4 ms·

My father's last word was "Wow!". He was at the end stage of esophageal cancer at the age of 46. He fought until about a week before his passing and made the

My father's last word was "Wow!". He was at the end stage of esophageal cancer at the age of 46. He fought until about a week before his passing and made the decision that he did all he could and try to go with some grace. By the point the pain was constant and unbearable, even oxycontin wasn't getting the job done. As a family, we said our goodbyes, and said everything that needed to be said. Over the course of the next few days, people from his life came from near and far to visit him in the hospital. After about 5 days, the flow petered out. The night he passed, he was in and out of lucidity, and in a clear moment we talked about all of the people that came to see him. He was clearly impressed and humble. At the end of the conversation, he exclaimed "Wow!" in a voice that was barely a whisper and then closed his eyes. Several hours later, hid body finally succumbed to the cancer and he exhaled his last breath.

jnellis 8y ago
My father had the same condition, died at 51, in a bed in the living room. Because this type of cancer has a near 100% mortality rate, after he was diagnosed, his next birthday party was held in an convention hall and I showed up late because of work, amazed at a turnout of hundreds of people that I was floored; it was standing room only. The final decline took two weeks, and during that time so many people came to visit that it was almost the opposite of 'Wow', he was trying to stay alive to not disappoint. One morning when we awoke he had slipped into coma but it was later clear to me he was still listening. He died a few feet away from me while I did evening dishes and his wife was saying to him "It's okay, you don't have to hang on anymore." And so he left.
rv-de 8y ago
what do think he meant by that?
- fatnoah 8y ago
  My interpretation was that he was expressing amazement at the number of people that came to see him. Friends, relatives, co-workers from 15+ years ago, etc. It was the topic we were discussing at that moment. Of course, it may have been something else, too.
  - onetimemanytime 8y ago
    >>Of course, it may have been something else, too. Is it possible that the brain prepares us for a peaceful ending? Showing paradise or whatever we like as we breath one last time?
    - hliyan 8y ago
      That would be comforting, but I can think of no evolutionary purpose for such a mechanism to emerge...
      - trevyn 8y ago
        The carrot to those still living of a beautiful afterlife and the mythos surrounding that seems incredibly useful evolutionarily. That said, it could also just be an implementation quirk. There’s some interesting work out there on what exactly happens in the brain during the moments surrounding death, and it relates in an interesting way to the neural correlates of consciousness. Also related to the state of being conscious without attentional content.
      - blihp 8y ago
        In the event of a body's catastrophic system failure (i.e. serious injury / dying) the brain spikes the endorphin levels since pain no longer serves a useful purpose: the damage is done but it does serve a useful purpose to reduce the pain levels to allow us to function at a higher level than writhing on the ground in agony so that in some circumstances we might live to see another day. Think of it this way: a bear just ripped/slashed/whatever your arm off... which is more useful: 'arrgggghhh!' or for the brain to pump out endorphins so that you at least concentrate and have a chance of fighting back or running/limping away or hiding? I doubt the brain differentiates between serious injury and dying, it's just wired at a certain point to try to minimize the pain. That would seem to be a very useful evolutionary purpose.
        cellularmitosis 8y ago
        And even if it did differentiate between serious injury and dying, considering mankind’s history of warfare, being able to continue to perform while mortally wounded is definitely beneficial to the survival of the clan.
- yourapostasy 8y ago
  This article deserves its own HN thread. Everyone should read it; it is not a problem domain amenable to a technical fix. At some point, virtually all US HN readers will personally face implementing an assisted suicide decision. My own experience is every bit as awful as depicted in the article. Be aware that many painkillers at end of life are administered by infusion pump. These control the maximum rate and frequency over time, and changes to the parameters are under a PIN code. Many such pumps also log their activity. You will have to look for a way to bypass these safeties, and not make it apparent to an external observer you extracted more medication than allotted in a given time period. I won’t spell out how to do that, because US policy and case law over assisted suicide must be changed before I may safely do so.
nonbel 8y ago
>"[his] body finally succumbed to the cancer" I've heard usually at that point (when the patient is ready) they just up the painkiller dose to the point it stops their breathing or heart. https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/05/doctors-secret-language-for-assisted-suicide/393968/ https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/05/doctors-s...
- PaulRobinson 8y ago
  This is an insensitive comment in this context.
hluska 8y ago
Thanks for sharing your story - I'm very sorry for your loss.
rshm 8y ago
I read it somewhere, when Steve Jobs died he said “oh wow, oh wow, oh wow”.
- acct1771 8y ago
  DMT is real.

