Near Death Experience

[nursemelani]

Have you had one? Do you know someone who did? There are some great books on the subject. Some Doctors/scientists say that when the brain loses oxygen, there is an endorphin rush that causes people to feel really peaceful and happy, and have hallucinations. But if you talk to anyone who has had one, they swear that they were in heaven.

[froghair]

i thought i was screwed a few weeks ago. id just finished working a run of 6 nights to which i hadnt slept well. on my drive home..... ( i work 3 hrs away from were i live and travel back on my days off) id fired up a HUpmann sir winnie cigar and hit the road. about 50km into the trip i get stung on the face by a bee..... now its been about 20 years since ive been stung by a bee and i was never allergic but being on my face i was a bit concerned. i had a claratyn tab in my first aid kit so i popped that. about 10min latter i started to feel a bit of tingling in my face and tongue, then my lips started to swell. im thinking this isnt good and tried to stay calm. then i became really nauseated and had to pull over and throw my guts. i felt like death warmed up all i wanted to do was lay down and the back of the ute was chockers so i sat back in the car thinking to myself that i was f****d. i woke 1 1/2 hrs latter when a farmer had pulled up and asked if i was ok as id been parked there a while. i gathered i was as i was still breathing. i continued on my way and about 10km down the road i was almost T-boned by a farmer going through a stop sign. i guess my number just wasnt up

[lady_jezebel]

My son related a memory from an NDE he had when he was not yet six years old. He had a significant stroke following a liver transplant; only a short time before the stroke he had been sitting up talking to me and pleading to be allowed to take a nap. When his lunch arrived I was unable to arouse him. What followed was a series of progressively more urgent exams and interventions that are the stuff of nightmares. The outcome was that he survived but suffered profound brain damage. He had to relearn everything, even how to hold up his head.

A couple of years later, I broke the news to him that an acquaintance of ours had died. When I asked him if he understood what that meant, he indicated that he did, that Paul was in Heaven. I reminded him that we wouldn't see Paul again. He said, "Yes we will, when he comes back," and I told him that people don't come back from Heaven. "Well, I did," he said and proceeded to tell me that he'd seen Jesus and Jesus told him, "That's not the way it's supposed to be, Son. You have to go back." He described the events happening in his room as if he had been a spectator, including how sad he felt when I started packing up his get-well cards and toys. The detail he used, this almost mute son of mine, made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. When I asked him if he'd still have come back if he'd known what he was coming back to (months in hospital followed by months of rigorous rehab, depression, the absence of who he had been), he very solemnly said simply, "No."

I believe.

This little guy (& large soul) is obviously in your life for a purpose. How powerful it is to KNOW that.

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

Nurse Melani and Lady Jezebel, thank you for your kind thoughts. I agree that my son "came back" for a reason, and if I never understand what that reason is, that's okay. I like to think that my experiences with him make me more sensitive to the thoughts and feelings of the parents I work with day to day in PICU; I let my instincts guide me.

It's gratifying that Adam is happy just the way he is, and that he really isn't limited by his limitations, if you know what I mean. He goes three or four times a year for Botox injections to his right leg in an effort to stave off surgery, and so far it's working. He's due next week and this time he's a bit tighter than I remember him being before, so maybe we may have to increase the frequency. He gets ongoing threapy for balance and mobility, has had to learn how to be left-handed (with variable success... he can pick up rice one grain at a time but can't write his name or cut his meat), to improve the spontaneity of his speech and the consistency of expressing his needs. He is a paradox; he lacks understanding of many basic facts of life but "gets" political humour... he adores action movies, but still wants to watch Saturday morning cartoons... he memorizes song lyrics after hearing them twice but can't read even at a kindergarten level... he loves his Happy Meal toys, and has never met a stranger. We were told he was blind and deaf... but he can tell me the colour of an M&M from the other side of the room, and he laughs at things I say when he's down the hall in another room. It's not easy being his Mom, but I feel blessed to be given the job.

[jennyga]

janfrn- well Iam at a loss for words