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.
Friday, October 31, 2014
(Un)Happy Halloween
Where do I begin in today's blog...well perhaps I should say, Happy Halloween because it is Halloween...even though it does not feel remotely like Halloween to me.
As I had mentioned in my previous blog, Jim and Jack both lost their mother last week. Her visitation was this past Monday and it was extraordinary. There were flowers everywhere, and the line was out of the North chapel snaking into the South! I had to stand in line for over 30 minutes just to say goodbye and pay my final respects. I unfortunately had to miss her actual funeral mass because I was in school, but was invited to go to lunch, which was great; love Polish food!
Since the days surrounding the visitation and funeral were fairly quiet , i.e. not a lot of removals; it makes perfect sense that yesterday we were slammed. We had gotten three removals Wednesday night and early Thursday morning, and another two removals during the day on Thursday and one more Thursday night. (I had literally just gotten home and into my PJ's when Kevin called saying we had a house call). So in total we had six that day...six.
Yesterday marked day one on my five day stretch on being on call since I am taking over for Caleb this weekend. And this week marks week two of three that I will be working every. single. fucking. day. To say that I am just a little home sick is an understatement. If there is anything truly difficult about being an apprentice it is the fact that I can not see my mom and friends back home as much as I would like.
Thankfully Caleb will be taking my weekend next week so I can go home for my cousin's baby shower, and I should even be able to leave early on Friday provided the apocalypse doesn't happen...
The nice thing about having so many bodies come in, all the apprentices got an opportunity to get in an embalming. Two out of my 25 needed embalming have now been documented. (I know that I have worked on more than just my two, but have not had the chance to document them and recalling an embalming from a month ago is really hard).
One interesting fact that I learned the other day was that if you own a crypt chances are that you will have to be embalmed. Now in our state of Wisconsin, (or really any state in America for that matter), you are not required by law to be embalmed, however cemeteries may make some stipulations....such as if you have an above ground crypt. The reason for this being is that when the body starts to decompose there are a lot of fluids and gas buildup and will eventually seep from the cracks within the crypt causing a horrible odor and lots of flies to congregate.
So what I have learned this week:
- if someone related to someone who works in the death industry dies; expect a massive turn out
- I do not do well working for three weeks straight not being able to go home and see my mom
- Crypt owners should expect to be embalmed when they die
Until next time...
As I had mentioned in my previous blog, Jim and Jack both lost their mother last week. Her visitation was this past Monday and it was extraordinary. There were flowers everywhere, and the line was out of the North chapel snaking into the South! I had to stand in line for over 30 minutes just to say goodbye and pay my final respects. I unfortunately had to miss her actual funeral mass because I was in school, but was invited to go to lunch, which was great; love Polish food!
Since the days surrounding the visitation and funeral were fairly quiet , i.e. not a lot of removals; it makes perfect sense that yesterday we were slammed. We had gotten three removals Wednesday night and early Thursday morning, and another two removals during the day on Thursday and one more Thursday night. (I had literally just gotten home and into my PJ's when Kevin called saying we had a house call). So in total we had six that day...six.
Yesterday marked day one on my five day stretch on being on call since I am taking over for Caleb this weekend. And this week marks week two of three that I will be working every. single. fucking. day. To say that I am just a little home sick is an understatement. If there is anything truly difficult about being an apprentice it is the fact that I can not see my mom and friends back home as much as I would like.
Thankfully Caleb will be taking my weekend next week so I can go home for my cousin's baby shower, and I should even be able to leave early on Friday provided the apocalypse doesn't happen...
The nice thing about having so many bodies come in, all the apprentices got an opportunity to get in an embalming. Two out of my 25 needed embalming have now been documented. (I know that I have worked on more than just my two, but have not had the chance to document them and recalling an embalming from a month ago is really hard).
One interesting fact that I learned the other day was that if you own a crypt chances are that you will have to be embalmed. Now in our state of Wisconsin, (or really any state in America for that matter), you are not required by law to be embalmed, however cemeteries may make some stipulations....such as if you have an above ground crypt. The reason for this being is that when the body starts to decompose there are a lot of fluids and gas buildup and will eventually seep from the cracks within the crypt causing a horrible odor and lots of flies to congregate.
So what I have learned this week:
- if someone related to someone who works in the death industry dies; expect a massive turn out
- I do not do well working for three weeks straight not being able to go home and see my mom
- Crypt owners should expect to be embalmed when they die
Until next time...
Friday, October 24, 2014
What Do You Mean It's Not Water Proof?!
