Haunted Healthcare
Haunted Healthcare: Medical Professionals and Patients Share Their Encounters with the Paranormal (Book 1)
By Richard Estep
The Sexton’s musings (spoilers are likely):
Each chapter represents a single case/experience. My plan is to talk about each one very briefly and then give some closing thoughts on the overall collection of accounts. Probably not a long post here as to get the full feels of these experiences you really need to read the book for yourself. Reading the book so that you can form your own opinions and conclusions is really my goal with all this so off we go!
The Girl with the Glowing Red Eyes
We start off with a familiar face from the Fort Mifflin investigation. Robbin who was the most sensitive member of the team there and as it turns out she is also a nurse. This first account is from her about an elderly dementia patient that was having a very very frightening experience with what was thought to be of an inhuman nature.
Death in the Basement
I only have one thing to say about this one…if the family members were so “distraught” about their mother’s imminent death to the point where they were considered a violence risk by medical and social service staff, why the hell were they keeping her in the basement of her own house?! There was something very wrong going in in that house. This was another of Robbin’s experiences when she was a home hospice nurse.
Major Trauma
This particular incident was not one that was experienced by Robbin but she was one of the nurses there when others were having the experience. This occurred in the wake of a fatal DUI incident. Honestly I think the doctor was incredibly calm considering the facts.
Help Me Breath
This is a sad one. Estep takes the time to explain what COPD is. I personally have never been close to anyone with this condition but the description of it sounds horrible. Another reason not to develop a cigarette smoking habit. This account comes from a nurse named Anney.
The Tunnels
Okay so let’s talk about hospital administrators and why they are crooked, greedy power hungry assholes. I don’t have a very high opinion of them as you can tell. Mostly because it’s not about care but about money and while I understand that money is necessary for the hospitals to function you don’t have to make it more important than the patients and their care givers. Figure it out douchenozzles! Oh and death is eminent…it’s a fact of life. Ignoring the hereafter is a fools errand. Did these trigger happy administrators ever stop to think that dying people would find peace in knowing that there is something after this and that talking about it may be therapeutic? Why don’t you stick that in your one track tiny minds and suck on it! Fucking administrators. There are a couple of different accounts in this chapter. Some first hand and some second hand. All told by Anney.
A Last Goodbye
Another experience had by Anney while working in the ICU. That’s a tough gig because the chances of survival in this area are touch and go. I feel like hospice is the only area that beats ICU in death rates. Which is completely understandable considering the nature of this area. This is a touching story really. Not sure he went about getting her attention the right way but hey it worked.
Graveyard Nightmares
Were these two patients under the influence of something inhuman or are they simply the victims of a horrible disease that ravages the brain and changes them? I will say that those of weak mind (to no fault of their own) are easy targets, vulnerable and while I do not believe possession to be very common who’s to say that inhuman or evil entities would not take advantage of this situation? In fact seems exactly like something they would do to spread their pain and chaos.
The Seventh Floor
There are a couple of accounts in this chapter. One is very a touching and hopeful account. I think that it would be comforting to experience something like this. It makes dying seem like just another thing, not as traumatizing and fear inducing as we all might think. As for the seventh floor…well there’s just mischief going on there.
It’s Only Natural to be Afraid
I think the title of this one pretty much says it all. It’s somewhat unfortunate that fear of death is natural but it’s completely understandable. The last two paragraphs of this chapter gives me hope. I have always had an interest in the places that come after this one but, as many do, fear the unknown, fear that this physical existence is it. But I often question the point of it all then. I haven’t had the pleasure of really experiencing anything or doing any kind of research into the hereafter. I just don’t even know where to start. I hope that I get to see my kids again (my “kids” are my dogs, who, during my life have made up a good portion of my loved ones). I miss those that have passed so very much.
A Sixth Sense?
A sad and interesting account. I think that the last discussion on whether the knowing when someone is going to die for a medical profession is related to some sixth sense or their unconscious ability to recognize the medical signs is a tossup. Perhaps it’s a little bit of both. Working in such an emotionally charged environment would lend itself to tingling the spidey senses. Hell I’m pretty sure that there are accounts where even those that do not see it day in and day out have knowledge or feelings regarding another’s imminent passing.
The Departing Soul
Once more we come back to the laws of energy. The electrical impulses of the human body are no exception to these laws. I has to go somewhere, become something as it cannot be destroyed so why not go somewhere nice, why not join the universal energy that is nature, bond with all those energies that have passed before? Even science can’t deny that this energy has to go somewhere, be or become something. It’s the law after all science!
Fatal Mistakes
An interesting account told by Rick who is a cleaner of medical facilities and a sensitive at that. He comes across a spirit that is a real piece of work. One that can’t manage to keep his hands to himself nor control his anger.
The Man in the Body Bag
There are several accounts in this chapter, most of them told by Rick. I think that seeing yourself in a body bag would be pretty traumatic really. These places need to take both the living and the dead into consideration.
The Lady in White
We are all familiar with “the woman in white”. There are many of them spread from coast to coast but this one happens to be a nurse in uniform. Unfortunately thanks to the administration at the hospital she happens to keep vigil at, she will never be at peace. Doomed to walk the halls forever simply because of those greedy, stupid, closed minded, OVERPAID piece of crap that “run” medical facilities. If you happen to be a hospital administrator and have an open mind about these things I would love to hear from you. If you are the stereotypical one don’t bother. There is no excuse for you!
Escaping Our Demons
I feel like the patient in this account could have used some intervention of another kind. While I am not religious I do believe that intervention by someone who is can be helpful in these kinds of situations. I believe that he was plagued by something inhuman. Something that was working on breaking him down. It can take years for this to occur. While I agree that mental illness is not something that we are well versed in as we are still as confused as ever about the brain in general let alone how the emotional and spiritual parts of humanity work. It’s hard to tell if these kinds of symptoms are coming from the inside or the outside. I will say that IF the person feels that “exorcism” or prayer will help them then I see no reason why doing those things cannot be part of their healing and therapy. We are so quick to dope up someone with medications that we don’t even know are effective because we have so little understanding of the area that is being treated. Yes in many cases medication can be a blessing but in those where they are not alternatives need to be explored. Seems to me that keeping an open mind is the way to go here. This is a VERY complex situation and needs to be treated as such. I myself have an academic background in the field of psychology and find the paranormal to be nothing more than an extension of that field. After all high emotion is the catalyst to many a haunting after all.
A Call for Help
Really you just have to read this one for yourselves. The account comes from a nurse who had the pleasure of meeting our author at a conference and told him her stories.
A Prankster in the Morgue
This one brings about a little smirk to my lips. I guess the good attitude and the love of existence followed this lady into her next adventure. That’s a lovely thought.
The Bravest Yeti
You’re gonna cry. That’s all I’m gonna say.
Closing thoughts:
Thinking about our imminent departure from this life is one of uncomfortable unknowns. Are all of these experiences simply the wishful thinking of people who emotionally need some way of dealing with the pain of dealing with death regularly or is it because they are there for the departure of others that they gain snip-its of insight into what comes after? A question that I continue to ask myself is that if these few years that we live our lives is all there is then what is the point? What is this thing we call life, we call existence? Take into consideration that it’s not just human life that we are talking about here. There are so many more forms of life out there other than human life. Many of those lives are a lot shorter than human life and some a lot longer. Look at trees for instance. Food for thought I suppose.
Best advice…read through the acknowledgements to the picture at the end (kindle edition) you’re gonna cry again.
