for 4 yrs and am nervous about it, so while i was here, I posted in the OR section, if anyone has any tips, feel free to share them there on my thread. thanks)

Anyway, here goes

long story short, my mother was given 6 months (Ca).

she was NOT religious woman, in fact, she sort of made fun of people who were devout.

well, it had been 5 days since she was released from the hospital, to go home and etc.....

she wasnt ale to walk so she was in bed.

well, that day, she was very lucid and making perfect sense. I was waiting for a delivery (pain meds) from the pharmacy and worried that she would be in pain. she wasnt complaining. she was very clear headed. I was in the other room when she screamed for me to "get in here this minute". when I went into he room, she insisted that I "get rid of that man right now" (she was very angry. she went on to tell me that he refused to leave and she wouldnt have a strange man in her room. there was no one in there. she was sooo insistant and so clear headed that I actually thought that someone has maybe broken in, knowing we had strong pain meds in the house etc etc

well, this went on and on all day long, and each time that I went into her room, she was having a definate conversation with someone?? she actually seemed to be listenning and would stop and them respond "no, Im not going anywhere, I dont know you and you dont tell me what to do anyway"

I was actually getting scared because she seemd so insistent and coherant.

Ok, so the end of the day, she tells my sister that "this man here is telling me that if I go with him, I wont be in pain anymore" ( she had metastatic breast ca). then she calls me in and say to me, "here take this, its a check for your borthday and I want you to have it" (my birthday was the next day). that week she had been given 6 months and I told her that she could give it to me herself tomorrow.

So, went to bed.

when we went in her room the next morning, she was gone.

I am STILL trying to make sense of what went on that last day and I dont have an explanation.

Has anyone ever heard of anything like this happenning before?

I still dont know what to make of it.

thanks

LA

ps I am not crazy, cross my heart

[Flynurse]

Working in a hospice house we continuously experience these situations first hand. I have so many stories in the back of my mind it's amazing. I never knew these events were called Near Death Awareness, but how appropriately named.

I have two favorite stories. The first involves a patient who saw a famous person in his room. Had a lovely conversation with him. Then told the nurse who he had just spoken with and that the man would visit with him again soon. The nurse smiled and talked with him about it. Afterwards, she went to the office and there sitting on the counter was a magazine with this famous man on the cover. He'd just died the day before. What's more amazing? The patient had grown up in the same small town as this famous person. A week later he went to have that visit.

The second is my favorite. We had a very young man who had died in one of our rooms. The next patient in that room was an elderly lady. There were many times in which she would ask about the lost boy that was in her room. Or say, "[Young Man's Name] wants to know where he should go." She would very often talk about this young man by name. None of this lady's family had any idea who this young man was. They knew no one of that name. It was such a common name too. She too died. No one since has mentioned this lost boy by name. Finally, one day the nurses put two and two together. They like to believe that when this young man died his spirit didn't know where to go and stayed in that room. So, when the lady came to the room he was there, waiting for guidance. And when she died herself she took him with her.

I get chills down my spine just thinking about it. I believe this is a wonderful phenomenon the dying experience. Nothing to be afraid of. Nothing to disregard.

My most precious memory. An elderly woman barely able to speak. Many children of her own. One day, days before she died, spoke clear as day, "I'll take care of the children." We all assumed she meant her child who died very young. A week after her death, both myself and another nurse found out we were pregnant. How my heart is full of happiness and sadness at this thought.

Healthy children will not fear life if their elders have integrity enough not to fear death. ~Erik H. Erikson

[req_read]

I have a suggestion for everyone; write these stories and experiences down. The day will come when you are no longer doing this kind of work and you will start to forget.

[pattiraiteri]

I am nurse that had worked oncology and had some experiences that confirmed supernatural happenings at end of life. I kind of collect stories in media and read "final Gifts" written by hospice nurses that also confirm to me that one foot is dealing with spirit and while one foot still on earth. One interesting story is of sam kinison the comedian who died in 1992. I found the story written by someone in the car behind his and this is his story that I copied and pasted:

Immediately after the crash, which occurred near Needles at about 7:30 p.m.,

Kinison at first appeared fine, said friends who watched the crash from a second

car and reported that beer cans from the pickup were strewn across the highway.

With what appeared to be only cuts on his lips and forehead, he wrenched himself

free from his mangled vehicle, lying down only after friends begged him to.

"He said: 'I don't want to die, I don't want to die,' " said Carl LaBove, Kinison's best friend and

longtime opening act, who held the comedian's bleeding head in his hands.

Kinison paused, as if listening to a voice that LaBove could not hear.

"But why?" asked Kinison, a former Pentecostal preacher. It sounded, LaBove

said, as if "he was having a conversation, talking to somebody else. He was

talking upstairs. Then I heard him go, 'OK, OK, OK.' The last 'OK' was so soft

and at peace. . . . Whatever voice was talking to him gave him the right answer

and he just relaxed with it. He said it so sweet, like he was talking to someone

he loved."

Kinison died at the scene from internal injuries, according to authorities.

An autopsy is planned.

[pattiraiteri]

Here is a more personal story of mine. When my great uncle was in hospital my aunt had called me stating he was getting released to go home. She then told me that he was not all there mentally because he was talking with my deceased cousin and deceased grandfather while my aunt was in room. I told my aunt that he might not be hallucinating and possible he was really talking with them. Sure enough he passed away that week unexpectantly.

Another story is of Ronald Reagan's final moments as told by his daughter Patty in the media. He had alzheimers and had not meaningfully communicated with family for some time. On the day he died they gathered around his bed. At the last breath he opened his eyes and really looked at his wife and she KNEW he was in there for just that moment to say goodbye.

Billy Grahm's mother when she died heard beautiful music and saw the next world as she told those at her bedside when she was dying.

Above I gave the story on sam kinison. There are many others. There is a whole website devoted to near death experiences. I have encouraged my patients to tell me stories of what happened. It is amazing what answers you get when you ask. I am a case manager now but I occasionally get patients that have traumas and come close to death. Two patients stories, One hit his head and was paralyzed by medications in hospital and heard the MD telll his wife that they may have to operate to relieve swelling/brain. He could not move but he felt overwhelming anxiety/fear and then he heard a voice tell him everything is going to be okay, he knew it was GOD and he felt/ was loved and he was told he would not need surgery. he did not need surgery and eventually did well after a few months. Another lady fell out of her car when it was moving. She states she saw her deceased father and he gave her a choice that she could come with him or stay. She felt completely loved and wanted to stay with her dad but then she thought of her young daughter and decided to stay. she awoke in hospital.

[smurfynursey]

Hi everyone...

I have a question. I am (all things considered) new to hospice - its been my per diem job for about a year. Years ago, I read a story about a nurse that was working in a SNF at night. She saw a patient that had been bed bound for years walking toward the nurses station. When she got there she (the rt) placed the denture box on the counter , said "I don't need these anymore" and walked back to her room. She died shortly after (It said how long but I read this a long time ago). Have you ever encountered such a thing? Or is it just a story? Given my experience and belief system, it would not surprise me if this were true.

[pattiraiteri]

Get the book "final gifts" written by two hospice nurses. Also go to thread of "ghost stories" on this site.