I've assisted with a few post mortems as part of my training. They are pretty grim, but you're dead so you won't know what's going on anyway. Tbh dead bodies do not look anything like people who are sleeping. The skin turns a yellow/grey/green colour and looks waxy, the eyes look like they're made of glass and the face looks sunken and drawn. I don't know how to explain it, I'm not a religious person, but it made me view them as empty vessels which were once people. I don't believe in souls, but they looked exactly like a body without a soul.
The bodies were treated very respectfully and everything was professional, so people shouldn't worry on that behalf. But I just remember having a completely different view on post mortems and organ donation afterwards. I was very against them before I worked in there as I didn't like the thought of me or my loved ones being cut up and having things removed. I know this might sound a bit stupid, but after seeing the dead bodies I can finally separate the person from their body and realise that it doesn't really matter that their body is cut open and things are removed, because that person is gone and their body is just a machine that no longer works and is slowly decaying.
I've now signed up to donate my organs and recommend that anyone who is scared of death or post mortems/organ donation should, if they can, go and view a post mortem or a dead body before it's been "made up" because it might make you feel differently.
i've been watching Dr G on discovery channel and whilst she's very compassionate to the deceased etc i dont see what the point is of finding out what killed me off. If its a car crash it's obvious so why carve me up:( i can understand if i've been murdered but apart from that i'd like to just be left in tact.
has anyone seen what they do - they do a huge cut down your middle and pull everything out, then the most disgusting thing is they cut your scalp and use a drill to open your skull omg no thanks :eek:
can i opt out??
You have no choice in the matter. If you die suddenly, unexpectedly, in suspicious circumstances, in an accident, by suicide, industrial disease, or when the cause is not known, the Coroner will order a PM.
I've been to many such examinations in my work, and dont fear it.
The thought of death doesn't bother me because I know its going to happen to us all be eventually. But I find the idea of what happens to your body afterwards really disturbing. I know that it won't really matter because your dead and you won't know anything about it, but I find the idea of funeral homes and undertakers and what they do to you really creepy.
If I knew I was going to die in a few days I think it would be quite nice to give the doctor who does the post mortem a more interesting and enjoyable job by swallowing lots of weird things for them to find. Like bouncy balls and fridge magnets and other stuff he might like to keep. Make it like a post mortem treasure hunt. And I could write instructions on my body like ''Cut Here'', ''Down a bit'' ''Does my arse look big on this table?'' etc etc.
Best make sure you die in your sleep at an old age then.
My great gran still had to have one, when she died aged 93 as her death was "unexpected"!! She was in a nursing home, run by nuns, and died when they had just woken her up to get up and dressed. As she hadn't been ill up to her death, they had to just check it was natural causes.
My biggest worry about it is that you are laid out naked on the table. Does anyone know if you are covered, or just laid out there? On TV they are always just there totally naked.
I hope I die a lonely old lady that no-one will notice is gone so that I can die at home and eventually be found by neighbours investigating a smell - and all that will be left of me is a greasy mark on the sofa.
After reading this thread, I'm now wondering that if the general public were made aware that it is more than likely that upon death a PM will be carried out (regardless of the circumstances of the death), if they would be more keen to be a registered organ doner.
The worst things you can do is leave your body to science.
It means medical students will spend a whole term ridiculing your body and attempting to play practical jokes on fellow class members with it.
I've got a friend who is a doctor. When his dad dies he left the body for research and decided not to bother with a funeral as there was nothing to bury.
About 6 months later he was still grieving, so he had a memorial service/tree planting. It brought the full-stop that he had needed.
My biggest worry about it is that you are laid out naked on the table. Does anyone know if you are covered, or just laid out there? On TV they are always just there totally naked.
I hope I die a lonely old lady that no-one will notice is gone so that I can die at home and eventually be found by neighbours investigating a smell - and all that will be left of me is a greasy mark on the sofa.
You are naked, because the Pathologist has to examine the whole body.
