Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
While everyone here has gone home for Thanksgiving break, I am currently stuck in Milwaukee until Friday night. This is the pain of working in the death industry and being an apprentice. I've worked retail for six years before working at The Home, so I am very familiar with having to forgo the traditional turkey dinner with friends and family to work Black Friday; which is more and more becoming a Black Thursday. So having to stay in Milwaukee isn't all that surprising for me, but this is the first time where I will have to miss a holiday, and not even have the opportunity to see any of my friends and family. And for a young twenty-something living away from home for the first time; this is a really hard pill to swallow. (And don't even get me started on Christmas, another holiday that I will not be able to enjoy). I'm trying very hard not to be bitter about this situation, truly I am. So here is a list of some things that I am thankful for:
- I am thankful for my health and the health of my mother
- I am thankful to be above ground
- I am thankful to have a job doing something I really enjoy
- I am thankful for the opportunity to go back to school for this
- I am thankful for a roof over my head and that I have the whole dorm to myself
- I am thankful that I can sleep in and do nothing all day
- I am thankful for a car that works and is reliable
So that is the short of it. Tomorrow is Black Friday, and in the death industry it has a whole new meaning. This is the start of the busy season for us, and when you think about it, it makes logical sense. The weather during winter can get very bad and very cold causing horrible accidents thus driving (sometimes literally) people inside where disease and illness can run rampant, and on top of that you have the holidays which can be a very depressing time of year for many people (I am now starting to understand this better), thus the suicide and murder rate unfortunately goes up.
Murder? Murder you say? Well I am just guessing here, but I honestly would not be surprised if someone got killed over a $20 crock pot, or hated their present because it was for the wrong video game system and thus goes on a murderous rampage. Believe me, crazier shit has happened.
Tomorrow and going into this weekend we have two funerals every day. Which means even though it is not my weekend to work, I lose any ability to go home early, so I won't be seeing my mom until Friday night if the weather decides to cooperate.
In the grand scheme of things these are just small peanuts compared to what others go through, especially the families we service. For many this is the first Thanksgiving where their loved one will not be there because they have passed.
So if you're reading this in between basting your turkey or watching the football game, take a moment to say thank you to your loved ones for being around you. And give them a big hug and let them know you love them, because things can change dramatically in the blink of an eye.
Until next time.
Thursday, November 27, 2014
Monday, November 17, 2014
Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night
This weekend I was able to go home and spend some time with my mom and cat Jack. Sunday we had a bit of an emergency when Jackson got really sick due to some cat food. Mom and I had to drive almost thirty minutes north to the animal emergency hospital, but Jack was deemed okay and we were able to bring him home. We have to monitor his food and give him rice and chicken, but he should hopefully make a full recovery. Because of this little scare I decided to stay an extra night in Point and headed back to Milwaukee early this morning.
I was able to make it to school well before class started and got some studying in for my chemistry exam, which I think I did pretty good on. Going into work I knew that it was going to be a long day when I saw Kevin and Steve complaining about going into an embalming. I volunteered since tonight was my night on call to do it...I didn't realize that the embalming was an autopsy, this process as I have already described in some previous blogs takes a while to get through; and this body was discovered, meaning it was not in good shape.
Even though the body was not in full decomp, it was very black and blue, especially on the left side due to the fact the decedent was found dead on his left side. He apparently died while taking a nap, perhaps due to sleep apnea who knows. He was well over 250 lbs, and in his early 40's. His finger tips and left arm were purple and black, which makes our job as an embalmer really difficult because once that happens it is really hard to reverse; especially if the decedent has been dead for a few days. So at this point we are just working to preserve the body, and will use corrective make-up for pretty much everything else.
I was working on this body with Mitch, which was great because he layered the organs inside the cavity while I poured on the 'Shake-N-Bake'. Suturing this time went a little easier, although I did form a small blister on my left index finger...but that just means that I was doing a good job on my suturing. When Mitch was shooting the embalming fluid up into the head I had to clamp the artery behind the eyes shut, but going up the left side there was a small leak so I had to press that down with my finger. ..."Just got my hand in some guy's skull, no big deal...so what did you do today?"
