Diary of a Gimp

ADVISORY: This entry may be offensive or morbid to some readers.

When dying a natural death (i.e., not a sudden or accidental death) the human body goes through a known and predictable sequence. The following represents my best efforts to summarize that process. The basis of this discussion comes from the Google AI application from which I sometime copy directly. (Yes, I do have a doctorate, but it is in psychology not physiology. Clinical psychologists typically have basic knowledge of how the brain works and how that manifests physically and psychologically, but their knowledge of the body below the eye brows is limited unless they specialize in psychological therapy that directly involves physical phenomena such as stress, sexuality, psychopharmacology, child psychology, etc. )

The there are three main stages to physical dying. They are Early, Middle and Late. (Profound, I know)

Early Stage Dying (Weeks/Days Before) includes: Decreased appetite, increased sleep, withdrawal, less energy, potential weight loss, shifts in breathing, and focusing on life’s “loose ends”. This takes place in the weeks leading up to death. I recall discussing with my father’s physician his loss of appetite, expressing concern that he was starving himself. She replied that he was not dying because of not eating; rather he was not eating because he is dying.

Middle Stage Dying (Hours/Days Before) includes: Deeper sleep/unresponsiveness, confusion, restlessness, more labored breathing (like Cheyne-Stokes), changes in skin color (mottling), decreased urine, and noisy congestion. During his final days, my father slept a lot. I could go to his hospital room any time of day and find him sleeping. But when he was awake he was alert and fully aware of people, events, and things around him. He never developed Cheyne-Stokes (noisy and irregular breathing similar to sleep apnea) but he did “want” to sleep a lot. His sleeping appeared to me to be mostly involuntary.

End Stage Dying (Final Hours) includes: Minimal movement, unresponsiveness, erratic breathing with pauses, cold extremities, skin mottling, and potential involuntary movements (e.g., reaching). During this phase I saw my father stare into a corner in the ceiling, calling my mother’s name and reaching out towards his presumed vision. After my mother’s sudden death from a heart attack, he had remarried. During the dying process I only heard hims utter, or speak loudly my mother’s, his first wife’s name. He had been married to his first wife for 43 years and his second for 15, when she also expired. I recall his lying in his bed with a gaping mouth, something that he never would have allowed for himself or even tolerated in others while he was fully alive. The attending nurse recommended that we leave him alone for a while. During that time he died. The nurse later told us that he actually was waiting for us to leave the room before he completed the death process.

Almost immediately after he died I became acutely aware of the fact that now I was the oldest generation in my family. The realization was one of fear and oppressive psychological weight.

Of course, death does not come to the body all at once. Within minutes of being deprived of oxygen the brain begins to shut down. However this takes some time to complete. EEG studies reveal the brain remains electrically responsive for an hour or more after the heart stops. The most activity is in the visual and memory centers. There are electrical patterns that look like thought although that, of course, cannot be verified. Some survivors of cardiac arrest recall vivid near-death experiences, feeling aware, seeing events, observing staff performing medical procedures on one’s own body, or having lucid memories, suggesting consciousness does persist for some time after the heart stops. 

The senses shut down differentially as well. Vision ceases almost immediately while one apparently (based on EEG reactions) continues to hear for as long as electrical activity persists, so be careful what you say near the recently deceased.

Everyone has heard of rigor mortis, when the body grows stiff and cannot be easily bent or moved. But that doesn’t happen for 1 to 2 hours. Immediately after death the body completely relaxes, including the muscles controlling elimination; hence the newly deceased body releases urine and feces.

Pallor develops after the blood is pulled down by gravity. Body temperature reduces at the rate of 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit (0.64 C) per hour until the body matches the ambient level. During this time, the body can no longer be bruised and if cut, does not bleed.

Autolysis develops after a day or so if the body is not subjected to funerary processes. This is kind of creepy as the cells begin to digest themselves in a search for oxygen, meaning, of course, that that individual cells have still been alive this whole time.

If the body is to be cremated, it must be kept in cool storage for a minimum of 24 to 48 hours. This is to allow all medical and administrative elements to be completed. In the USA, the coroner must rule on a cause of death before cremation can occur. (This delay also applies to alternatives such as dissolving or composting the corpse.) The remains of cremation is not ash, but rather course mineral compounds. The bones, which do not burn, have to be pulverized prior to releasing the “cremains” to the family. In terms of timeline, it takes 2 to 3 hours to cremate the body itself, another 1 to 2 hours to allow it to cool, and finally another 2 hours to pulverize. To successfully cremate, the temperature must be not less than 1,400 F degrees.. Most commercial crematoria use closer to 2,000 F degrees. All Christian mainline denominations, as well as Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism allow cremation. Islam, Orthodox Judaism, Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Baháʼíand Zoroastrianism forbids it.

If the body is to be buried in the typical American manner, there is a prescribed practice. The body first is cleaned and sanitized to make it safe for staff to handle. The body cavities accessible without opening the corpse are sanitized inside and out. This also is done to the eyes since they are a source of fluid. Facial hair is shaved unless the man wore a beard or mustache in life. Post-menopausal women also may have facial hair which is removed. The muscles are massaged and joints flexed to make positioning possible. A preservative solution, usually formaldehyde combined with dyes and wetting agents (to keep the body looking supple) is introduced via a major artery (such as the carotid or femoral) which then is pumped into the body. Simultaneously an incision is made in a major vein from which blood is drained until the preservative fluid appears. An incision is made in or near the naval to allow cavity gases to escape. Then the abdominal and thoracic cavities are flooded with a concentrated embalming fluid. The body then is dressed, groomed and cosmetics are applied to make the corpse presentable to the family. Islam, Orthodox Judaism, Eastern Orthodox Christianity and Baháʼí forbid embalming, rather the body is to be buried intact within 24 hours after death.

Once the body is placed in a coffin, the coffin is lowered into a concrete vault. The vault prevents the soil, above the deceased, from subsiding. The embalmed corpse begins decomposing approximately on or about the 14th day after the preservation process has been done for minimal embalming, up to two years for full the funerary process. The decomposition to skeletal remains then proceeds.

Despite attempts to do so, there has never been scientific observation of the soul leaving the body. This is not surprising given the ethereal or spiritual nature of the soul. Discussion of the soul appears in the next entry.