Proof of Heaven: Dr. Eben Alexander 2/3

In today's post, I'm continuing my discussion on Near Death Experiences or NDE's by highlighting Dr. Eben Alexander's book Proof of Heaven. Here is Part I. 

Each medical specialty has a definite stereotype. I've found that most labor and delivery nurses have had cheerleading background. I. Kid. You. Not. For a while, I asked every L&D nurse I knew if they did cheerleading in highschool and ALL said yes.

I found that a very important job requirement for labor nurses because heaven knows if you didn't have that affinity, you would get TIRED of coaching women through labor shift after shift. I mean, I was rolling my own eyeballs at myself at what a pain I was when I delivered my own children.

Neurosurgeons are the same way. They are very cerebral. Smart. But not always personable. I've only met one or two that could interact socially in a pleasant way-- like the ham it up, crack-a-few jokes kind.

That is not to say they are not friendly . . . just so above (not in a snooty way) the average person intellectually. I mean, think about how intelligent you have to be to operate on the smartest, fastest biological computer ever created.

That's the sense that I got about Dr. Alexander. Driven. Uber-smart. I'm sure he has a Mensa card for sure. He bought into all the normally offered medical explanations for NDE.

I think God has a funny sense of humor. I imagine Him thinking-- how can I get Eben's attention? This man who loves the brain and its chemistry and lives and dies to fix it. What would be the one disease I could give him to convince him of My presence?

How about . . . meningitis. And not just your average, run-of-the-mill easily curable kind. But one that is so rare that most people die of it. So rare that you have a risk of 1:10 million chance of contracting the disease. Whereas you have a 30% chance of being in a serious car accident in the next year.

And that's what happened. Dr. Alexander contracted a rare form of E-coli meningitis. Generally only seen in adults if you've had neurosurgery or traumatic brain injury (I'm guessing skull fracture that would disrupt the normal protective nature of the bones.)

Dr. Alexander's meningitis did not respond to antibiotics. He was comatose for seven days. The family was at the point where they were considering withdrawing life support.

And while he was in that coma-- he had a NDE that changed his whole outlook on life and caused him to discount every previous medical theory he'd bought into from a very analytical, scientific point of view. That's what we'll talk about next post.

 

Proof Of Heaven: Dr. Eben Alexander 1/3

I first heard about Eben's story when it was highlighted on Biography Channels I Survived . . . Beyond and Back.When his non-fiction book, Proof of Heaven, released-- I knew it was going to be a must read for me considering his background as a medical doctor and (before his NDE) an a-religious person. He did attend church but had no personal connection with his faith.

Most of you know that I am a pediatric ER nurse-- still showing up for work twice a week until I start to earn James Patterson type money on my books. I'm confident that will happen in 2013 for sure, right?

The tough thing about working in pediatrics is when a child dies. There's something inherently wrong with the world order when that happens. I've been with patients before they die.

Near Death Experiences, or NDE's, do fascinate me. I am a religious person. I believe in heaven and hell. That's why I Survived . . . Beyond and Back intrigued me so because it told stories of people who had died and come back. Most went to heaven. Some went to hell. And a few just had strange experiences-- like aliens rolling dice on a poker table kind of weird.

As a medical person, I can attest that we don't handle the spiritual stuff very well. I think part of that is that religious persons like myself don't feel like they can openly discuss these issues with patients without possibly coming under fire from upper management for proselytizing . . . so generally this is left in the hands of chaplains to deal with.

Except, there aren't always chaplains available.

Patients who are dying have very valid questions. Is there heaven? Is there hell? What did my life on earth mean?

If you think back to the advent of resuscitative medicine, it's only been around for a good 40-50 years. Instructing the masses in CPR. Advanced life support measures like ventilators. Algorithms to manage emergency scenarios.

In the past, there likely weren't hordes of people surviving death. But now, with medical technology, we are more and more pulling people from "the drain" as we sometimes term it. In light of that, there are many more people surviving medical calamities that would have killed them but now they are opening up and talking about their NDE's.

One such person is a neurosurgeon by the name of Eben Alexander. A very smart, astute physician who was firmly in the camp of believing that NDE's had a medical explanation . . . until he died himself.

And had an NDE.

We'll pick up his story next post.

Up and Coming

Hello Redwood's Fans!

You . . . have . . . officially survived the holidays! Congratulations. Now, we can get on with life-- if only my husband would get the Christmas decorations packed up. I know, not fair, but I DID buy and WRAP 80% of the presents.

As the new year has officially set in and we seemingly have all survived the Mayan apocylpse, the beginning of a new year generally brings about some reflection about the past and future.

I'm no different. I do like to make New Year's resolutions or at least set goals for the coming year. Here's a post I did recently at the WordServe Water Cooler that talks about goal setting and lists some ways to help achieve your goals for the coming year.

However, here at medical mayhem central I thought I'd spend a week discussing Dr. Eben Alexander's book, Proof of Heaven.

What do you think about human consciousness? How do these cells we call neurons collectively bring rise to our sense of self, our interaction with the environment . . . our sense of morality.

Do you believe in heaven, hell, or any sort of afterlife?

Let's see what Dr. Alexander thinks of it all as he recalls his Near Death Experience (NDE) during his week long coma as he nearly died from a rare form of bacterial meningitis.

His journey is truly one filled with miracles and a fascinating read. I hope you'll check it out.

Management of Infant Crying

This week, I'm highlighting some blog posts that I did for Erin MacPherson's Christian Mama's Guide last year. Some of you may not know but I am a real live pediatric ER RN. As always, these posts are meant to be educational and do not replace a doctor's visit if your child is ill.

Erin has a WICKED sense of humor and is releasing a series of books this spring so I hope you'll keep an eye out for them.

There is nothing that will bring a weary family into the ER faster than an infant who won’t stop crying. This is a leading cause of ER visits for the infant population.

Our approach starts with a good physical exam looking for a source of something that would cause the infant pain. Is there an ear infection? Is there a hair tourniquet?  Did they accidentally scratch their eye? Are they dry and fed?

A hair tourniquet happens when a piece of hair becomes wrapped around a baby’s fingers, toes or penis in the case of boys. They are usually easy to identify because the area distal to the constriction becomes purple from lack of blood flow. Imagine when you wrap a string too tightly around the tip of your finger.

If a hair tourniquet is found and we can see the piece of hair, first we’ll try to unwrap it. If it isn’t embedded into the skin, we may try a hair removal product to disintegrate it. If the hair is deeply embedded, the child may require surgical removal.

A corneal abrasion is a scratch to the eyeball and is quite painful. To look for these in a child, we’ll stain their eyeball with a dye and look at it with a Wood’s lamp in a darkened room. If one is present, generally the child is sent home with an antibiotic ointment for the eye for several days.

If a source of the infant’s pain cannot be found, we’ll generally try soothing measures like oral pain medication to see if that will calm the infant.

If the child continues to cry, a source of infection cannot be found and the baby is also resistant to soothing measures, then the physician may choose to proceed with a spinal tap and additional septic work-up. One reason for an inconsolable infant is meningitis.

If a septic work-up is negative, the infant may be said to have colic.

Were you aware of other sources for pain in the infant like a hair tourniquet or corneal abrasion?