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Post by Josh on Aug 9, 2009 20:10:53 GMT -8
What is the closest you've come to your own demise?
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Post by Josh on Aug 9, 2009 20:14:54 GMT -8
I can't actually think of a time when I was seriously "skipping past the graveyard" (that I'm aware of- I'm sure there were lots of times when I was oblivious). But there were lots of times I acted like I was in a do-or-die situation (most of those moments were set in the Wallowas  ) However, I did perform the heimlich (sp?) on my 3 week old daughter. When the paramedics arrived there was nothing really for them to do ;D |
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Post by Josh on Aug 10, 2009 22:03:56 GMT -8
Come on, I know Chris and Robin have stories....
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Post by Margot on Aug 12, 2009 21:50:40 GMT -8
I've saved a couple of children. Other than that, I got nothing.
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Post by Josh on Aug 31, 2009 20:18:24 GMT -8
I want to hear about you saving children!
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Post by sarah on Aug 31, 2009 21:14:14 GMT -8
aspiration on a can of Dr. Pepper in high school. Thought I'd die twice, first from the soda then from the embarrassment of spraying the aforementioned soda all over my fellow students.....
I have stood near death a number of times, sometimes witnessing the miraculous, sometimes saying goodbye. A few strong memories come to mind
In college I volunteered at a Hospice and one patient in particular stands out. She was in a huge amount of pain and no longer verbal, but she liked to hear people read to her. I spent 4 hours reading to her and trying to sooth her, she died a few days later.
Also in college I worked at a medical foster home with children who were severely ill or handicapped. I have a lot of tales from that experience.
There is little Franny who I watched die at 18 months, she broke my heart and I still think of her every January. There is Amanda who would have seizures that would impact her breathing and heart, I remember many a time sitting on the floor with the O2 tank, watching to see if she was going to keep breathing, and a particularly scary trip to the hospital. Brittney was a little girl who was shaken at about a year but didn't die until she was nearly four. That one just about tanked my faith. It was hard to watch her suffer literally all the time and wonder why God didn't simply let her die. Truth be told there were many times when I thought about simply letting her slip under the water while giving her a bath.
There were also some truly miraculous moments as well. I was holding a baby boy named Marcello who was there on hospice and in a comma on a ventilator. I was rocking him and singing songs to some of the other kids when I looked down and he was staring up at me totally aware and awake. He improved and last I heard he was living with his parents in Medford.
Another little boy named Alex who was also on a ventilator and placed on hospice. He arrived at the home a little over a year old and had spent most of the first year of his life in the hospital. He had become so frightened of people that he would turn his head (the only part of his body he could move at the time) and cry the moment an adult came into view. It was heartbreaking. When he arrived he was given less than 6 months to live, but not only did he live, he started thriving. After a year he was taken back to the hospital to run some tests to find out why he was doing so much better. The doctors were amazed to discover that he had literally grown a lung. He was born with one lung that was just a bud and nonfunctional, and the other lung functioned at less than 50% He now had two weak but fully functional lungs. I am happy to report that he is now 12, lives with his adoptive family, and lives most of his life without the support of a ventilator. Oh and he can also walk, run and do all sorts of things. I ran into him about 3 years ago with his family and it was really a warm moment to see him growing up.
I was so young when I had that job (19) and worked there for 4 years, the average nurse lasts about 2 in hospice. The children and the house still show up in my dreams on a regular basis. Being young I thought I could "handle it" and truth be told I took a measure of pride in people's response when I told them what I did or took them to work with me. It is only as time has passed that I realize what a heavy tole it took on me. That said, I don't think I would change much of it, I just might have left earlier...
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Post by krhagan19 on Aug 31, 2009 22:39:55 GMT -8
What an amazing testimony. Sarah I am curious as you said "Truth be told there were many times when I thought about simply letting her slip under the water while giving her a bath." Which would not involve any conscious decision of the deciesed, do you support Oregon and Washington's Death with Dignity act which allows adults who have undergone thourough psychiatric evaluations to end their own lives with barbituates with the pain becomes to much. This question is not an accusation or a tempter on your great faith, with I know as your brother in law is deeply rooted in a love for CHRIST and justice. I am just curious how you feel about terminally ill adults ending their own lives with state supervision?
