Dying alone, unnotticed, and decaying in ones own home

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What will most likely happen if you were to die in your home?
I will die alone and be consumed by maggots before anyone notices 33%  33%  [ 22 ]
I have family or friends who will know that something is wrong if they don't hear from me after a day or two 38%  38%  [ 25 ]
The neighbors will complain of the smell 17%  17%  [ 11 ]
I'll off myself in a public place before that happens 12%  12%  [ 8 ]
Total votes : 66

Molecular_Biologist
Deinonychus
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20 Jul 2010, 9:54 pm

Cleanup after unnoticed death now a growing industry

I saw this article about how business is booming in the death cleanup industry as increasing numbers of people are dying alone. Since they have no family/friends, they often go unnoticed until after their bodies are well decayed and have fouled up the home.

I wondered how many of us on this forum are going to have to be dealt with in such a manner after we pass on?



MONIQUEIJ
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20 Jul 2010, 9:56 pm

i hope i die with my family by my side.


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20 Jul 2010, 10:01 pm

I think that my family and friends would know that something was up, if they didn't hear from me, for a day, or two.


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20 Jul 2010, 10:05 pm

Let me clarify that I deliberately did not include the option of living w/ spouse or children since children grow up and your spouse may die before you.

My hypothetical question assumes that you would be very old and all your children have left the nest and your significant other has also passed on before you.

Would you maintain enough contact with your adult children or other family members so that your death would be quickly noticed?



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20 Jul 2010, 10:06 pm

Right now, my family would notice.

Once I move out again... well, I'll probably be rotting before anyone notices.


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20 Jul 2010, 10:11 pm

Okay, it might be more than two or three days, a couple months even, but it's nice to think that I would be missed if I hadn't communicated with my friends for a long stretch of time.


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20 Jul 2010, 10:12 pm

I do not care if I die alone and unnoticed just as long I am not found dead on the toilet.


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20 Jul 2010, 10:12 pm

I'm guessing the smell is going to cause a problem. There won't be anyone left who gives a crap about me if i'm old.



Apple_in_my_Eye
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20 Jul 2010, 10:16 pm

My last movement as I'm croaking (if possible) will be to unlatch the door to let the wolves in. I have nothing against maggots, but being consumed (at least in part) by wolves somehow seems more dignified.



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20 Jul 2010, 10:16 pm

If I were unemployed, I'd be missed after a few months. Working, I'd probably get people worried about me within a few days. I don't miss work often and when I do I call in.

But I'm highly unlikely to die outside of a hospital because I'm extremely sensitive to my own body's signals, to the point that I can detect things before the doctors' tests can. The only way I'd die in my home would have to be a very sudden death, like a massive stroke. Anything else, I'd be at the hospital even if I couldn't get to the phone, because I wear my cell phone on a belt pouch (or put it next to my bed), because my cell phone has alarms that remind me to do things like eat and sleep. I guess in the case of a terminal illness, I might decide to go home to die (well, actually, almost certainly would); but in that case there'd be either monitoring equipment or visiting nurses.

I do hope that doesn't happen to me; bodies that have been lying around for a while are no good to use for research purposes (except for a few minor exceptions, like the Body Farm and such...).

What I don't get is why this is considered a horrible fate. Any reasonably introverted person living alone mightn't be missed for a week, which is long enough in most temperatures to make a pretty big mess.


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20 Jul 2010, 10:40 pm

Callista wrote:

But I'm highly unlikely to die outside of a hospital because I'm extremely sensitive to my own body's signals, to the point that I can detect things before the doctors' tests can. .


That's one of the reasons i don't trust doctors to handle my problems,
My logic is that since they suck at diagnosing my problems they would probably suck at treating them as one thing depend on the other.

I will die alone and be consumed by maggots before anyone notices
It's not that people don't call or email or sms me but since i never answer they have no way to know if i'm dead or alive
I actually get quite a few emails from people who used to know me in the past(mostly women) who just want to know if i'm still alive and i was told by some of them that if i don't answer for too long they will come and break my door but i think those exchanges are rare enough to still leave me the time needed to rote by myself,
Or maybe not, perhapses someone would fall in love with me,this thing happened and for some reasons autistics are becoming quite popular lately.



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20 Jul 2010, 11:02 pm

People come into my house all day. Unless things change a good deal, someone will notice within hours at most. And if things changed a good deal, the only way I would survive is to be near people. So if I were going to die from not getting that help, I would have warning and I would get myself near people in order to try to get that help. So unless something really drastic happens where there are no people around at all, I can't see dying unnoticed. I just need too much help throughout the day, for there to not be people around who would notice.


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20 Jul 2010, 11:15 pm

i wonder if there is a good business idea in this. A service where people will check up on you if you are not heard from for a while.

I think it is terrible, anyway, it shows that people should value each other more.

I would prefer to spend my last days either with family, or in a nursing home if i am alone. I would hate to spend my last days without some friendly faces.


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21 Jul 2010, 12:30 am

Todesking wrote:
I do not care if I die alone and unnoticed just as long I am not found dead on the toilet.

8O 8O 8O 8O 8O 8O 8O 8O 8O 8O 8O



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21 Jul 2010, 12:33 am

If I stood to die like that I'd probably arrange a time and place to punch my own ticket.


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21 Jul 2010, 1:22 am

If I die before my mom, I will be discovered. However, if I outlive my mom, then the maggots will likely have a big meal. :-(


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