Let me start off this post by taking a moment to say that just because I work in the death industry, does not make experiencing a personal death any less hard or tragic. Today my bosses Jim and Jack lost their mother, and even though I never had the chance to meet her personally, my heart is still heavy.
By working in a funeral home, you become family with everyone you work with, just because you see them literally every single day. So when someone goes through a personal tragedy, it effects us all....needless to say, the next few days, weeks,...hell even months, will be hard on us all.
Now to transition from that, to what I did today. After getting back to The Home from working a funeral with Michelle, I was told that I needed to take the remains of Mrs. S to the M.E. and to take Steve with me since he hasn't done this before. Mrs. S was the house call that Kevin and I did, where we found out after the fact that she had fractured her hip 6 months prior.
So Steve and I go to the M.E. and it goes smoothly, and we come back. I am pushing Mrs. S up to the prep room to transfer her back to a table, when David says, "Good, You're back, and you'll be going back to the M.E."
I pause a moment and ask, "Why? I hope I didn't forget anything,...I mean I have Mrs. S right here..." David said, "No...we have a removal from the M.E."
"Oh, can I take Steve with me again? He hasn't done a removal from the M.E. before"
"Sure, just hurry back"
Back to the M.E we went! This time I made sure that I had my apprenticeship license on me so I could sign off on the paperwork. As I have mentioned in previous posts, whenever we go to the M.E. to do a removal we make sure that we always have a Batesville casket liner so we can transfer the body bag onto the gurney. The transfer went as well as could be expected. I signed off on paperwork and we transferred the body onto the gurney, the body was fairly large, but nothing extremely huge. What was large though, was the sack of clothing and amount of money this individual had on them prior to death. Thankfully we got an inventory sheet and were able to head back to The Home.
Once we got back, I made sure to give Dani the small bag of valued goods so that it could be documented and locked away, she then asked who was going to help David with the embalming.
Embalming you say? I eagerly raised my hand, stating that I would love to do this so I could document my first autopsy embalming...plus Steve and Caleb both wanted to go home since they were not on call tonight or this weekend.
Changing into my scrubs I put on the 'Smurf Suit' which looks like this:
The only exception being that I don't wear the face shield since I wear glasses and we are not required to wear a hair net....and also the casket is never in the embalming room...(This photo was taken from Google).
The body was fully opened and the breast plate was taken off so we could get to the bag of organs to treat them. When embalming a body that has been autopsied, we have a special pot, or kettle, that we use to put them in. First we place a red hazardous materials bag inside the kettle, then we place the organ bag. After opening the organ bag we dumped two bottles of chemicals that would help preserve the organs, once done we replace the lid and proceed on with the embalming.
Really wish I could have taken some pictures on what I was doing because the human anatomy is really interesting! With everything removed you can see the spinal column and all the layers of fat, muscle, and skin. Since the body cavity is wide open, it makes finding the arteries for embalming (supposedly) a lot easier. Thankfully I didn't have to find them, instead David went digging (literally) around in search of them. The femoral artery, found in the legs near the groin, were fairly easy to find, but the axillary artery found in the arms near the armpit were very difficult.
While David was running the embalming fluid through the body, I had to take the special autopsy aspirator and suck up all the fluids that were pouring inside of the body cavity. Once we were done running the lines down the legs and down the arms, we had to run the line up the axillary so it would go into the face and head. Now let me remind you that during an autopsy, the skull is opened so the brain can be examined, meaning the head is now just a gaping hole. When we run the line up into the head, there is a place (and forgive me, but I can not remember what it's called) that we must pinch to prevent us getting sprayed with embalming fluid.
Once that was all done, and all the extra liquids were soaked up, I got to stuff the neck hole and work on setting the features...it was really weird to see into the mouth and not see a tongue! This time placing the eye caps proved to be really difficult because the eyeballs were basically caving in. So we finished setting the features and I was (of course) given the task of removing the organs from the kettle and layering them inside the body....joy.
In order to create our 'Satan's lasagna' ...as I so affectionately named it, we first must start off with a layer of Viserac, a powdery substance that looks like saw dust but contains formaldehyde. After a layer has been spread inside the body cavity I then began the disgusting task of bobbing for organs. I took a few deep breaths, and then a few more; psyching myself up for the disgusting adventure that I was currently embarking on.
Reaching inside the bag I began to hum loudly to myself, a tactic that I use to distract myself from something either very painful, or now, very disgusting. And I must say, it kinda worked. I grabbed a hold of a slippery mass, of what I really can't say because everything was dissected from the autopsy, and then placed it inside the body cavity. When it was layered inside I sprinkled in more Viserac, and then added in more guts. I was up to my elbow in blood and guts, and beginning to worry that there wouldn't be enough room in the cavity for everything. I asked David if the gowns were water proof because I was beginning to feel some wetness creeping up on my forearm...the answer David gave me was less than satisfactory... "WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT'S NOT WATER PROOF?!" seriously!!! Out of everything that should be water proof...or at least resistant, you'd think that our embalming gown would be!
