Saturday, August 4, 2012

Back .


Finally back from the French coast. ' The font ' map reads in a creative, highly interpretative, manner. This adds a couple of hours to the journey.

Gore Vidal , the author and commentator, has passed on. We met him once , briefly, in the Hotel Palumbo in Ravello. A man both  awesomely talented and sharply acerbic. He spoke of the death of his long time partner with uncharacteristic , cynicism free, emotion . Unusually, he believed that after the heart stops the eyes and brain continue to function for five or ten minutes. 

This morning I looked up the story in his memoirs to see if I'd remembered it correctly .   '' Lungs,heart may have stopped but the optic nerves were still sending messages to a brain which, those who should know tell us, does not immediately shut down . So we stared at each other at the end ". 

I wonder if this continued functioning of the optical nerve is a medical fact ? If so is it alarming or reassuring ? Can it really continue sending images to the brain after the other organs have stopped ?

22 comments:

  1. hello? hello? are the electricians or the plumbers trying to blog?? Not coming through...

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  2. Welcome back.....?

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  3. Well that is good news... Sparse, but to the point :)

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  4. Angus, I'm so glad that you're both back safe and sound....and that you enjoyed your respite in Brittany....missed you.
    I enjoyed the video clips, especially of the one man band...that's amazing.
    I'm sure that between Jasper and Madame Bay that you returned to find the rickety old farmhouse intact and well looked after.
    Not sure about the optical nerve shutting down last after the other organs, will have to google that, but thanks for that info, morbid though it was.
    P.S. Tell 'the Font' that I'd be more than happy to help out with her map reading, I'm good at navigating and map reading.

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  5. Welcome back Angus! I hope your trip was an enjoyable and 'cool one' and all was well on your return!

    The loss of Gore Vidal is a great loss for America and the world--He said what needed to be said, not what people wanted to hear and without question he certainly had a way of making the English language shine.

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  6. Welcome back Angus and "the Font". You were truly missed. My respite from the heat does not come until later this month, when I head to northern climes. So glad you enjoyed yourselves.

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  7. you are always missed dearest lad!
    for some reason i thought
    you and the font might be
    in the cooler london air.
    with all the crowds in the stadiums
    they say it's quite nice getting around.
    the french coast is not bad though. lol.
    haven't read gore vidal in ages.
    maybe will have to re-visit.
    hugs,
    tammy j

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  8. What an interesting idea. The brain is so complex that I could see it taking more time to shut down, like a computer. I'm not sure if I find this comforting or not.

    Welcome back from your vacation!

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  9. Not sure but I don't think everything shuts down instant.

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  10. Please tell me that's you in the red shirt!!
    My favourite Vidal quote... "“Half of the American people have never read a newspaper. Half never voted for President. One hopes it is the same half.”
    xo,
    p

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  11. Thankfully, your soul doesn't wait around long enough to find out.

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  12. Welcome back. I have heard that we still know what is going on around us when we die. I remember something to do with an ethnic or religious group nearby. They always sat with the body for 24 hours in the belief, they would comfort the deceased. There was an uproar when authorities removed a child from the home or hospice immediately after death. I somehow doubt that's what GV was talking about.

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  13. I'm wondering how one would know for sure unless a person "came back around", and said they had seen something take place. (and the medical records showed that the patient had already been pronounced deceased or flat-lined at the time what he "saw" took place)... hmmmmmmm! veeerrrrrry interesting.... anyways! Welcome Back!!! :-) wondering if your Canine house-sitter/security was still there when you returned!

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  14. Welcome back, Angus and Lady Font, happy to read you are safe, and at home.
    I hope you enjoyed your holidays.
    Don't like the idea of these minutes when your eyes and brain continue to work after the death. It is simply awful !
    What about Jasper ?

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  15. "..after the heart stops the eyes and brain continue to function for five or ten minutes". Interesting. I am going to look it up.

    Glad to find your blog. Hope all is well.

    Love,
    Homer

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  16. I talk to my deceased patients as I prepare them for their families or the morgue. If the eyes are the window to the soul, this makes wonderful sense esp. in light of those who have "out of body" experiences, watching people and themselves from the ceiling. Think I'll chat up some neurologists when I'm back at work.

    Welcome back - interesting videos; will check out Google Video :). Is the dog still at your home?

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  17. Looks like your arrival home was greeted with quite a fanfare! We've heard that the eyes and ears still work for awhile. SHE always enjoyed Vidal.

    XXXOOO Daisy, Bella & Roxy

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  18. Welcome back! That was quite the one man band...

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  19. All I am certain of is that there is so much we can't possibly begin to understand, and I do believe there is more to life than meets the eye . . . although how long those eyes keep on seeing how could anyone possibly know? I don't think a scientist or neurologist could even have a definitive answer because I believe things in this realm are spiritual and not medical.

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