Real video of Actively dying. (Educational)

Trigger warning video shows Sensitive but important information.

[dalemartindale]

I've never posted a comment to a video but I wanted to share my experience of my husband's passing. He suffered with liver disease for 4 years. We planned out my future for when I would eventually need to provide for myself. We decided I would return to college in order to have enough income to provide for myself. He was so supportive while I worked hard in school. On his final night he came to me and told me how proud he was and made me promise to finish my degree. He told me he loved me and gave me a kiss. While I continued to study he laid on the couch wrapped in his favorite blanket watching westerns on TV. I came into the living room about an hour later and discovered he had passed very peacefully in his sleep. I called the 911 non-emergecy number and told them he had passed at home after a long illness and the paramedics were sent to my home. I held his hand and talked to him until they arrived. I don't know if he knew his time was near but he passed exactly how he wanted to. I feel such comfort knowing his last words were that he loved me. I will always miss him but I'm grateful he left me with such love. I now work in Healthcare with dementia patients and love each and every one of them.

I miss him every day but I'm not afraid when one of my patients die. However loved ones pass on is very different but in the end they always find peace.

And yes, I finished college like I promised.

[ronnieam]

My neighbor died years ago from ALS and a Hospice nurse was there at his home for his last 2 weeks of life, and I found a whole new form of RESPECT for medical workers who help people die at home with dignity!!

[lesleybishop]

No words. The value of what you are doing Julie cannot be measured. The more we learn about the process of dying, the better we are prepared to offer real comfort to our loved ones in ways we never thought we could. You are bringing light to a subject that can really make a difference in the grieving process. Thank you so very much!!!💖

[vrocket]

My girlfriend is a hospice nurse too. I’m a funeral director. Y’all are something special. Words can’t begin to describe what y’all do. She has told me some stories and educated me. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for what you do.

[lynngordon]

Thank you Julie. My husband passed away in August after a 7 year dementia decline. After loosing all his independence, he had finally forgotten how to eat. I told him the family was fine, that he needed to let himself pass away. Hours later he died peacefully in his sleep. He looked just like your video and I knew his passing was imminent. A peaceful passing was a blessing for my dear husband.

[mariahslife]

Thank you so much for what you do!!!! I’ve been a caregiver and hospice caregiver for 20 years and no one talks or shows this! 😢it’s soooo necessary and important ❤️

[Dadzgrl]

Thank you Julie and to the family who allowed this to be shown. I have never seen someone pass and it was very informative. Death and the process of dying should not be taboo. I have several elderly family members and have been watching your videos for information and to be prepared for the process.♥️ Thank you for what you do!

[TCMedicare]

Yes, without your exposing us to this and educating us, that would feel like something out of a nightmare. Thank you for what you do. I lost my mom last fall, and I will never be able to thank her Hospice workers enough for their care of her and for helping my brother and me to understand every step of the transitions. You are sincerely very special people for being able to do this incredibly difficult work. I'm so appreciative that you and your colleagues have the emotional strength to do this job as a career. Please keep posting to educate anyone that is facing the loss of a loved one, whether simply age related or due to a terminal illness.

[kristyb]

I lost my dad to cancer in 2011 I watched him take his last breath. He went into a coma the morning he died. I was the last person he opened his eyes for and tried to speak to before he went into a comma. The hospice nurse did not explain anything to us that was going on with him. He made the death rattle noise for 8 hours before he died and it looked like he was not dying peacefully to me. It still affects me to this day watching him die slowly for years due to cancer but watching him in the active dying stage was something I never want to experience again with any loved one. I didn't understand a lot of what was going on so to me it looked like he was suffering and in pain. They gave him so much morphine a man who never took any drugs his whole life and wouldn't even take his pain meds while sick was being hit every 10 minutes with morphine and the horrible sounds and the last breath was so hard to watch. Your videos have helped me now to understand what he was going through was natural and he wasn't suffering after all. Thank you because even though it's been 11 years I still can't go to my childhood home bc all I see when I walk through the front door is my dad dying over and over again. So hopefully this can help me get past that part.