I can understand being concerned about it and wanting to have your body intact for family etc. but I tend to believe that we'd have no link to our body once we die and would feel no pain from whatever happens during a post mortem. For some reason, when I started to think about it I wondered if these procedures are routinely recorded and kept on file? a part of me feels a bit like its some kind of invasion of privacy to have potentially many, many people watch such things happen and see your naked body etc. but it isn't particularly logical - how can I be embarrassed about it when I'd be dead and probably in another 'plane'/dimension or otherwise unaware and presumably not subject to human emotions? who knows(!). Mind you, im very body conscious as a human so I guess that has something to do with it(!).
ETA - I hadn't realised how routine the procedure is either - I presumed it to only really be carried out if the death is seen as suspicious, as a result of criminal activity etc., I didn't realise it can be ordered if someone died of a known health issue.
After a postmortem they also put your organs in a plastic bag and leave it in your chest cavity in a kind of perverse "bag for life". It's not very enviromentally friendly either.
not the full organs. they are sliced up first. and examined.
what left is put into the body yes.. ans also filler. like sawdust to fill the body out where the organs have been.
i've been watching Dr G on discovery channel and whilst she's very compassionate to the deceased etc i dont see what the point is of finding out what killed me off. If its a car crash it's obvious so why carve me up:( i can understand if i've been murdered but apart from that i'd like to just be left in tact.
has anyone seen what they do - they do a huge cut down your middle and pull everything out, then the most disgusting thing is they cut your scalp and use a drill to open your skull omg no thanks :eek:
can i opt out??
No not unless you die whilst in hospital or care ect.
No not unless you die whilst in hospital or care ect.
PMs still take place in those situations, depending on circumstances.
If a Dr has not seen the deceased in their last illness, in practice the last 14 days, and cannot issue a certificate as to the cause of death, the matter is referred to the Coroner.
There are also situations where hospital deaths have to be reported as a matter of course.
Comments
The bodies were treated very respectfully and everything was professional, so people shouldn't worry on that behalf. But I just remember having a completely different view on post mortems and organ donation afterwards. I was very against them before I worked in there as I didn't like the thought of me or my loved ones being cut up and having things removed. I know this might sound a bit stupid, but after seeing the dead bodies I can finally separate the person from their body and realise that it doesn't really matter that their body is cut open and things are removed, because that person is gone and their body is just a machine that no longer works and is slowly decaying.
I've now signed up to donate my organs and recommend that anyone who is scared of death or post mortems/organ donation should, if they can, go and view a post mortem or a dead body before it's been "made up" because it might make you feel differently.
You have no choice in the matter. If you die suddenly, unexpectedly, in suspicious circumstances, in an accident, by suicide, industrial disease, or when the cause is not known, the Coroner will order a PM.
I've been to many such examinations in my work, and dont fear it.
Silly I know, but it makes me feel uncomfortable.
Excellent point !
Is that a new type of pizza?
My great gran still had to have one, when she died aged 93 as her death was "unexpected"!! She was in a nursing home, run by nuns, and died when they had just woken her up to get up and dressed. As she hadn't been ill up to her death, they had to just check it was natural causes.
A post mortem would have prevented that.
I hope I die a lonely old lady that no-one will notice is gone so that I can die at home and eventually be found by neighbours investigating a smell - and all that will be left of me is a greasy mark on the sofa.
It means medical students will spend a whole term ridiculing your body and attempting to play practical jokes on fellow class members with it.
I've got a friend who is a doctor. When his dad dies he left the body for research and decided not to bother with a funeral as there was nothing to bury.
About 6 months later he was still grieving, so he had a memorial service/tree planting. It brought the full-stop that he had needed.
You are naked, because the Pathologist has to examine the whole body.
ETA - I hadn't realised how routine the procedure is either - I presumed it to only really be carried out if the death is seen as suspicious, as a result of criminal activity etc., I didn't realise it can be ordered if someone died of a known health issue.
Maybe they could tie it round your todger instead, to save the embarrassment.
not the full organs. they are sliced up first. and examined.
what left is put into the body yes.. ans also filler. like sawdust to fill the body out where the organs have been.
No not unless you die whilst in hospital or care ect.
nope ..still embarrassing..and doesnt provide a solution for women or eunuchs
PMs still take place in those situations, depending on circumstances.
If a Dr has not seen the deceased in their last illness, in practice the last 14 days, and cannot issue a certificate as to the cause of death, the matter is referred to the Coroner.
There are also situations where hospital deaths have to be reported as a matter of course.