I talked to my Aunt today (I have a very strong relationship with her). She was diagnosed with lung cancer Oct. 5th of last year, and was told that she had maybe a month to live. She has been on death's doorstep quite a few times in her life, but this time it's going to do her in. We just caught up for a good hour or so, but then we started talking about her condition.
I recently learned at College that there is not a new form of cremation called 'Alkaline Hydrolysis' or 'Water Cremation'. The process includes submerging the body in a tank and having a hot, pressurized mixture of water and potassium hydroxide to break down the tissue, leaving only bones and a sterile liquid. The bones are processed and are given back to the family as the 'ashes'. When I read about this in an article, I immediately thought of my Aunt.
She already has organized her final plans, but she decided on cremation due to space issues in the family cemetery. However, she isn't happy with the decision of cremation because of her past. When she was a child, 90% of her body was burned, and she became on of the first patients to receive skin graphs on a large scale. She wasn't expected to live, but gave Death the middle finger (her words) and moved right along. Recently, she quit chemo therapy because it wasn't helping the cancer and was just burning her from the inside out. She now has burn scars on the inside and outside of her body. Her aversion to fire is easily understandable because of her past.
I found out this information about a week ago, but I've been afraid of bringing it up to her because it's not really something you just talk causally about. She knows that I am attending college for Mortuary Science, but I wasn't sure how much my mom told her. When I spoke to her I asked her if she would like to hear about something I found out through my college. To my surprise, she was actually fascinated about my career choice. I answered a few of her questions then told her about the Water Cremation. She said she has never heard of it, and was extremely glad that I told her about it. I gave her more information about it and we laughed and cried a bit more then we got off the phone.
I was dreading telling her about it because while I can talk left and right about bodies, it's different when it's someone you know personally. I didn't want to acknowledge the fact that her life is nearing it's end, but her attitude about it is astounding. She isn't afraid of death, she is pissed off that she isn't going to be able to care for her family anymore. She has been so positive about fighting and living that even when her doctors see her, she puts smiles on their faces that last through out the day. I've never met anyone as strong as she is, and in her positive outlook she is putting the family at ease when it comes to loose her. We still are heartbroken, but she is happy. She is one hell of a fighter.
I'm sorry, that got longer than I expected (it seems that most of my posts do) but I feel like I needed to type that out. I've never felt contentment and grief at the same time about the same thing. It's an odd mix of emotions.
I don't really know what I'm looking for by posting this here, but I love reading peoples opinion and point of view on things like this. I internalize things like this way too often and forget that I'm allowed to have feelings. I guess I knocked the bottle over.