Now that Satan's lasagna was finished, I was now able to suture up the body. I got to about the navel before David kicked me off of the struggle bus and took over finishing the body. If I ever felt like a failure...it was here. Where as I was struggling just to pierce the skin with the needle, David made it look effortless.
While he was finishing up suturing the body, I began to give everything a thorough cleaning and spray down with bleach. Did you know that when blood is sprayed with bleach it turns a horrible brownish green color? Once we were done (shortly before 6), we both got out of our Smurf outfits so we could change back into our work clothes.
I should say that I was not surprised, but I was, and thoroughly disgusted. After taking off my blue smock, I could see that my right forearm was covered in blood. Oh joy. Oh rapture, Oh happy day!
Needless to say, I gave my hands and forearms a deep clean and took a nice hot shower once I got back to my dorm.
So that is my story for the day. Tragic and bloody. More about the events of the funeral for Mary and the cause of death on Mr. Bloody in the days to come.
Until next time.
By working in a funeral home, you become family with everyone you work with, just because you see them literally every single day. So when someone goes through a personal tragedy, it effects us all....needless to say, the next few days, weeks,...hell even months, will be hard on us all.
Now to transition from that, to what I did today. After getting back to The Home from working a funeral with Michelle, I was told that I needed to take the remains of Mrs. S to the M.E. and to take Steve with me since he hasn't done this before. Mrs. S was the house call that Kevin and I did, where we found out after the fact that she had fractured her hip 6 months prior.
So Steve and I go to the M.E. and it goes smoothly, and we come back. I am pushing Mrs. S up to the prep room to transfer her back to a table, when David says, "Good, You're back, and you'll be going back to the M.E."
I pause a moment and ask, "Why? I hope I didn't forget anything,...I mean I have Mrs. S right here..." David said, "No...we have a removal from the M.E."
"Oh, can I take Steve with me again? He hasn't done a removal from the M.E. before"
"Sure, just hurry back"
Back to the M.E we went! This time I made sure that I had my apprenticeship license on me so I could sign off on the paperwork. As I have mentioned in previous posts, whenever we go to the M.E. to do a removal we make sure that we always have a Batesville casket liner so we can transfer the body bag onto the gurney. The transfer went as well as could be expected. I signed off on paperwork and we transferred the body onto the gurney, the body was fairly large, but nothing extremely huge. What was large though, was the sack of clothing and amount of money this individual had on them prior to death. Thankfully we got an inventory sheet and were able to head back to The Home.
Once we got back, I made sure to give Dani the small bag of valued goods so that it could be documented and locked away, she then asked who was going to help David with the embalming.
Embalming you say? I eagerly raised my hand, stating that I would love to do this so I could document my first autopsy embalming...plus Steve and Caleb both wanted to go home since they were not on call tonight or this weekend.
Changing into my scrubs I put on the 'Smurf Suit' which looks like this:
The body was fully opened and the breast plate was taken off so we could get to the bag of organs to treat them. When embalming a body that has been autopsied, we have a special pot, or kettle, that we use to put them in. First we place a red hazardous materials bag inside the kettle, then we place the organ bag. After opening the organ bag we dumped two bottles of chemicals that would help preserve the organs, once done we replace the lid and proceed on with the embalming.
Really wish I could have taken some pictures on what I was doing because the human anatomy is really interesting! With everything removed you can see the spinal column and all the layers of fat, muscle, and skin. Since the body cavity is wide open, it makes finding the arteries for embalming (supposedly) a lot easier. Thankfully I didn't have to find them, instead David went digging (literally) around in search of them. The femoral artery, found in the legs near the groin, were fairly easy to find, but the axillary artery found in the arms near the armpit were very difficult.
While David was running the embalming fluid through the body, I had to take the special autopsy aspirator and suck up all the fluids that were pouring inside of the body cavity. Once we were done running the lines down the legs and down the arms, we had to run the line up the axillary so it would go into the face and head. Now let me remind you that during an autopsy, the skull is opened so the brain can be examined, meaning the head is now just a gaping hole. When we run the line up into the head, there is a place (and forgive me, but I can not remember what it's called) that we must pinch to prevent us getting sprayed with embalming fluid.