Oh did I mention that this guy was pretty much his own little bloody water park? When Mitch was shooting down the legs there were tiny little streams of embalming fluid shooting up from the muscle tissue right along the ridge of fat, I have never seen anything like it. The fluid retention in the face was a bit much, so Mitch had to use a surgery to suck some of the fluid out but it wasn't working. His alternative was to slice open the eye ball and push the fluid out...and what came along with it was the innards of the eye...this is where I started to dry heave. I was not prepared to slice open a guy's eye tonight. When you squeeze an eye after slicing it open, "eye jelly" (not sure what the medical term is for it) comes oozing out...but this is why we have eye caps kids!
So once we were done, we cleaned up and headed home. Now I get to write my embalming report about today, this will be my 4 out of 25. (I was not very smart and did not document my first few embalming).
A quick shout out to my neighbor Bruce back home in Stevens Point, he has been so supportive of me going to school to become a mortician, he gave me one of his 1938 Cadillac model hearses!
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
I was able to make it to school well before class started and got some studying in for my chemistry exam, which I think I did pretty good on. Going into work I knew that it was going to be a long day when I saw Kevin and Steve complaining about going into an embalming. I volunteered since tonight was my night on call to do it...I didn't realize that the embalming was an autopsy, this process as I have already described in some previous blogs takes a while to get through; and this body was discovered, meaning it was not in good shape.
Even though the body was not in full decomp, it was very black and blue, especially on the left side due to the fact the decedent was found dead on his left side. He apparently died while taking a nap, perhaps due to sleep apnea who knows. He was well over 250 lbs, and in his early 40's. His finger tips and left arm were purple and black, which makes our job as an embalmer really difficult because once that happens it is really hard to reverse; especially if the decedent has been dead for a few days. So at this point we are just working to preserve the body, and will use corrective make-up for pretty much everything else.
I was working on this body with Mitch, which was great because he layered the organs inside the cavity while I poured on the 'Shake-N-Bake'. Suturing this time went a little easier, although I did form a small blister on my left index finger...but that just means that I was doing a good job on my suturing. When Mitch was shooting the embalming fluid up into the head I had to clamp the artery behind the eyes shut, but going up the left side there was a small leak so I had to press that down with my finger. ..."Just got my hand in some guy's skull, no big deal...so what did you do today?"
Oh did I mention that this guy was pretty much his own little bloody water park? When Mitch was shooting down the legs there were tiny little streams of embalming fluid shooting up from the muscle tissue right along the ridge of fat, I have never seen anything like it. The fluid retention in the face was a bit much, so Mitch had to use a surgery to suck some of the fluid out but it wasn't working. His alternative was to slice open the eye ball and push the fluid out...and what came along with it was the innards of the eye...this is where I started to dry heave. I was not prepared to slice open a guy's eye tonight. When you squeeze an eye after slicing it open, "eye jelly" (not sure what the medical term is for it) comes oozing out...but this is why we have eye caps kids!
So once we were done, we cleaned up and headed home. Now I get to write my embalming report about today, this will be my 4 out of 25. (I was not very smart and did not document my first few embalming).
A quick shout out to my neighbor Bruce back home in Stevens Point, he has been so supportive of me going to school to become a mortician, he gave me one of his 1938 Cadillac model hearses!
It comes complete with casket, church truck, and opens up! It has such amazing detail I am very thankful to receive such a wonderful, and thoughtful gift. Thank you Bruce!
And so I leave you with this poem by Dylan Thomas
Do Not Go Gentle Into That Goodnight
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Until next time.
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Good Intentions
I realized that it has been a while since I have written anything in my blog. To be honest nothing all that interesting has happened...until of course last night.
At around 1:30 am, the fire alarm in our dorm went off. Now I personally hate any loud alarms or sirens because for whatever reason they just freak me the hell out. So waking up to a very loud, very scary fire alarm is pretty much a nightmare for me. After putting on warmer clothes and getting my jacket my room mates and I exited out to the street. Shortly there after two fire trucks came ...I didn't see any smoke, but the stench of diesel fuel nearly gagged me to death. After waiting outside for about twenty minutes we were told to walk across the bridge to Riverview, another dorm, but once we got there, we were told that it was okay to return. The bitching and moaning from everyone was immense. Once we got back to our floor, our RA told us to report any standing water. I promptly through a massive bitch fit, thinking that the sprinklers went off....but thankfully they didn't. I'm not sure what caused the fire alarm to go off, but that is not something that I want to experience again...especially at 1:30 in the morning, in November.