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Post by sarah on Sept 1, 2009 8:55:25 GMT -8
We may have to jump to a different forum with this topic as I am certain it will likely stir some controversy.  I voted for the measure based almost solely on my experiences working with Brittney. That said, I don't think I would do so again. It is amazing what time and life experience can do to alter opinions! I know that when the measure was being presented the hospice community was mostly against it since for most people pain associated with terminal illness can be well controlled. Their concern was that people would end their lives prematurely based out of fear rather than a reasoned decision. I got to jump, but I will try to return to the topic later. |
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Post by michelle on Sept 1, 2009 19:04:12 GMT -8
I had one near death experience when I was a kid. I was probably 10 or 11. I was hiking with my mom, her friend, her friend's daughter and my sister. We were coming back down a hill by a huge drop off. The hill was pretty steep and I got going a little too fast and the momentum was starting to build. By the time I realized what was going on I knew there was no way that I was going to be able to stop myself. I looked over at my mom and her eyes were huge. I grabbed onto a tiny tree that was hanging on the edge of the cliff and my mom's friend grabbed me at the same time. I got to peer over the cliff and see how far I would have fallen had that tree and my mom's friend not been there.
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Post by sarah on Sept 1, 2009 20:17:15 GMT -8
Glad the tree was there! |
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Post by Margot on Sept 1, 2009 22:10:52 GMT -8
Wow!! Reading all these stories suddenly jogged my memory about two near-death experiences I had totally forgotten. When I was 2, I was on a beach in San Francisco when a wave came out of nowhere and sucked me down into the undertow. When I was 5, I started choking on a piece of meat and was passing out . In a bizarre twist of irony, my father saved my life both times. (Ironic because, truth be told, he spent a significant amount of time making my life pretty horrible. ) I kinda get why I blocked all that. Strangely enough, I can remember what I was wearing when the 2-year-old incident happened and exactly where I was sitting at the table when the 5-year-old incident happened! Strange!!!
How I saved some kids? I saved my son when he was choking on a piece of ice when he was 18-mos. (Ala Josh!) Almost cracked the poor child's rib cage after whacking him repeatedly on the back with the palm of my hand till he spit out the cube.
I dove in and pulled a little kid out of the pool when he was going under during my daughter's birthday party and I grabbed one of my friends twin two year-olds as she began jumping into a (very deep!) cement fountain at Stanford. Also grabbed an adult friend right before she slid down a nasty ravine when we were backpacking on an washed out trail near Big Sur.
All these deep theraputic revelations have worn me out........I'm going to bed !!!
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Post by Josh on Sept 2, 2009 6:48:59 GMT -8
This is a fascinating thread. Thanks all for sharing.
Sarah, I know I heard those stories years ago but I'm glad to hear them again, though they bring tears to my eyes.
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Post by robin on Sept 2, 2009 7:15:15 GMT -8
I have had two near death experiences, and both include drowning. When I was 3 years old, I slipped away from my mother at the lake. My step father seen me standing next to the shore while he was playing with my brothers and sisters in the swim area. He said that within a few seconds of turning his head and then looking back, I had disappeared. Frantically he hurried to the area where he had last seen me, and asked a couple of strangers if the had seen a little blond haired boy anywhere, and they had not. After looking around for a few moments, he looked down and seen me floating face down about 6 inches below the water. He scooped me out and brought me to shore and stated patting me on the back. At this time he said that I was lifeless, but after a few moments I spit yup all the water and began to breath again. The only thing I remember about this story is when I slipped into the water. The swim area had a concrete beach, and at the water line the concrete was covered with slippery algae.after taking my first step into the water, I was under and struggling.
The second time was just after Laine and I were married. We went camping on the Brietenbush river (near Detroit Lake). I was retrieving a soccer ball form my nephew (Gabe) after he kicked it into the river. I waded into the water to catch the ball down stream, I was swept up by the current and taken down some rather sever rapids. After getting beat against the rocks for about a 100 yards I slipped over a waterfall that dropped about 10 feet. I was sucked under by the under tow, and it must have been fairly deep because I felt the pressure as I was pulled under. At this time I had accepted that I was going to die, and just laid there limp. After some time, and I estimate that it was close to a minute, I finally bobbed out of the water down stream about 50 feet from the water fall. But like the first time, I never really felt and fear about dieing. I just excepted that my time had come.
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Post by Josh on Sept 3, 2009 21:16:39 GMT -8
You felt pretty calm during your boating accident too, huh?
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Post by krhagan19 on Sept 4, 2009 4:16:27 GMT -8
Yesterday, whilst driving in I85 in Atlanta going around 80 miles an hour, I was almost hit from behind by a drunk driver in a Lotus who must have been going 140 or so. It was terrifying.
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Post by robin on Sept 4, 2009 6:46:11 GMT -8
You felt pretty calm during your boating accident too, huh? In fact, I did. I don't consider that to be a near death experience, just a painful one. |
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Post by krhagan19 on Sept 5, 2009 16:06:42 GMT -8
I met one of my heroes Patrick Steward (Captain Jean Luc Picard of the USS Enterprise D and E) as well as Professor Xavier!!!!! I thought I would die with excitement!
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