What are signs of death?

Question

Increased sleeping and lethargy and fluid buildup in the lungs, very bloated, doesn't want to move - can't sit or walk....does this mean death is near?

This person is 67 and has had 2 colon surgeries and is in ICU, has stage 4 cancer in liver which they haven't even started on chemo yet.

Answer 1

Possibly...I have found by experience that with cancer patients they will sleep more than the time they are awake when their bodies are near giving out...with stage 4 of the liver there's not alot to be done,it has probably metastisized to other organs by now....the doc's should be able to tell you that..also the next step from sleeping alot is they can become comatose...then a certain smell maybe present..once you've smelt it you'll never forget what it is..even if its years later when you smell it once again...that smell will tell you the end is very near unfortunately....my experience is working in the medical field and both of my parents died from cancer...as I was with them in the end....

Answer 2

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
What are signs of death?
Increased sleeping and lethargy and fluid buildup in the lungs, very bloated, doesn't want to move - can't sit or walk....does this mean death is near?

This person is 67 and has had 2 colon surgeries and is in ICU, has stage 4 cancer in liver which they haven't even started on chemo...

Answer 3

If, in a row of beans, one should come up white instead of green, there will be a death in the family within a year. If three people take part in the making-up of a bed, there is sure to be a death in the house within a year. For a bird to fly in and out of a room by an open window predicts the death of the occupant of the house. The flying or hovering by birds round a house and their resting on the window sill, or tapping against a pane portends death. For a robin to tap the window of a room in which a sick person is lying portends the death of that person. Church dust, brought to the bed of a dying person, shortens and eases a lingering and painful death. A dog howling is a sure sign of death. If the sun shines brightly on the face of one of the attendants at a funeral, it marks him as the next to be laid in that churchyard. Three funerals always follow one another in quick succession. It is bad luck for an odd number of mourners to attend the funeral. It is a sign someone will die soon. Don’t count the vehicles in a funeral procession. That will be the amount of years you have to live. He who meets a funeral is certain soon to die unless he bares his head. If someone in the house is sick, turning over a shoe can reverse the bad luck of a dog howling at night. The sound of a screech owl portends the death of some near relation before the year is out. If you kill the owl you die yourself. If a loaf of bread be found upside down, there will be a death in the family. If a light on the order of a will-o'-the-wisp passes around the house,it is the sign of a death in the house within a short time. If a mirror falls, there will be a death in the family. If you break a mirror, there will be a death in the family within a year. If a child is unusually bright and good, it will die. If you sneeze before breakfast on Sunday morning, you will hear of a death before the end of the week. If lighted candles are placed at each plate, the person at whose place the candle burns longest wiIl live longest, the one whose candle goes out first will be the first to die. If a ticking sound is heard in the wall, a death may be expected in the family. The first person the cat looks at after washing its face will die soon. If it rains into an open grave, another member of the family will die within a year. If a baby cuts its upper teeth first, it is digging its own grave and will soon die. If you look into a mirror at a funeral, you will be dead before the end of a year. If three lights are accidentally placed on the table, it is a sign of a death in the family before the end of the year. To carry a pan of coals through the house is a sign that there wilI be a death in the family. Carrying a spade, a hoe, or a shovel through the house foretells a death in the family. If you open an umbrella in the house, some one in the family will die soon. After a funeral the first person to leave the graveyard will be the first to die. If you cross in front of a funeral procession, there will be a death in the family. A funeral on Sunday means another death in a short time unless a wedding follows the funeral. If you knock at your own door, some one in the family will die. If a baby under a year old sees itself in a mirror, it will die before the year is over. If you pass anyone cn the stairs going in the opposite direction, there will be a death in the family. If all the members of the family are not home at Thanksgiving, there will be one death in the family before the nest Thanksgiving. If a child is named for someone who is dead, he will die young. A green Christmas makes a black graveyard. To rock an empty rocking-chair forebodes a death. If you break a needle while making a garment, you will hear of a death before the garment is worn out.

Answer 4

Please look up a booklet called "Gone from My Sight" It explains the signs and symptoms of nearing death for hospice families. You may be able to get it from your hospitals hospice group.

Answer 5

The immediate signs denote somatic or clinical death and include insensibility and loss of EEG (electro-encephalogram) rhythm; cessation of circulation, that is loss of ECG (electro-cardiogram) rhythm; and cessation of respiration.
Please see the webpage for more details on Death.

Answer 6

My Mother-in-law died with breast cancer that had spread to her liver.

Her first symptoms that her illness had progressed was a severe build-up of fluid in her lungs. They had her in the hospital and pumped it out. She was actually in the hospital for three months with the fluid on her lungs. Also, her skin was very, very yellow from the build-up of bile.

In the last few weeks, she began to hallucinate. She would reach out and laugh and say that her grandmother was there. She would see dogs that she had in childhood. She was on heavy morphine, so that may have had something to do with the hallucinations. Who knows, maybe she really was seeing her loved ones and they were coming to help her cross over. The visions seemed to make her happy.

She slept more often in the last two months. Her sleeping grew more and more frequent as she reached the last two weeks of her life.

She was bedridden and not at all able to get up and walk for the last three months.

We did not want her to die in the hospital, so we brought her home to die. She only lived four days after we brought her home. She was alert and talking when she got here and was so happy to be home. She wanted to eat, but she could not keep any food down. We had to rub some nausea medication on her wrists to keep her comfortable because she was very dizzy. We also gave her morphine pills, although she never complained of pain.

She went to sleep on her second evening here. She never woke up, but would mumble things. We knew that she could still hear us because we brought her preacher in to pray for her to pass peacefully and she got a tear in her eye during his prayer.

On the night before her passing, she developed a really loud moan. I though she was in really bad pain, so I called Hospice and they told me to give her extra morphine patches. She then developed a raspy rattle to her breating. Most people call this a "death rattle" and it comes on in the last 24 to 48 hours before death. The moan was a part of that and I don't think that she was really in pain. I just did not know to expect the moans with her impending death.

About three hours before her last breath, her breathing became really uneven. She would breath normally a few breaths, then she would either miss a breath or two, or she would gasp for a breath.

I kept talking to her and telling her that her other son would be there in a few minutes. She hung in there and about ten minutes after he arrived, she took her last breath.

She had such a look of peace in the last few hours. It was a loving, peaceful time for the entire family. She was no longer suffering.

This wonderful lady never gave up. She fought the illness to the end. My only regret for her is that she did not accept the impending death in time to say goodbye before she went to sleep those last two days. I would talk to her about crossing over and she would mumble "No". She simply refused to let go. Her body finally gave up.

I'm sorry that you are going through this. It is a difficult time. Death is such a natural part of life. I wish our society could view it as such. I know that when my time comes, I hope to be able to say my peace and leave those around me with feelings of peace and love. Best wishes to you and your loved one.