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Monky

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Joined
Feb 26, 2010
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15
Reason
Loved one DX
Country
NED
State
Utrecht
City
Utrecht
Hi everybody,

Some of you know my father past away three weeks ago... my... has it been that long already? It still seems unreal, especially now I'm back in Holland.

Well, I can't stop replaying the last view weeks of my fathers life. Just can't help it. It's usually during the night or in the early morning. But anyway...

What bothers me is the fact that his pupils didn't work the way they should in those last view weeks. They stayed small like 2 millimeters in diameter and it didn't matter whether it was night or day, dark or light. I was kind of wondering if he could see anything at all when it became darker in the house? Has anyone noticed this as well with your PALS or experienced this as a PALS?

I'm not sure why I want to know this... Maybe to explain his problems with the dynavox - eyegaze? Don't know... but it seems important for some reason.


Groetjes,
Monique
 
Not an expert on this, but I would think your pupils could remain that way when the brain is haveing toruble functioning. Sounds like a neurological deficit near the end. Surely could make sense for the dynavox to me. So sorry your are having a hard time.
 
i am sorry i missed your post about your dad's passing sorry to hear this .... i many times wonder about when my mom passed and knowing what i do now about thyroid if most of her suffering could of been eased and she is gone 7 years now i am now starting to think we tried so hard to make it better for them and we want to be sure we did all we could and to miss something would not help us now anyways we just have to find out so that if it happens again to someone we love we can fix it if possiable
 
Monique,
Hi, and I'm so sorry you're reliving that time. I don't know anything about the eyes, but my BIL teaches nurses, and also has attended the deaths of his two best friends as well as both his parents. He told me when my mother in law (his mother) was dying, that the dying have very adverse reactions to loud noises. We were told not to drop anything near her room, and to speak very softly in her presence.

This is a leap, but I wonder if the light bothered your father's eyes. If hearing is ultra sensitive, couldn't the eyes be, also.

Ann
 
Ann, I think the eyes are sensitive to light (just like the hearing). When my husband was dying the Hospice nurse advised us to keep the blinds drawn during the day to filter out the bright light. She said to use dim lighting at night since he would be more agitated with bright lights or loud noises. I didn't notice changes in his pupils but we did notice he was calmer with soft music and dim lighting.
 
Diane, thanks for posting that. I think these points are so foreign, most of us are clueless. To me, it seems important to make the environment as easy as possible---to the point of limiting who is allowed to be around.

Monique, thank you for introducing this topic. I hope your memories of a happier time return soon.

Ann
 
About 2 weeks ago mom got sick with pneumonia. About a week or 2 before that it was getting to where she could not use the eyemax/dynavox. Not sure if she was just so sick she couldn't concentrate, hold a gaze or what the problem was. Noticed a time or 2 one pupil would be dilated while the other was normal.

That's very interesting others comments about the light and noise. I know her hearing sense is like super-hero strength now. Did not think about the other senses. The nurse actually just walked in and I asked her about this. She said her experience has been that whatever environment the person enjoyed/disliked before should be maintained. If there were always lots of people around, lots of chatter, etc, it should be continued. If they liked quiet environment, continue that.
 
Opiates (e.g. heroin, morphine) can make pupils small, and prevent dilation. I do not know the medical explanation as to why this occurs.

D
 
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