Although none of us can predict when, where and why we’re going to shuffle off this mortal coil, this hospice nurse believes that our bodies can do a lot of the talking for us.
There are certain signs and symptoms which would probably be missed by the untrained eye, but for someone like Julie McFadden, they are hard to miss.
The Los Angeles-based nurse has made it her mission to ‘alleviate the fear and stigma around death‘ and has garnered more than one million followers on social media with her informative videos on the macabre subject.
She’s educated us on everything from the ‘mess’ you can cause while kicking the bucket, to the ‘unimaginable phenomena’ many of her patients have experienced on their death beds, and the most popular last words she’s heard.
Julie’s seen it all throughout her career as a palliative care nurse and believes that we’d all be able to come to terms with dying a lot easier if we made ourselves aware of exactly what goes down.
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Julie McFadden wants to get rid of the stigma surrounding death (Getty Stock Image)
In one of her TikTok videos, she revealed that there tends to be a few pointers which suggest that a hospice patient is nearing the end of their lives – which can occur up to six months before it actually happens.
Julie talked her followers through what happens at each different stage of decline, explaining that different symptoms usually rear their head half a year, three months, one month and a couple of weeks before someone passes away.
She explained that people who are ‘dying a natural death’ tend to get placed in hospice ‘at the six month mark’.
“You will have very generalised symptoms. One, you will be less social. So you’ll be more introverted than extroverted,” Julie said.
“Two, you will be sleeping a lot more. And three, you will be eating and drinking a lot less.
“Literally everyone on hospice, I see this happen to.”
She explained the signs of death which can occur six months before someone passes away (Getty Stock Image)
According to palliative care providers My Life Choice, identifying these symptoms quickly allows staff to intervene ‘at the right time to control discomfort and maximise quality of life at the most desired and needed time’.
Julie explained that by the three month mark, ‘you are going to notice more debility’ and a significant deterioration.
“They will be staying in their house most of the time, it’s going to be difficult getting up and just going to the bathroom,” she continued. “Again, sleeping a lot more and eating and drinking a lot less.
“Usually around the one month mark is when people will start seeing ‘the unseen’, the visioning. They’ll be seeing dead relatives, dead loved ones, dead pets, old friends who have died.
“Again, not everyone – but many, many people will start seeing these things at around one month.”
Julie explained that people in her line of work ‘allow the body to be the guide’ and they simply want to make the transition as easy as possible for the patient themselves as well as their loved ones.
“The closer you get to death, the easier it is for healthcare workers who see it all of the time to know that you are getting closer,” she added.
Viewers praised Julie in the comment section for giving them an insight into what to expect.
One said: “Thank you for sharing this, as an ICU nurse we don’t see the long term decline.”
Another wrote: “Nurse Julie, you are the best.”
A third added: “Wow that was exactly what my mum did!”
And someone else commented: “You are so knowledgeable, thank you for sharing.”
Research has revealed the affects of vaping on multiple different areas of the body.
Look, we all knew vapes weren’t ever going to be proven to be good for us.
They’re flavoured, have nicotine in them and are often used by people as substitutes for cigarettes.
Although, what you may not have realised was they can have a negative affect on not only your lungs and brain but other parts of your body too.
Texas Department of State and Health Services of Texas Health and Human Services has looked into the extent of the damage vapes could be causing to people’s bodies.
The US service states: “Research suggests that vaping may affect the way cells in the respiratory tract (nose, throat, lungs) react to germs and may increase the chance of disease and infection from bacteria and viruses, like the virus that causes COVID-19.
“Vaping may also make it harder to recover from infections and increase the possibility of complications.”
According to the research, vapes emit ‘an aerosol that includes at least 31 chemicals and compounds that affect different parts of the body’.
But what parts of the body are impacted?
Pexels/ Edgar Martínez
Well, we all know every time we lock our lips round one of the multicoloured bars and puff some pineapple-flavoured air that we’re definitely not doing any favours for our lungs.
Indeed, Texas Department of State and Health Services explains the flavouring chemicals – such as diacetyl – used to give the vapes their fruity puff can ‘permanently injure the lungs’.
“Breathing in ultra fine vapor particles can cause asthma attacks, coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath,” it adds.
Pexels/ Olena Bohovyk
Vaping also has an affect on not only your throat, but your eyes and nose too.
The research notes: “Chemicals known as volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, cause eye, nose, and throat irritation, severe headaches, nausea, and organ damage.
“Formaldehyde irritates the eyes, nose, throat, and skin and may cause lung and throat cancer over time.”
Pexels/ Mr Flame
And your organs get a battering when you inhale the fruit-flavoured vapour and nicotine as well.
Affecting your brain, heart, kidneys, lungs and liver, the ‘heavy metals’ in vapes can ‘build up in the blood and organs and cause damage’.
The most important organ in the body – the brain – is also impacted when you keep hitting a vape, particularly if you’re in your teens.
Texas Department of State Health Services states: “The brain is still developing until about age 25. Using nicotine in adolescence can permanently harm the parts of the brain that control attention, learning, mood, and impulse control.”
You may not have considered how your face may have been affected, but the batteries in vapes could end up causing ‘serious burns’ to your skin if they explode and the department even warns there’s even been one death recorded as a result of this too.
So, maybe it’s time to call it quits for good this time.
