To Die Well, The Caterpillar and the Butterfly.
I don't know about you, but one of my
biggest personal fears is dying after a long time in a coma or a long
time in a demented state. Although I did not like to confront this
fear I eventually did by reading To Die Well:
Wanzer and Glenmullen say that it is
very important thing to have a document, witnessed by friends,
explaining your wishes for the end of your life. Since I live in
Italy, I will probably die in Italy, so I searched for help in
writing the document in Italian. I found the site
http://www.ilbrucoelafarfalla.org/
(The Caterpillar And The Butterfly).
The website of this charity creates a
PDF document declaring how you want to be treated if you are alive, but so ill you are unable to speak for yourself. The PDF created is based on replies to an online questionnaire, then gives
you instructions on who should sign the printed document, who should
have copies and who should know it exists. I felt better after I'd
done that.
As the doctors in the book write, it is
not legal in all countries or states to give a gentle dignified death
to someone in distress or even mentally dead, even if requested. But
if family, friends, carers, and doctors know what the patient
wanted, then their actions would be...
Anyway, like, if I'm totally gah gah then don't resuscitate me after a heart attack. The medical resources could go to someone ill, but with more hope for the future.
Anyway, like, if I'm totally gah gah then don't resuscitate me after a heart attack. The medical resources could go to someone ill, but with more hope for the future.
Anyway, the Caterpillar And Butterfly
site, by its name, suggests that there is life after death. The
caterpillar does not die but is transformed into a butterfly. But
that got me thinking, does a caterpillar have a brain, a memory, and
does the butterfly get the same brain/memory as the caterpillar?
The answer, from this site:
is really strange. Most of the
caterpillar's brain and body is broken down then rebuilt into
butterfly. And oddly enough the parts of the brain which survive the
metamorphosis are the parts which control the leg movement in the
caterpillar and wing movement in the butterfly. So something (not
much) of the original caterpillar remains in the butterfly.
Here's a picture of a
caterpillar:
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