Once that was all done, and all the extra liquids were soaked up, I got to stuff the neck hole and work on setting the features...it was really weird to see into the mouth and not see a tongue! This time placing the eye caps proved to be really difficult because the eyeballs were basically caving in. So we finished setting the features and I was (of course) given the task of removing the organs from the kettle and layering them inside the body....joy.
In order to create our 'Satan's lasagna' ...as I so affectionately named it, we first must start off with a layer of Viserac, a powdery substance that looks like saw dust but contains formaldehyde. After a layer has been spread inside the body cavity I then began the disgusting task of bobbing for organs. I took a few deep breaths, and then a few more; psyching myself up for the disgusting adventure that I was currently embarking on.
Reaching inside the bag I began to hum loudly to myself, a tactic that I use to distract myself from something either very painful, or now, very disgusting. And I must say, it kinda worked. I grabbed a hold of a slippery mass, of what I really can't say because everything was dissected from the autopsy, and then placed it inside the body cavity. When it was layered inside I sprinkled in more Viserac, and then added in more guts. I was up to my elbow in blood and guts, and beginning to worry that there wouldn't be enough room in the cavity for everything. I asked David if the gowns were water proof because I was beginning to feel some wetness creeping up on my forearm...the answer David gave me was less than satisfactory... "WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT'S NOT WATER PROOF?!" seriously!!! Out of everything that should be water proof...or at least resistant, you'd think that our embalming gown would be!
Now that Satan's lasagna was finished, I was now able to suture up the body. I got to about the navel before David kicked me off of the struggle bus and took over finishing the body. If I ever felt like a failure...it was here. Where as I was struggling just to pierce the skin with the needle, David made it look effortless.
While he was finishing up suturing the body, I began to give everything a thorough cleaning and spray down with bleach. Did you know that when blood is sprayed with bleach it turns a horrible brownish green color? Once we were done (shortly before 6), we both got out of our Smurf outfits so we could change back into our work clothes.
I should say that I was not surprised, but I was, and thoroughly disgusted. After taking off my blue smock, I could see that my right forearm was covered in blood. Oh joy. Oh rapture, Oh happy day!
Needless to say, I gave my hands and forearms a deep clean and took a nice hot shower once I got back to my dorm.
So that is my story for the day. Tragic and bloody. More about the events of the funeral for Mary and the cause of death on Mr. Bloody in the days to come.
Until next time.
Thursday, October 23, 2014
Why Am I Doing This Again?
Today is a perfect example of me constantly asking myself, "Why the hell am I getting into this field?"
Last night, or really in the wee hours of this morning my partner Kevin called (1:30 am) to say we had a removal. I tell him I'll be there as quick as I can and get dressed. For someone who needs a good 8 hours to just function, trying to work on only two hours of sleep can be very difficult, plus I get really sick with not getting enough sleep. It's like your stomach wants to void itself, but you're really hungry, but really you just need a few more hours sleep and you'll be just Jim Dandy.
Driving through Milwaukee at 1:30 in the morning is a special kind of treat. There really isn't a whole lot of traffic and a lot of the stop lights are in their hazard flashing mode. While I was on the highway, I saw Kevin speed past me, I laughed that I was able to spot his car on the highway going 55+ mph.
We arrived at The Home and Kevin called getting more information about our removal. The person who originally called to notify us worked for a hospice. We were given the address and headed out, neither one of us totally familiar with were we were going. When we arrived to our destination Kevin and I were both royally pissed. Not once, during the informational call back, did Jim mention that this would be a house call. He told us hospice, so we all just assumed that we would be going to a hospice care center.
Since we didn't know it was a house call, we also didn't bother to bring the hugger or our house kit; and get this, this house had a three level ramp right in front of it. So Kevin and I take a moment, walking up the ramp just trying to figure out if our gurney could make the sharp turns. We then enter the home and the home hospice nurse along with the grandson and a neighbor are all there. I take a moment to introduce myself and give my condolences and the grandson, who really didn't seem much older than me, gave me a hug. I was taken aback by this gesture, but figured grief and loss makes people want to be closer to other, even if they are a stranger.
So we fill out all the necessary forms and get basic information about the deceased and the next of kin who isn't there. Kevin and I realize that neither one of us have an information brochure to give to the family so they can fill it out and bring it to their arrangement. Not the worst thing in the world but still mildly annoying.
Kevin and I were able to maneuver the gurney up the ramp and into the house, but were unable to get it inside of the room. So we had to lower the gurney onto the ground and after carefully shrouding the body, we physically carried the deceased to the gurney and strapped her in. Thankfully she was thin and frail, which made her easy to carry.
