Dying alone, unnotticed, and decaying in ones own home

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I had one of my professors die from a heart problem in the middle of this past Fall term. He lived alone, except for his dogs, and was dead for a few days before other faculty members asked the police to check on him. All the while, we just thought the class cancellations were due to illness.

The man was a genius and had a great sense of humor, but he was probably troubled from early on. He appeared to have a developmental disorder, had a child's vocal pitch, and was also incredibly large. I felt, though, that he deserved a better going away than that.

Nobody ever said whether or not the dogs were inside when it happened.

Last edited by Blasty on 21 Jul 2010, 1:54 am, edited 3 times in total.

Luckily my "psychic censor" seems to filter out reality to some relative extent.


This is not the case on the rational level though.


I'd say it's better to KNOW reality in all it's inexpressible horror than to
likewise FEEL it.

That said....a thread like this comes perilously close to making me feel it more than I care to.

It is a good idea and quite easy to implement because we the trend toward solitude , individualistic existence is co developing with the opposing trend of a constant network presence.
The cellphone can detect your pulse and alert a registered users or the closest medical,fire department,police unit when u dead or dying,
A service that would require u to push some button on your cell or PC or what ever gizmo that is networked (they all are now days) can do the trick very easy and cheaply
Most of the tech giants invests a lot in telemedicine R&D so it safe to assume that in the near future no one would die alone in his house unless he really want to
this services should be much cheaper and much better than the current health care methods and are much better suited the current and future life style and social structure.

Yeah, I've got friends who are doing research in biosensors that could be carried on a belt pouch or in a wristwach-like device that would monitor vital signs for things like if you fell and hurt yourself, if your pulse went crazy (from fear after an accident or sudden illness, usually), if you didn't move for a while (unconsciousness, usually). The general idea is that if you trip the sensors, a beeper sounds and if you don't shut it off, the equipment calls the paramedics for you.

Great,and distant monitoring is not just for emergency it also enable much better treatment as it is doesn't interfere with the patient routines so results are much more accurate and saving the patient the trip to the hospital or a clinic has many benefits ,both for the patient and the medical stuff.
It may sound paradoxical to our 3D way of thinking but distant monitoring enables much closer care and would yields much better results at cheaper costs,
The health care systems should adopt the networked structure that works so well for other services,
Hospitals are factories stuck at the industrial age,
I'ts stupid,it's not working,it's dangerous and it is inhuman.

My family would notice.

Hmm. Probably wouldn't work on me, I go totally immobile too often and don't usually need paramedics for it (would not be able to shut off the beeper). Paramedics have actually at times in my life gotten sick of people calling them for me in non-emergencies when I couldn't do anything to stop the people calling (usually if I was either immobilized due to my movement disorder, or due to my muscles all going floppy, the second of which can make me look unconscious when I'm not).

Better than dying in a care home.

If my parents die before I do, I will most likely die alone. My brother would worry if he didn't hear from me in a while.

I live alone & rarely have visitors. I think the last time was about three months ago. So it is highly likely that if I did die at home, I wouldn't be discovered for quite some time. If someone came & found my front door was shut, they would probably think I was out & not investigate. I often think of this when I trying to sleep at night as I would hate something like that to happen. A cousin of mine died alone in 2008 & his body wasn't discovered for about two weeks.

It depends on how many years from now my death comes. Right now somebody would realize within a couple of days and after 4 days they reall; start asking questions. But as I grow older my friends become fewer and at some point in the not so far future I will be a lone wolf. As such I will probably rot away unnoticed. As far a the smell giving me away maybe if the wind was blowing the right direction or if someone stopped by to check on why the cows were out of the fence. But by that time I'll probably be well decayed. It also depends on how I day. If in car accident where the ambulance is called and they haul me off to the ER or if I have a stroke or heart attack at home, or if something fails on me out in the field. I think it's more to be determinded by the circumstances then anything. I think family would come to my side if they knew I was dying.

In the end we all must die and does it realy matter if we're alone or not? At that moment it would be comforting, but after your heart and brain stop it realy ain't going to mean a tinker's damn. Why do you think there so many living people who leave flowers at grave sites and not so many dead people who leave flowers? Sod Breaker

I'd rather die in my home than in hospital.

I'd rather die suddenly than have a lingering disease. Even if it does mean they have to do an autopsy.

I only hope that if I have pets at the time, they won't starve before someone finds them.

I would actually rather die in a hospital or a rest home. I actually like hospitals, strangely, they are full of people and interesting events, though many of the events arent good....

I wouldnt want to die at home I dont think. It would mess my furniture up.

What a fascinating topic this is!
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I have witnessed numerous deaths, both fast and slow. I have no desire to linger about smelling of death from some terminal illness. I'd much rather die quickly like most people.
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Yes, my neighbors would notice my absence within a day or too. My family would not notice as quickly because they all live out of town and/or state.
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We have lots of windows here where I live (7 windows in my apartment). I keep some of my blinds half way up so my cats can sit in the windows. Otherwise they would destroy my blinds.
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Our buildings are very close and face each other. It's like were all on display. We constantly see each other throughout our daily routines and we often talk or wave and say hello to each other from our windows or from in the yard.
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The walls are so thin we can hear what each other is doing or listening to or watching on TV. It's like I'm not even living alone.
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But I'm am use to living in a house with lots of noisy kids, so it doesn't bother me for the most part.
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My neighbors across the hall bang on my door often if I am too quiet and they have a key so if I don't answer, they can come in and check.
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Taupey

I will probably die with the company of maggots and blowflies, and the dingding sound of incoming messages from the nearby computer. Ho hum.

I mean no disrespect to your cousin, may he rest in peace. I use to be a paramedic and the smell of a decomposing body is horrible, heavy, it clings on you, sometimes we'd have to use surgical masks, Vicks vapor rub under our noses and puff on cigars to help us deal with it. It can be so overpowering. That was many years ago. Anyway, it's so sad that there are so many people dying alone. I feel so bad whenever I hear that has happened.