Movin On

Have you ever read a autopsy? I have.

I want to use this thread to show people just how easy it is to overdose. I know those of you that read my post know that my son died at 20 yrs old and it was a accident as ruled by the medical examiner. But allow me to share this and my hope is that it can help someone else.

NARRATIVE: "This 20-year-old white male, (M.......E...), was found dead in his vehicle. The main cause of death is ethanol and propoxphene toxicity. The manner of death is accident."

EXTERNAL EXAMINATION: I won't read it all....."The body is that of a well-developed and well-nourished male......body measures 68 inches in length and wrights 168 pounds. The body is cold to touch. Rigor mortis is present to an equal extent in all joints. .........The external ears display no evidence of trauma. .....

Then is talks about the internal examination....sliced all parts of his body for evidence of the cause of death.

Okay....here is the Toxicology Report:

Ethanol.....................0.221 gm% (221 mg/dl)
Acetne, Isopropanol and Methanol..........Negative

Blood Drug Screen

Amphetamines, antidepressants, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, cannabinoids,
cocaine, etc....Negative

Propoxyphene...................0.51 Micrograms/ML
Acetaminophen..................Positive
Promethazine.....................0.19 Micrograms/ML

Blood Individual Drug Quants:

Acetaminiophen.............68 micrograms/ML

Vitreous:

Alcohol:
Ethanol.....................0.236 gm% (236 mg/dl)

I really don't understand alot of these readings but i was told than although the alcohol content was high the drug (propoxyphene) was slight. It was the combinaton that caused him to stop breathing.

Not sure why I felt compelled to share this but i know that i have done so much more and lived! We never know, do we?

Hope i didn't offend anyone.

Much love,
MO

ccgirl

Of course you didn't offend. You're right. It takes just the right (wrong) combinations and some people's body chemistry just can't handle it. Reading that, I wouldn't have thought that could make someone die, but it very obviously can.

Please share my condolences on your loss. I can't even imagine.

Movin On

ccgirl...i want Matt's death to mean something and not be in vain, so if it helps someone, then well.......someone's life might be saved.

The post is about reality, and just how a normal night of drinking a taking a few pills could be deadly.

Thanks for your response.

CarolD

That was so very sad to read MO.

(+) (+) (+) Mega Hugs and Prayers

emmer

Good point (((((Movin on))))).

God Bless you.

ccgirl

Movin, actually your post has been on my mind since I read it. It made me think of all the times I mixed stuff and how lucky I am to still be here. Thank you again.

2ala2

Thank you Movin,
I know by all logical counts I should not be 'here' today.
I am very sorry about your loss. My prayers to you and your family.

Movin On

ccgirl, you know not alot of people responded to this thread, a few read it, but didn't respond.

maybe people don't won't to talk about death and autopsy reports...(and by no means am i looking for people to respond to it out of sympathy for me) but it's reality and the one that's died doesn't have to deal with all the **** that they leave behind.....it's our loved ones. sometimes, that's all that keeps me going....it's not my fear of my death.....it's the thought of what pain i would cause others.

marle

When I talked to my daughter yesterday, I mentioned the autopsy report. How the combination of drugs was what killed your son. She told me not to worry that they have no money for drugs right now and she is not using. I told her that is the time to really be afraid because if she gets money her tolerance is not the same. She told me that she is too smart for that. Oh the uniqueness of the addict in denial. I just told her that there are a lot of smart, dead addicts that probably thought the same thing. Hugs and thank you for sharing this painful reminder of the disease of addiction. Marle

MeToo2

Hi MO, I just read your post, and it really hits close to home for me. My beautiful 22 year old niece was living with me when she died app 21/2 years ago from an accidental overdose. I know that it was accidental, because just that night I had helped her to set up an EBay account, we had watched some movies together, she was excited to be getting a new car after hers was destroyed in Hurricane Katrina, other reasons. She was a beautiful girl-pageant winner all her life, tall, gorgeous girl who could've been a model, anything she wanted to be-also extremely bright, motivated, popular, etc. I was aware that she was "casually" using drugs when she went out with her friends-no one in her family had any idea how much she was using or that she was using "hard" drugs. My husband went out of town and she acquired a large quantity of different drugs from some of her girlfriends. She went to bed that night and so did I-she often slept late, so I left her alone most of the next day-when I went to check on her, she was already dead, the paramedics could do nothing. It has been a shock not only to us but to all of the community where we live-she was well-known and well-liked. She was such a sweet girl, with a good heart, sensitive to people. She seemed so happy-go-lucky, taking things in her stride. Her father had died app a year before, then her grandfather, then grandmother, who helped to raise her. It's still unbelievable to all of us. We still don't really understand. She apparently got hold of oxycontin, cocaine, and methadone, and from being bored? we just don't know-kept taking a little more of each until she passed her tolerance point and died in her sleep. Even the paramedics and the police couldn't find all the drugs-we later found them when packing her things for her sisters. It has left a gap in the lives of so many that will never be filled, and was such a waste of a beautiful young girl with everything to live for. It makes no sense at all. I am torn between asking "why?", and being angry at her for being so careless with her life and her future. This girl could've made a difference to so many, and she threw it away-from boredom? We'll never know. We found notebooks full of the beautiful poetry that she wrote, but it gave us no clue.