Going back down the ramp proved to be a bit difficult but we managed. Right as we are about to leave the nurse informs us that the deceased suffered a fall about six months ago, but it did not result in her death. This sent up red flags to Kevin and I because we both know that the M.E. needs to be informed of any falls, fractures, or breaks, even if it didn't result in death....and how apt that the "No" box for notify the M.E. was checked.
So as we are pulling away from the house, Kevin gives Jim a call asking if we need to make a late night trip to the M.E. to get her checked. Jim says that it can wait until morning...or until we double check the length of time from fracture, obviously if it happened a year ago we wouldn't much care. Jim also mentions that we are to be expecting another removal once we return.
After arriving back to The Home, we proceed to undress and document the body. Jim gives me a call saying that we forgot to give the hospice nurse some paperwork. I apologize profusely and tell him that we will deliver it once we are on our way to the second removal. I take a quick look at the paperwork and realize that we forgot to have the nurse sign our own internal document that we use for 'chain of custody', so it's a good thing that we are going back; and now we can give the family the informational brochure.
Kevin gives Jim a call to get the information on our second removal, and this time it's at a hospital. Ironically it is also the same hospital that Jim and Jack's mother has been staying in for the last few weeks. Their mother has been in and out of the ICU for a while now, and she was suppose to be coming home the other day, but we are all thinking that her time with us will be very limited. We got this call courtesy of Jim and Jack talking to this family who had their loved only a few rooms down from their mothers.
This removal was pretty straight forward, in and (waiting) out within a reasonable amount of time. Unfortunately I didn't get home until 4:45 am and had to be back to work at 8:30. Waking up for the second time was brutal and I really started to question my sanity.
I was able to help run a funeral service at our other location, but because I didn't get much sleep, and didn't eat a decent breakfast I was getting pretty sick with low blood sugar. I didn't leave the second location until 2:30, meaning that I didn't get to eat my lunch until 3. I was not a happy camper.
That is until Mitch came in and said that he was just about to do a stoking next door!
Guess I will leave you with that just burning in your mind -cue rim shot-.
Until next time.
Last night, or really in the wee hours of this morning my partner Kevin called (1:30 am) to say we had a removal. I tell him I'll be there as quick as I can and get dressed. For someone who needs a good 8 hours to just function, trying to work on only two hours of sleep can be very difficult, plus I get really sick with not getting enough sleep. It's like your stomach wants to void itself, but you're really hungry, but really you just need a few more hours sleep and you'll be just Jim Dandy.
Driving through Milwaukee at 1:30 in the morning is a special kind of treat. There really isn't a whole lot of traffic and a lot of the stop lights are in their hazard flashing mode. While I was on the highway, I saw Kevin speed past me, I laughed that I was able to spot his car on the highway going 55+ mph.
We arrived at The Home and Kevin called getting more information about our removal. The person who originally called to notify us worked for a hospice. We were given the address and headed out, neither one of us totally familiar with were we were going. When we arrived to our destination Kevin and I were both royally pissed. Not once, during the informational call back, did Jim mention that this would be a house call. He told us hospice, so we all just assumed that we would be going to a hospice care center.
Since we didn't know it was a house call, we also didn't bother to bring the hugger or our house kit; and get this, this house had a three level ramp right in front of it. So Kevin and I take a moment, walking up the ramp just trying to figure out if our gurney could make the sharp turns. We then enter the home and the home hospice nurse along with the grandson and a neighbor are all there. I take a moment to introduce myself and give my condolences and the grandson, who really didn't seem much older than me, gave me a hug. I was taken aback by this gesture, but figured grief and loss makes people want to be closer to other, even if they are a stranger.
So we fill out all the necessary forms and get basic information about the deceased and the next of kin who isn't there. Kevin and I realize that neither one of us have an information brochure to give to the family so they can fill it out and bring it to their arrangement. Not the worst thing in the world but still mildly annoying.
Kevin and I were able to maneuver the gurney up the ramp and into the house, but were unable to get it inside of the room. So we had to lower the gurney onto the ground and after carefully shrouding the body, we physically carried the deceased to the gurney and strapped her in. Thankfully she was thin and frail, which made her easy to carry.
Going back down the ramp proved to be a bit difficult but we managed. Right as we are about to leave the nurse informs us that the deceased suffered a fall about six months ago, but it did not result in her death. This sent up red flags to Kevin and I because we both know that the M.E. needs to be informed of any falls, fractures, or breaks, even if it didn't result in death....and how apt that the "No" box for notify the M.E. was checked.
So as we are pulling away from the house, Kevin gives Jim a call asking if we need to make a late night trip to the M.E. to get her checked. Jim says that it can wait until morning...or until we double check the length of time from fracture, obviously if it happened a year ago we wouldn't much care. Jim also mentions that we are to be expecting another removal once we return.
