Just_here_to_educate

I learned from a grief counselor that grieving is truly a process and you know how long it takes? As long as it takes. If you don't deal with the feelings you're having, ie: aren't able to fully experience them and be supported through them, there will be issues there for far longer than if you'd been "allowed" to grieve for your friend. The "friends" you lost weren't real friends. I'm sorry you had to go through that. What isn't allowed out naturally comes out in other ways, and those other ways are often not good.

What do you do to make bodies presentable when there has been significant trauma to one's face? For instance, if someone suffered a gunshot wound and the family wanted an open casket? In what types of cases have you had to draw the line and tell the family "I'm sorry, we just won't be able to fix this?" What about drownings, etc? Decomp cases? How much can you cosmetically fix? Thanks for your AMA :)

Thank you for your candid answer. I never thought about what might happen if the face was unrecognizable and therefore having the arm and hand exposed. I imagine that would give tremendous comfort.