Dads cause of death?

Question

My dad died unexpectedly a few days ago and we have no idea why. It was a normal day, he went to work, came home and mowed the lawn, watched a movie with mom, and went to bed. Mom woke up to hear him moaning like he was having a nightmare. She shook him but he wouldn't stop. His eyes were open and "hazey". His body started to curl up and get real tight. Then he started having breathing issues. Eventually he just went limp and died. He was 62, a healthy active construction worker with no heart problems or anything. He did have diabetes but it was only a pill now and then when needed. He had that under control. I just can't understand what happened. I hope a doctor happens to read this and offers an opinion, or perhaps someone has known of a death similar to this one and can tell me what the cause of death was.

Both the doctor and us wanted an autopsy done. The coroner refused to do it because it was not a homocide and he did not suspect foul play. We were left with having to hire a private pathologist for a few thousand dollars, and had to have the money "now" with the body. We simply didn't have it. Now it is too late. He has been embalmed and will be buried tomorrow. An this 'not knowing' what happend is killing me. It hurts as bad as his death itself.

he was not a smoker, not a drinker, never immobile. the 911 dispatcher was talking mom through CPR until the ambulance got their but it was too late. About the pill, all I know is he would check his sugar constantly and take a pill if it was too high. he was not insulin dependant.

kathy... although I appreciate some of the things you said, I have to say that knowing why he is dead is a big part of closure. It hurts when people ask me "What happened to your dad?" and I have to say "I don't know." It matters for medical reasons also. It matters when it could be genetic and hereditary. We need to tell our doctor what killed our father, to check us carefully and possibly prevent it from happening to us or our children. Its not a "natural cause" to go to sleep and wake up moaning and seizing and then dying. I can't think of anything thats natural about that. Especially not when you are active and healthy.

Answer 1

First of all, I am sorry to hear of your father's death - it sounds like it was very traumatic for you and your family.

It is difficult to have an opinion about what you describe, since there is so much missing information. These are my impressions, based upon the little I know:

No one has diabetes that only requires a pill "now and then." While I don't want to be disrespectful of your opinion, I am concerned that his diabetes was not controlled. Also, while I am glad he didn't suffer from many diagnosed health problems, I worry that he might have had undiagnosed heart and or lung disease. Pt.'s with diabetes frequently have related complications.

Some questions I would ask are - was he a smoker? Had he been immobile for a long period of time recently - like travel, or in bed a lot? What did his parents die of? What medications was he on? What did the EMT's say when you called 911? Is there any chance he was exposed to a toxin, like fertilizer/weed killer?

Based upon the symptoms you describe, it sounds like he might have had a massive heart attack, a stroke, a seizure, or a pulmonary embolism ( a blood clot in his lungs). Also possible are a rupture of his aorta (the main artery leaving the heart), as the responder above has said.

I would definitely request an autopsy. Good luck to you and your family.

Answer 2

My sincere condolences.

All I can tell you, as a nurse AND a daughter who lost her Dad a couple of years ago, is that while we always want answers to a personal tragedy, sometimes the answers just aren't there...or at least so fuzzy that you can't really draw any definitive conclusions.

And even if the cause is clear cut...what difference would it make? Your Dad is still dead and what could have been done differently?

Unless you suspect some sort of malpractice on your Dad's physician's part, based on your description, it seems pretty obvious your father's death was from natural causes. So what difference does it make WHICH natural cause killed him?

Let your father rest in peace, do your grieving, let the healing process move forward, and live your life. It is what your father would want.

All the best.

Answer 3

I'm so sorry to hear of your dad's death.

It does sound like a heart attack. Perhaps you can obtain his medical records to see if his doctor had ever scanned his arteries.

He could have had a blood clot in his heart or his lungs. Sometimes the aorta splits and that causes rapid death.

Oftentimes the ambulance rushes the patient to the hospital. If so you could call the hospital and have his records released.

My dad died too and now that you mention it, he didn't have an autopsy. I was simply told that his heart went into an arrhythmia. His heart doctor told him that he just had one partially clogged artery that would kill a small portion of the heart when it became fully clogged and it seems that this event sent his heart into the arrhythmia.