After arriving back to The Home, we proceed to undress and document the body. Jim gives me a call saying that we forgot to give the hospice nurse some paperwork. I apologize profusely and tell him that we will deliver it once we are on our way to the second removal. I take a quick look at the paperwork and realize that we forgot to have the nurse sign our own internal document that we use for 'chain of custody', so it's a good thing that we are going back; and now we can give the family the informational brochure.
Kevin gives Jim a call to get the information on our second removal, and this time it's at a hospital. Ironically it is also the same hospital that Jim and Jack's mother has been staying in for the last few weeks. Their mother has been in and out of the ICU for a while now, and she was suppose to be coming home the other day, but we are all thinking that her time with us will be very limited. We got this call courtesy of Jim and Jack talking to this family who had their loved only a few rooms down from their mothers.
This removal was pretty straight forward, in and (waiting) out within a reasonable amount of time. Unfortunately I didn't get home until 4:45 am and had to be back to work at 8:30. Waking up for the second time was brutal and I really started to question my sanity.
I was able to help run a funeral service at our other location, but because I didn't get much sleep, and didn't eat a decent breakfast I was getting pretty sick with low blood sugar. I didn't leave the second location until 2:30, meaning that I didn't get to eat my lunch until 3. I was not a happy camper.
That is until Mitch came in and said that he was just about to do a stoking next door!
I have wanted to see a stoking done for a cremation for a while now. Mitch and I went next door and he opened the retort door just enough so he could slide a long metal rake, which really looks like a gardening hoe, inside. I knelt down and peered inside the chaos that was happening. A lot of the bone fragments were glowing a fiery orange, which is good, but there was still a lot of black, meaning it wasn't fully done yet. I could see the spinal column and the thick bone mass of the rib cage and chest area. This is where Mitch began to stoke, trying to break up the bones and get them more centered inside of the inferno.
Once that was done we closed the retort door and added another thirty minutes to the cremation, just because the body was still so black. I took a deep breath, and then another one. Mitch said, "Yeah you smell that?" and I replied, "Yes...is that what the bodies smell like?" "Yes indeedy...they smell like mesquite BBQ wood chips"
And that my friends is what a burning body in a crematory smells like...burning BBQ. A lot better than it being embalmed, but about 1000 times noisier.
Here is a clip from that documentary that I keep telling you all to go watch, A Certain Kind of Death
This is how human remains are cremated.
Guess I will leave you with that just burning in your mind -cue rim shot-.
Until next time.
Thursday, October 16, 2014
DON'T POKE THE BAG!
When I was a kid, I would go to the grocery store with my mom and always had a fascination with poking the various meats that were wrapped in cellophane. This obsession became so great that my mother would say, "Don't poke the meat!"
Why I had (and let's be honest, still do) this obsession is beyond me. I think part of it was this really cool realization that there was this ewwy, gooey thing wrapped in all this cellophane and your finger wouldn't get messy by touching it.
Transfer this obsession to the funeral world and I am in 7th heaven with all the stuff I get to poke around in. Yes it's disgusting but the textures of the human anatomy is fascinating.
Remember in my last blog how I mentioned that the M.E. had to remove one of our individuals for an autopsy? Well after asking a few questions I got the low down on this guy's situation. Apparently this person had dropped dead at work, (possible cocaine abuse), and the hospital did not notify the M.E. This, unfortunately is a pretty common mistake. What is uncommon in this situation is how long it took the M.E. to get notified, which was over 10 days. Remember this is the guy who died on October 1st, and was not picked up from the hospital morgue until this past Monday, the 13th. And the only reason that the M.E. was notified was because we had called and asked about this gentleman's situation!
So a transport company that works for the M.E. came out to The Home to remove the body so that it could be autopsied, this happened yesterday. Today when I got back from setting up a visitation at our other location I was busy washing the hearse. (Oh quick side note, I got to drive the hearse today and fill it up with gas. It was the coolest thing ever!) Right as I'm finishing up, Steve and Caleb come back with the body from the M.E.
I made a comment about how they get all the fun, sewing up the body, and Caleb said that he would gladly let me in on it so he didn't have to stick around any later than he had to. Wonderful trade off! I got Caleb to finish washing the hearse and the other cars and I got the chance to practice my skills!
After changing into my scrubs, Steve and I got busy unzipping the body bags, Dani was going to supervise us. When the unveiling was complete we all did a collective groan. This guy who is over 6 feet tall and well over 250 lbs, was so bloated from all the gasses that had built up from the autopsy (and from also being dead for two weeks now), that his gut bag was protruding from his abdominal cavity.