[jennarae]

My grandfather passed early Saturday morning, I stayed with him all night, right to the end. Your videos prepared me for everything that would happen leading up to the final moment and for that I can't thank you enough. I was strong through it all because of you. 💕

[MsKK]

My mother was in hospice her last days and I honestly don’t know what we would have done without the compassionate and professional hospice nurses. They explained everything that was happening and what to expect and that gave my sister and me so much comfort. I’ll never forget Miss Brenda and the other angels in that facility…..and make no mistake about it….hospice care givers are angels on this earth!
These videos are so important….dying is as natural as being born and our culture needs to adjust a bit regarding this phase of life.

[leeann]

I started following you because I had been diagnosed with stage 3b cancer. May 20th it will be 4 yrs since I rang the bell. But watching your videos has helped me so much that if the dreaded "C" ever does come back, I won't be as fearful of dying thanks to your videos. Also if the time comes I will make sure my family members watch your videos. So important for the family of the dying loved ones to see this too. Thank you for all that you do.❤

[wtua]

I lost my dad just under a year ago upon writing this reply. The hospice nurse called me hours before he passed saying that he was 'impending'. So, I left work and went to be with him for a few hours before returning home to get my medication. He passed while I was on my way back and I only live five minutes away. Hospice caregivers like you are angels on Earth and I'm thankful for what you do.

[tonistark]

Terminal secretions or what some refer to as the “death rattle” can be conscious or unconscious.
As an RN and previous hospice nurse, thank you for showing what is “normal” in the dying process. Sometimes in hospice, you see the “calm before the storm” where a patient seems much better, their lucidity is much better and the families think they are improving. This is common before death too and no patients symptomology, if you will, is going to be the same. Each death and dying signs and symptoms can be similar or entirely different.
Bravo and a huge thank you to the families and those that are dying to be willing to be filmed for educational purposes. I’m sure your goal which is an extremely worthwhile one, is that Hospice is not a scary place, or one that should be hidden away, or a place where death and dying should be seen “behind closed doors”. Some people don’t want hospice or to be enrolled in hospice care due to the nature of “the end” which they aren’t willing to accept yet. Acceptance is one of the stages of grief. Hospice care is one of the kindest and greatest resources we have today. Also, once on hospice, it does not mean they are forever on hospice and cannot get out. If the patients care improves they can go on and off hospice as needed each time the RN certifies the patient for Hospice per the Hospice/Medicare guidelines. That might be another topic to discuss with your listeners if you haven’t already, that going on Hospice does not mean it will hasten death or guarantee death. Hospice care is the bridge between life and death and can even prevent expensive hospital care (if not on Hospice or an unrelated issue/illness to the original Hospice diagnosis).
Hospice care pays for nursing care, meds, equipment, that without it, can cost the patients and families exorbitant costs.
This education you’re providing is an invaluable education for resources many don’t even know is available, possible and just what is provided! ❤️

[sadieandmaya]

Retired RN here…what a beautiful job you are doing to address death and dying. 🙏

[beatrixwon]

When I was 22 I worked on an Alzheimers unit at nursing home. We had many with no family as they were in their 80s and up to over 100 years old. Whenever someone was passing I felt my greatest duty and honor was to sit with the person so they weren't alone and to offer comfort. During one of these times an LPN came into the room and inquired or rhetorically said "Don't you have anything better you could be doing."? Need I say more. I am 58 now has never left me.

[sourwes]

I am currently taking care of my third terminal cancer patient, this time my wife. It never gets any easier. Thank you Julie for your videos; the information is invaluable to caregivers, helping to answer questions they have about the process👍🙏

[xZeho]

I am currently going to school for nursing. I never once considered hospice because I felt like it would be too heavy. But after this video, and reading the comments, it’s so beautiful what hospice does. To help a human being cross over, to help comfort a struggling family during those times… I feel so impelled to be a part of something so heavy. Thank you for the educational video and may peace be with you all.

[chrissylawrence]

Lost my mom 5 years ago. She was on hospice at home for months. My father remarried and she passed a few weeks ago at home. She was only hospice for about a week. My father was just put on home hospice last week. Thank you for these videos. My father was hesitant to accept moving to hospice. Thought it was pushing him to the end. Your videos helped me with helping him make the decision. They also helped explaining past experiences and expectations for the future.

[valleygirlgg]

I suffer from breathing diseases and there are no words for the sheer terror a person feels when something, anything, especially secretions, interfere with breathing. I would want to be sedated to take away that terror. It's not fear it's terror. That should be done right away. Make sure they are comfortable and given meds to help with that. Thanks for the vid.