Although there isn't much positive about death, it is a good thing that your mother was there and as much as possible could be done for your father. My father died right outside the lunchroom of his club. They did assure us that everything possible was done which is a relief, but he did die in public which no one wants for themselves or their loved ones. Also, an acquaintance of mine lost her dad to heart attack and he and his car were found in a ditch. She wonders if he had been home, could he have been saved? Another good thing with my dad was that although his death was sudden and we didn't get to say good-bye, it was preferable to him having a lingering death.

So, maybe when people die, not everything goes right. On the plus side for your dad is that he got to die at home with your mom by his side, he didn't suffer for a long period of time, he probably got to see his children grow up and he didn't die in a situation where it may have been possible to save him.

Answer 4

You should check to see whether it was an aortic aneurysm. My father passed away a couple years ago and the symptoms are similar. While it's not a heart attach (and tests will show none of that trauma) when the aortic wall breaches, blood fills the aortal sack and starves the victim of oxygen to the brain while restricting the heart's beating.

I am sorry to hear of your loss and hope you find the answers. For what it's worth, my dad was 49, in great health, and had been sent home from the doctor's when they could find no evidence of heart attack.

Answer 5

So sorry to hear of your dad's death I am going through something very similar to yours my husband was 57 years old he had just finished 8 weeks of external beam radiation therapy for intermediate prostate cancer he had told his radiologist that he was experiencing extreme shortness of breath and extreme fatigue but the radiologist blamed the symptoms on the extremely hot weather we are experiencing he told him the symptoms would get better once the weather cooled down I told the doctor that hot conditions did not bother my husband because his previous jobs included working next to a furnace in a foundry and on the assembly at Honda manufacturing which both are very hot jobs but he still insisted it was the weather he even said he had several other patients complaining of the same thing well my husband continued until the 8 week treatment were finished even though we continued to tell the radiologist that the shortness of breath and fatigue were not getting any better my husband complained for 4 weeks prior to finishing the 8 weeks of treatment he we told to go home and wait for 1 month then come back to the office to have blood work drawn on July 25, 2016 which we did he was told to come back to the office on July 28, 2016 to get the results of the blood work well my husband did not make if back to the office for the results because he died of sudden cardiac arrest on July 27th the ER doctor who pronounced asked me what was happening and I told him he just finished 8 weeks of radiation a month earlier and had been experiencing shortness of breath and fatigue for over a month and he told me and my son that prolonged radiation treatment could have caused a pulmonary embolism because my husband never had any kind of cardiac problems at all, while I was planning my husband's funeral on July 29th the nurse from the doctor's office called my cell phone and asked why my husband had not shown up for his appointment I was very emotional and I really went off on her I told her he he a very good reason for not being at the appointment that he had died well when I usually call the office I am told to leave a number and the doctor will return your call but not this time I guess the radiologist must have been standing next to the nurse when she called me because he was immediately on the phone with me and he sounded really shocked that my husband had died he wanted to know what happened I really went off on him I told him we would never had chosen external beam radiation if we had known it would cause blood clots he denied it was caused by the radiation I told him the ER doctor said yes but he still denied it I also told him that I guess it was not the hot weather after all, he only said he was very sorry my husband had died no further explanation. I have hired an attorney to represent me because my husband's primary doctor has told me my husband's death was entirely preventable with the proper treatment and that the radiologist should have ordered a CT scan, Doppler scan and d-Dimer blood test to be done when my husband began complaining or shortness of breath but he did not order anything or even listen to his lungs with a stethoscope, so I am hoping something will happen to give closure to this we did not have an autopsy but my attorney says if it is required we will have the body exhumed to prove it was a PE.

Answer 6

So sorry to hear about the untimely passing of your father. I think it would be hard for anybody, even a doctor, to determine what happened based on the information you provide. Have you considered having an autopsy performed? I know for some it's unsettling to think about but would like provide some answers to your questions.

Answer 7

Condolences on the sudden passing of your dad. What a shock for your family. If the family agrees, you can order an autopsy. It would seem like one would be done anyway. Not sure if you have to pay for it. Usually if someone passes at home, there's automatically a coroner's inquest.

Answer 8

The only thing I can say is if you can an autopsy you should, there are many different things it could have been.

I wish you luck in finding the answers.

Answer 9

that happens a lot here in the PHILIPPINES - a country in SouthEast Asia.... it's some sort of Cardiac Arrest...

.. i wish Dr. House do have an explaination 'bout this....

Answer 10

Sorry to hear of your loss...It is hard to say what makes us tick or stop ticking...Sounds like he could have had some kind of stroke...