Back when I worked on my first autopsy case with the 22 year old who had died, the kid had only been dead for less than 48 hours by the time we got him, and also he was in a lot better physical shape so his gut bag was very well hidden within his skin flaps....really no matter how I phrase that, it will just sound horribly disturbing.
Once the medical examiner is done with all they need to do with the organs and brain they place them inside a clear plastic bag, and then place that bag inside of the body cavity and then do a very quick sewing job just so that the skin flaps are held together and the bag doesn't fall out.
Because this gentleman was so large, and so very very dead, his bag was full of all the noxious gases that protrude from a human corpse.
Steve got to work the head, applying the drying spray and the silly putty. Then carefully fixing the skull cap and doing the best he could sewing the flap of skull skin back into place. While he was doing that, I was sewing up the incision on the abdomen. Dani mentioned to no poke through the bag with my needle in order to spare us all a horrible stench and messy clean up.
I started near the groin, which ironically is where it is hardest to sew because the stomach is so soft. I had to go through three different needles in order to find one sharp enough. When you're sewing through human flesh you need to just the right amount of force and leverage to get through all the layers of fat and skin, all the while being very careful not to poke yourself with the needle. Finger and hand placement is critical. ...also knowing that this individual could have died from cocaine put me on high alert because there could have been a slew of other horrible things in his blood and guts. (And this right here folks, is why we in the funeral industry are having panic attacks about Ebola going around in the United States, this is a serious safety hazard that we must face).
So I am sewing along this guy's abdomen, having to clamp it into several places just to get the skin to meet, all the while having my hand basically down into his cavity pushing down on his gut bag. Right around the belly button is when it happened. I was pressing through the skin and pulling tight on the string when all of a sudden I saw this brown liquid come seeping through the stitching I had done, and a horrible odor began to form. ...oh shit, I poked the bag.
I quickly poured some absorbing powder over the belly button, and gave a small chuckle....well at least his gut bag will go down now!
I continued to sew, getting into a rhythm of pushing and pulling through the skin, making sure everything was tight. My middle finger on my left hand became extremely tender due to a cut I had received the day before, ironically Dani mentioned that you know you're doing a good job sewing when you start to get blisters.
Thankfully I did not have to work the Bermuda Triangle of death, the place where the Y incision meets, Dani was nice enough to do that for me. So while I was finishing up, Steve was riding the struggle bus trying to sew this guy's skull skin together without his long hair getting in the way. Dani had to go back over his stitching because you could clearly see a gap between the skull and skin...had this been left like it was, all sorts of nasty liquid would have come spewing out.
I had asked Dani what would we have done to create this man's neck if he were going to be viewed, the details are a bit horrifying. Basically we would have removed the gut bag and placed it on the table between his legs. Then we would have taken some thick cotton and shoved it inside his neck hole, trying to create the structure of the neck....kind of glad that we didn't have to do that today.
When we were all done sewing we washed him off and tried to transfer him onto the portable table. Because he was originally pushed down a little on the embalming table, (to give us room to work on his head), we had to pull him back up the table.
Dani and I had to each grab underneath his arm pit and try to pull him up, while Steve pushed on his feet. ...This is where another extremely disgusting thing happened...my hand slipped under from where I was holding and I came up holding a chunk of his skin....this is what we call skin slip people! -insert gagging noises here- A bit funny how out of everything I did, saw, and smelled, this is where I begin to gag.
After that Dani was fed up with this guy so she pulled out a large white strap to help heft him onto the table. Some funeral homes have a really nice machine that will hoist bodies on and off of the embalming table, and into caskets....unfortunately we still do things the old fashion way...a surprisingly disgusting workout.
Thankfully I didn't have to stick around for clean up because I had to get out to our other location to work a visitation, and that deserves a blog all to itself, which I hope to write tomorrow after the I experience the joy of working its service and committal.
Until next time.
Why I had (and let's be honest, still do) this obsession is beyond me. I think part of it was this really cool realization that there was this ewwy, gooey thing wrapped in all this cellophane and your finger wouldn't get messy by touching it.
Transfer this obsession to the funeral world and I am in 7th heaven with all the stuff I get to poke around in. Yes it's disgusting but the textures of the human anatomy is fascinating.
Remember in my last blog how I mentioned that the M.E. had to remove one of our individuals for an autopsy? Well after asking a few questions I got the low down on this guy's situation. Apparently this person had dropped dead at work, (possible cocaine abuse), and the hospital did not notify the M.E. This, unfortunately is a pretty common mistake. What is uncommon in this situation is how long it took the M.E. to get notified, which was over 10 days. Remember this is the guy who died on October 1st, and was not picked up from the hospital morgue until this past Monday, the 13th. And the only reason that the M.E. was notified was because we had called and asked about this gentleman's situation!