And of course I had to arrive at work earlier than our usual time because we had a morning service at church. Today was a day full of good intentions that promptly blew up in my face, and me trying to be helpful but to no avail. After our morning service at church (which Caleb and I kinda dropped the ball on), we got back in time for the afternoon service at The Home. This service was for the woman that Kevin had to drive 3 hours North to transfer into our care, so of course her family and relatives would be traveling today for the services....I did not know that one of the grandchildren would be coming via taxi from Madison, (this person has some physical handicaps that prevent him from driving, reason why he needed to take a taxi...but man could you imagine how expensive that would get?) The turn out was small but the family was very nice. The services were done around 4, so we were expecting to clean up and head out shortly there after; unfortunately that was not the case. Apparently the taxi guy, even though he knew that he would be driving this person back, was told by his company to drive all the way back to Madison. So what does that mean? That means that at 4:00 pm, when the services were done, we had to call the Madison taxi to come to Milwaukee during rush hour to pick up this individual...he didn't arrive until 6:00 pm.
I would be a lot more upset about this if it wasn't for the fact that this guy was really nice and that I was basically getting paid for two hours to do nothing.
Oh, and I know that I will regret writing this, but I have not done a removal since November 2nd....that is really freaking weird. We have been literally dead at work, and of course now that I writing this and since it is my night on call, we will get something. This is probably the calm before the storm because winter is coming, and with winter it brings death.
Regardless, today will end and tomorrow I will be able to go home at noon!
Until next time.
At around 1:30 am, the fire alarm in our dorm went off. Now I personally hate any loud alarms or sirens because for whatever reason they just freak me the hell out. So waking up to a very loud, very scary fire alarm is pretty much a nightmare for me. After putting on warmer clothes and getting my jacket my room mates and I exited out to the street. Shortly there after two fire trucks came ...I didn't see any smoke, but the stench of diesel fuel nearly gagged me to death. After waiting outside for about twenty minutes we were told to walk across the bridge to Riverview, another dorm, but once we got there, we were told that it was okay to return. The bitching and moaning from everyone was immense. Once we got back to our floor, our RA told us to report any standing water. I promptly through a massive bitch fit, thinking that the sprinklers went off....but thankfully they didn't. I'm not sure what caused the fire alarm to go off, but that is not something that I want to experience again...especially at 1:30 in the morning, in November.
And of course I had to arrive at work earlier than our usual time because we had a morning service at church. Today was a day full of good intentions that promptly blew up in my face, and me trying to be helpful but to no avail. After our morning service at church (which Caleb and I kinda dropped the ball on), we got back in time for the afternoon service at The Home. This service was for the woman that Kevin had to drive 3 hours North to transfer into our care, so of course her family and relatives would be traveling today for the services....I did not know that one of the grandchildren would be coming via taxi from Madison, (this person has some physical handicaps that prevent him from driving, reason why he needed to take a taxi...but man could you imagine how expensive that would get?) The turn out was small but the family was very nice. The services were done around 4, so we were expecting to clean up and head out shortly there after; unfortunately that was not the case. Apparently the taxi guy, even though he knew that he would be driving this person back, was told by his company to drive all the way back to Madison. So what does that mean? That means that at 4:00 pm, when the services were done, we had to call the Madison taxi to come to Milwaukee during rush hour to pick up this individual...he didn't arrive until 6:00 pm.
I would be a lot more upset about this if it wasn't for the fact that this guy was really nice and that I was basically getting paid for two hours to do nothing.
Oh, and I know that I will regret writing this, but I have not done a removal since November 2nd....that is really freaking weird. We have been literally dead at work, and of course now that I writing this and since it is my night on call, we will get something. This is probably the calm before the storm because winter is coming, and with winter it brings death.
Regardless, today will end and tomorrow I will be able to go home at noon!
Until next time.
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