waiting for a train when dying

mazy · Sep 9, 2011

I'm so sorry about your father. I once had a hospice patient who was waiting for a train. I don't know what it meant to her or if it means anything in general in dying patients. At the time I chose to think of it as her saying that she was waiting and ready to move on to where she needed to be. My hope was that she knew that it was going to be a good place.

I think that you are being a good daughter, and very brave. I am sure that even if your father is slipping in and out of consciousness he knows that there is love with him.:redpinkhe

Hospice Nurse LPN, BSN, RN · Sep 9, 2011

I am sorry to hear about your dad. I've heard of trains, boats, bus stations.

Every death is unique. I've put some links here for you to look at.

https://allnurses.com/geriatric-nurses-ltc/patients-dying-613779.html

https://allnurses.com/nursing-articles/bed-dying-patient-276228.html

tewdles, RN · Sep 9, 2011

Dying people often speak of going to different places, by differing conveyances, and it is not incorrect to think that they may be speaking metaphorically rather than having hallucinations or confused thought.

leslie :-D · Sep 10, 2011

my dad is in the final stages of cancer and keeps saying he's waiting for the train. i know the obvious explanation is he's waiting to pass over but was wondering has anyone heard this before? i have heard people talking about dying people saying they are waiting for a boat and this can be linked to the egyptian belief of crossing over but does a train have any significance to anyone? sadly i cannot ask him now as he is slipping in and out of consciousness and cannot speak anymore........................

i'm so sorry, angila.:hug:

as mazy, tewdles, and hospice nurse have stated, these types of conversations are very characteristic of dying pts.

i've had it happen as well....actually, many times.

at first it confused and frustrated me because i wanted to help.

i felt lost instead.

then i read "final gifts" by maggie callahan and patricia kelley.

it describes this very phenomenon and discuss how to understand their needs better.

i remember in the travel section, they encouraged us to try and see any forms of travel metaphors, when pt trying to discuss what they dreamed.

so whether it's boat, train, bike, plane, walking...it's all about where they're going to go.

that book was invaluable to me.

it also explains that while they're sleeping, their spirit is leaving the body more and more...

and is often why they appear confused or disoriented when they wake up.

that, and not even knowing where to begin with what they're feeling.

it's ok to keep talking with your dad, even when he does lose consciousness.

wishing you warmth and faith.

leslie

leslie :-D · Sep 10, 2011

my dad is in the final stages of cancer and keeps saying he's waiting for the train. i know the obvious explanation is he's waiting to pass over but was wondering has anyone heard this before? i have heard people talking about dying people saying they are waiting for a boat and this can be linked to the egyptian belief of crossing over but does a train have any significance to anyone? sadly i cannot ask him now as he is slipping in and out of consciousness and cannot speak anymore........................

duplicate

eternalsunshine · Sep 18, 2011

Angila, so sorry to read your story I highly recommend the book "Final Gifts", it talks a lot about how patients nearing the end of life use symbolic statements such as your father did. I had a patient recently who spoke of "going home" but he wasn't referring to where he lived. This book is invaluable and may help to give you some comfort & a clearer understanding. It's written by two Hospice Nurses.

http://www.amazon.com/Final-Gifts-Understanding-Awareness-Communications/dp/0553378767

Direwolf TN · Apr 7, 2023

angila1 said:

my dad is in the final stages of cancer and keeps saying he's waiting for the train. I know the obvious explanation is he's waiting to pass over but was wondering has anyone heard this before? I have heard people talking about dying people saying they are waiting for a boat and this can be linked to the egyptian belief of crossing over but does a train have any significance to anyone? sadly I cannot ask him now as he is slipping in and out of consciousness and cannot speak anymore........................

Hello, in 2010 I had a horrible accident that almost killed me. I was in coma for a couple weeks, but when I was dying, thank God, I didn't, I was inside a train and I wanted to get to someplace and before I got to my place they told me that it wasn't my time and they push me out of the train when it was stoping and I was scared because I was falling, and then landed softly, like if I didn't have any weight in a field of flowers and there was a tree and then I woke up to a bunch of nurse and doctors. And I didn't recognize my self, I felt as if I woke up in a different place till today, I can't feel like my self, as if I'm a different person.

toomuchbaloney · Apr 7, 2023

Direwolf TN said:

Hello, in 2010 I had a horrible accident that almost killed me. I was in coma for a couple weeks, but when I was dying, thank God, I didn't, I was inside a train and I wanted to get to someplace and before I got to my place they told me that it wasn't my time and they push me out of the train when it was stoping and I was scared because I was falling, and then landed softly, like if I didn't have any weight in a field of flowers and there was a tree and then I woke up to a bunch of nurse and doctors. And I didn't recognize my self, I felt as if I woke up in a different place till today, I can't feel like my self, as if I'm a different person.

I'm glad that you woke up and hope that you like your new self even as you and your loved ones may miss your old self.