So a transport company that works for the M.E. came out to The Home to remove the body so that it could be autopsied, this happened yesterday. Today when I got back from setting up a visitation at our other location I was busy washing the hearse. (Oh quick side note, I got to drive the hearse today and fill it up with gas. It was the coolest thing ever!) Right as I'm finishing up, Steve and Caleb come back with the body from the M.E.
I made a comment about how they get all the fun, sewing up the body, and Caleb said that he would gladly let me in on it so he didn't have to stick around any later than he had to. Wonderful trade off! I got Caleb to finish washing the hearse and the other cars and I got the chance to practice my skills!
After changing into my scrubs, Steve and I got busy unzipping the body bags, Dani was going to supervise us. When the unveiling was complete we all did a collective groan. This guy who is over 6 feet tall and well over 250 lbs, was so bloated from all the gasses that had built up from the autopsy (and from also being dead for two weeks now), that his gut bag was protruding from his abdominal cavity.
Back when I worked on my first autopsy case with the 22 year old who had died, the kid had only been dead for less than 48 hours by the time we got him, and also he was in a lot better physical shape so his gut bag was very well hidden within his skin flaps....really no matter how I phrase that, it will just sound horribly disturbing.
Once the medical examiner is done with all they need to do with the organs and brain they place them inside a clear plastic bag, and then place that bag inside of the body cavity and then do a very quick sewing job just so that the skin flaps are held together and the bag doesn't fall out.
Because this gentleman was so large, and so very very dead, his bag was full of all the noxious gases that protrude from a human corpse.
Steve got to work the head, applying the drying spray and the silly putty. Then carefully fixing the skull cap and doing the best he could sewing the flap of skull skin back into place. While he was doing that, I was sewing up the incision on the abdomen. Dani mentioned to no poke through the bag with my needle in order to spare us all a horrible stench and messy clean up.
I started near the groin, which ironically is where it is hardest to sew because the stomach is so soft. I had to go through three different needles in order to find one sharp enough. When you're sewing through human flesh you need to just the right amount of force and leverage to get through all the layers of fat and skin, all the while being very careful not to poke yourself with the needle. Finger and hand placement is critical. ...also knowing that this individual could have died from cocaine put me on high alert because there could have been a slew of other horrible things in his blood and guts. (And this right here folks, is why we in the funeral industry are having panic attacks about Ebola going around in the United States, this is a serious safety hazard that we must face).
So I am sewing along this guy's abdomen, having to clamp it into several places just to get the skin to meet, all the while having my hand basically down into his cavity pushing down on his gut bag. Right around the belly button is when it happened. I was pressing through the skin and pulling tight on the string when all of a sudden I saw this brown liquid come seeping through the stitching I had done, and a horrible odor began to form. ...oh shit, I poked the bag.
I quickly poured some absorbing powder over the belly button, and gave a small chuckle....well at least his gut bag will go down now!
I continued to sew, getting into a rhythm of pushing and pulling through the skin, making sure everything was tight. My middle finger on my left hand became extremely tender due to a cut I had received the day before, ironically Dani mentioned that you know you're doing a good job sewing when you start to get blisters.
I had asked Dani what would we have done to create this man's neck if he were going to be viewed, the details are a bit horrifying. Basically we would have removed the gut bag and placed it on the table between his legs. Then we would have taken some thick cotton and shoved it inside his neck hole, trying to create the structure of the neck....kind of glad that we didn't have to do that today.
When we were all done sewing we washed him off and tried to transfer him onto the portable table. Because he was originally pushed down a little on the embalming table, (to give us room to work on his head), we had to pull him back up the table.
Dani and I had to each grab underneath his arm pit and try to pull him up, while Steve pushed on his feet. ...This is where another extremely disgusting thing happened...my hand slipped under from where I was holding and I came up holding a chunk of his skin....this is what we call skin slip people! -insert gagging noises here- A bit funny how out of everything I did, saw, and smelled, this is where I begin to gag.
After that Dani was fed up with this guy so she pulled out a large white strap to help heft him onto the table. Some funeral homes have a really nice machine that will hoist bodies on and off of the embalming table, and into caskets....unfortunately we still do things the old fashion way...a surprisingly disgusting workout.
Thankfully I didn't have to stick around for clean up because I had to get out to our other location to work a visitation, and that deserves a blog all to itself, which I hope to write tomorrow after the I experience the joy of working its service and committal.
Until next time.
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