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Richer King R. Supnet Prof. Louyzza Maria Victoria Vasquez English 1 October 14, 2012 Fading In a recent phone interview, she said she tells families of dying people that it appears from experience that hearing is the last sense to go. But she adds: Can I guarantee this is going to happen with everyone? No. Can I prove it? No. But Im telling you we have seen this over and over again. So do not say anything you do not want this dying person to hear. Just dont. Not in the room, but not even down the hall, because it appears hearing becomes acute.(spokesman.com) Browsing through the net about some interesting topic, this part of an article caught my attention. It is frightening to think deeply about this topic; especially that it reminds me the movie Bulong or the teleserye Patayin sa Sindak si Barbara. But this would, somehow, leave a person thinking. This part was an interview of Maggie Callanan of Cape Cod, Massachusetts who wrote the book Final Gifts: Understanding the Special Awareness, Needs and Communications of the Dying (Bantam, 1997). She is a hospice professional, who was originally a critical care nurse, and she has witnessed the dying journey of almost 2000 people through which she hypothesized that hearing is the last sense to go. A few months ago, a phone call to my aunt made us rush to a nearby house. There was a man in coma lying in his deathbed. Because we are Christians, we believe that before a person

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will die, he must repent for all his sins and accept the Lord Jesus as His saviour. So we prayed while I was unaware of the theory that a dying person, even if hes unconscious, can still hear the conversations around him. After praying, this man, who is physically dead, was suddenly filled with tears as if he heard the message and was truly repenting. The same thing happened with my grandpa just a month ago before this. My uncle told me that it was indeed true for Christians that a dying person can still hear. Googling the question what is the last sense a dying person will lose will give us 246,000,000 results in 0.29 seconds, and most of those results will give us articles telling that it is hearing that will go last, with the assumption of course that it is a natural death. Most of these articles are testimonies of people working in hospice section, or even people who experience sudden unconsciousness. Yet, there is still no concrete evidence if it is hearing that will go last in a dying person. Most of these articles offer theories based on experiences and limited scientific data. For us to fully understand, we need not die of course, we just need to grasp the knowledge of dying and hearing. Hearing, as science defines it, is the process by which the ears pick up all the vibrations in air pressure and encodes this information into an electrical signal that the brain can understand. Dying, on the other hand, as the Mosbys Medical, Nursing & Allied Health Dictionary defines it, is the cessation of life as indicated by the fading activity of the brain and central nervous system, cardiovascular system, and respiratory system as observed and declared by the physician. When dying, the heart of a patient will slowly stop its beat, causing the flow of blood through the body unstable. The remaining blood supply is reserved for the brain and heart. This

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will cause the reducing functionality of almost all the organs of the body. The eyesight goes when the eyelids lose its strength to stay open; the skin, which is also much dependent in the flow of blood, will lose its ability to feel; the sense of smell and taste probably stay. The ears, meanwhile, can still pick up all the sounds in the surrounding, and because it is not much dependent on the blood flow, it is still capable of hearing. It needs only a little amount of blood and this amount is decently supplied since the ears are near to the brain. Besides, all of the senses involve chemical reactions, except for hearing which is fully mechanical. All of this would apply, of course, to a person who does not suffer organ disability. Furthermore, studies showed that the ears are independent of other organs and need just a little brain activity. Theres no problem of picking up the sounds since it requires no physical strength to be operated; whats crucial is the process of interpreting these sounds- a function of the brain. But researches showed that within six to ten minutes after the heart stops, the brain is still functioning; which means that the electrical impulses sent by the ears can still be read and interpreted by the brain. Science has also used the so-called Electroencephalogram (EEG) to gain understanding of the process of dying. EEG is a graphic record of brain waves representing electrical activity in the brain. For a dying patient, EEG shows that the electrical signals encoded by the ears are still present. Despite the advancements in Science and Technology, the art of dying is still the one that is not much explored. For now, it remains mysterious. But at least we have these bits of hypotheses. For the spiritual people, they may be sure that a dying person can still hear and that the dead would somehow go to another realm. And this may help them in assuring that their loved ones are in heaven, as they believed. For Science, it requires further studies. But

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regardless of spirituality and science, the thing is how you would want your loved ones die; what are the last words that you want them to hear from you. All of us would die. It is a hard statement but the laws of probability state that there is a hundred percent chance that a person would die. It is the last stage of life; a once in a lifetime experience which almost no one would want to experience as soon as possible. No one knows how it feels to die, but fear is certainly the dominant feeling when someone tries to think or talk about it. But the word what if is invented. We are not sure of what to happen and what if we are in a situation where a beloved is dying. At least now we have the idea that they can still hear us. We are not sure, but again what if they can really hear us. For a moment of no regrets, just express your love to the dying. Tell him how he is loved and let every good thing you want him to hear be heard. This may be an intelligent thing to do, but it may ask us the question Why not express the love for everybody in every moment?

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Sources: Clima, Terrell. Death and Dying. TLC Nursing. TLC Nursing Continuing Education Units,n.d. http://www.tlcnursingceus.com. 24 September 2012 Harris, Tom. How Hearing Works. How Stuff Works. Discovery Company, n.d. http://science.howstuffworks.com. 24 September 2012 Its Easy to Believe That Hearing is the Last sense to Go. The Spokesman-Review.n.p. 6 September 2011. http://www.spokesman.com. 24 September 2012 Neila22. Why is hearing the last sense a person loses while dying?.Wiki Answers. Answers Corporation, 15 April 2011. http://wiki.answers.com. 24 September 2012 Scott, Jaclin Meade. Can the Dying Hear?. Bella Online. Minerva WebWorks LLC. n.d. http://www.bellaonline.com. 24 September 2012