jnellis 8y ago

My father had the same condition, died at 51, in a bed in the living room. Because this type of cancer has a near 100% mortality rate, after he was diagnosed, his next birthday party was held in an convention hall and I showed up late because of work, amazed at a turnout of hundreds of people that I was floored; it was standing room only. The final decline took two weeks, and during that time so many people came to visit that it was almost the opposite of 'Wow', he was trying to stay alive to not disappoint. One morning when we awoke he had slipped into coma but it was later clear to me he was still listening. He died a few feet away from me while I did evening dishes and his wife was saying to him "It's okay, you don't have to hang on anymore." And so he left.

rv-de 8y ago

what do think he meant by that?

fatnoah 8y ago
My interpretation was that he was expressing amazement at the number of people that came to see him. Friends, relatives, co-workers from 15+ years ago, etc. It was the topic we were discussing at that moment. Of course, it may have been something else, too.
- onetimemanytime 8y ago
  >>Of course, it may have been something else, too. Is it possible that the brain prepares us for a peaceful ending? Showing paradise or whatever we like as we breath one last time?
  - hliyan 8y ago
    That would be comforting, but I can think of no evolutionary purpose for such a mechanism to emerge...
    - trevyn 8y ago
      The carrot to those still living of a beautiful afterlife and the mythos surrounding that seems incredibly useful evolutionarily. That said, it could also just be an implementation quirk. There’s some interesting work out there on what exactly happens in the brain during the moments surrounding death, and it relates in an interesting way to the neural correlates of consciousness. Also related to the state of being conscious without attentional content.
    - blihp 8y ago
      In the event of a body's catastrophic system failure (i.e. serious injury / dying) the brain spikes the endorphin levels since pain no longer serves a useful purpose: the damage is done but it does serve a useful purpose to reduce the pain levels to allow us to function at a higher level than writhing on the ground in agony so that in some circumstances we might live to see another day. Think of it this way: a bear just ripped/slashed/whatever your arm off... which is more useful: 'arrgggghhh!' or for the brain to pump out endorphins so that you at least concentrate and have a chance of fighting back or running/limping away or hiding? I doubt the brain differentiates between serious injury and dying, it's just wired at a certain point to try to minimize the pain. That would seem to be a very useful evolutionary purpose.
      - cellularmitosis 8y ago
        And even if it did differentiate between serious injury and dying, considering mankind’s history of warfare, being able to continue to perform while mortally wounded is definitely beneficial to the survival of the clan.
yourapostasy 8y ago
This article deserves its own HN thread. Everyone should read it; it is not a problem domain amenable to a technical fix. At some point, virtually all US HN readers will personally face implementing an assisted suicide decision. My own experience is every bit as awful as depicted in the article. Be aware that many painkillers at end of life are administered by infusion pump. These control the maximum rate and frequency over time, and changes to the parameters are under a PIN code. Many such pumps also log their activity. You will have to look for a way to bypass these safeties, and not make it apparent to an external observer you extracted more medication than allotted in a given time period. I won’t spell out how to do that, because US policy and case law over assisted suicide must be changed before I may safely do so.

nonbel 8y ago

>"[his] body finally succumbed to the cancer" I've heard usually at that point (when the patient is ready) they just up the painkiller dose to the point it stops their breathing or heart. https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/05/doctors-secret-language-for-assisted-suicide/393968/ https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/05/doctors-s...

PaulRobinson 8y ago
This is an insensitive comment in this context.

hluska 8y ago

Thanks for sharing your story - I'm very sorry for your loss.

rshm 8y ago

I read it somewhere, when Steve Jobs died he said “oh wow, oh wow, oh wow”.

acct1771 8y ago
DMT is real.