Another nephew--the son of my husband's younger brother, who also died (the brother) shortly before the older brother, my niece's father, died, lived with us for a short while after all this. He also came to show that he problems with drugs. He is another bright and caring young person. The drugs, amongst other reasons, were one reason why I could no longer have him live with me. I have never had children of my own. I cannot take finding another child dead in my home. I just can't. His mother was very angry with me. This woman smoked pot with her children when they were growing up. They fight over money, drugs-a parent with her child!!!! They steal from each other. I couldn't take any more. She was very angry when I came to the point where I could no longer allow the theft, the disrespect(only when he was high, the rest of the time he's a hard-working and sweet young man), the looking at his face slack from being high, etc. The last, especially (the look on his face when he's high, the slurred speech, all that) began to make me ill. With my niece I didn't really have these clues, or didn't know to look for them, I don't know which. With all her sweet personality, she could be quite manipulative, and I know why-it never used to add up for me. With my nephew, it was blatantly obvious. If they could only see themselves as others see them when they're like that. If they could only see the difference in their actions, their entire personalities...

Sorry to ramble, and to hijack your thread--I still haven't come to terms with what happened to my niece and with finding her. I'll never have the answer to my question, my cry of "Why???!!!" until I see the Lord face to face. For now, it just seems a stupid unnceccesary accident from boredom. If I'd only known! I'd have done anything with her to keep her from turning to drugs. I still can't bear to think of her in that bedroom, nibbling at this, snorting that, until she had too much in her system. I only pray she didn't suffer. The coroner says that she didn't, I don't know if it's true or if he's being kind. I can't bear to dwell on it, since I can't change it.

Movin On

MeToo2--death like that just doesn't affect the parents, does it? it affects the whole community, friends, neices, nephews, aunts, uncles, grandparents....the list is endless. the arms of death reach out so much further than we expect.

i know that matt was very similiar to your neice in that he was popular and well liked and oh, his face....it was beautiful. he didn't mean to die that night. but he was drunk and when we're drunk we don't think clearly and i know that he didn't give it a second thought about taking that darvacet.

the medical examiner also told us that he didn't suffer. she didn't see any signs of him having a seizure......what we have to hold onto is that....they were messed up...they were buzzing...and they probably just went to sleep. i know that's not alot of comfort because i'm always thinking, God-- he shouldn't have died all alone....no one to hold his hand. so...i know how you must feel.

i have neices and nephews that use drugs all the time and drink and matt's death, while tragic, doesn't stop them--hell it doesn't stop me! That's the insane part of addiction. i don't know whether your neice was a addict or it was just a freak accident but i think for my son, had he lived.....the road of addiction would have only gotten worse until he hit his "rock bottom".

in a way, they have been spared the pain of this world.....but what they have left behind for the rest of us is a empty hole and so many....so many....unanswered questions.

thank you for sharing that with me.

ccgirl

Moving On - Last night before I went to bed I had a terrible headache. Earlier, I had taken some Execedrin Migraine, but after a couple hours it still didn't work. I went to the medicine cabinet to get my prescription (non-addictive stuff) and your post went through my mind; I realized I hadn't waited long enough and for the first time in my life, I thought about mixing stuff and the consequences. So, I stayed up and watched TV for a couple more hours til I knew it was safe to take the migraine med. You may not know this, but that is how deeply your first post affected me and gave me pause. When I think about it and you, just now, my eyes misted and I feel gratitude. I hope it helps to know that your post affected someone that strongly; I know it doesn't take away the pain of your loss, but maybe you can help others think about their actions. I know you gave me pause.

With gratitude,

Dorothy

Movin On

Your will never know the wonderful feeling of knowing that matt is having a good effect on a few people.

now, i'm misty eyed.

i'm proud of him, ccgirl and thank you for sharing that because you've (and those that have shared) have actually helped me begin to heal knowing that something good is coming from something so wrong.

thank you....it's a wonderful way to start my day!

much love!