X-Message-Number: 29364
From: "marta sandberg" <>
Subject: My journey to cryonics
Date: Thu, 29 Mar 2007 14:35:16 +0800

The subject of why people finally sign on cryonics and what it takes for 
them to become convinced has been brought up in a roundabout manner last 
week on the CryoNet.

I think it is an important question.  If we are trying to learn how to 
interest more people, it is probably a good idea to look at what worked for 
us.

I'll start as it might be easier for me.  It was an emotional journey for 
me, but as I have been interviewed quite a few times I have learnt how to 
express myself.

As it will be a longish article I will break it up into four postings.  
Anyone who is not interested in the subject is advised to just scroll down 
to the end of the postings.

It started early; I think I have always known about cryonics - it was part 
of my childhood. It fell into the same category as Zen Buddhism or hairless 
Mexican dogs. Something weird and wonderful that people did to make the 
world such a strange and interesting place to live in. But it didn't have 
any relevance to my life. It just made my world a curious place to discover.

On the other hand, I was never hostile to cryonics. A lot of people who 
first hear about cryonics feel disturbed by it, even repelled by it. 
Emotional neutrality was a start on my long road to cryonics.

It wasn't until I was in my early thirties that the first glimmer of serious 
interest was sparked. I read an article in ANALOG SCIENCE FICTION/SCIENCE 
FACT (yes, I'm sorry but I am one of those science fiction freaks). It was 
about the Dora Kent case and it made the whole endeavor seem real. Something 
that actually happened to normal people. I was intrigued and I decided to 
keep the article for the addresses printed at the end of it. One day I might 
follow it up.

But I moved, the article was lost, and that was that. . .

My next brush with cryonics was a lot more dramatic.

It was Saturday, 23 September 1989. My husband, Helmer, woke up in the 
morning feeling under the weather. As the day progressed he got worse. In 
the end, we went to see the doctor who diagnosed an ulcer. I spent the next 
couple of hours phoning my friends to put off a dinner party we had planned. 
It was still a normal day. Neither of us suspected that we had anything 
serious to worry about.

Helmer kept on getting worse and worse. Finally, we called the doctor again 
and he - bless his soul - was one of the few doctors who still did house 
calls. The doctor changed his diagnosis to a bleeding ulcer and called an 
ambulance. At the hospital, they decided to keep him under observation until 
morning when they would run more tests. The diagnosis was still a bleeding 
ulcer.

They were halfway right. He certainly was bleeding into the abdominal 
cavity, but it wasn't from an ulcer. He had an abdominal arterial aneurysm. 
In simple terms, it means that there was a weakness on the biggest artery in 
your whole body. It was leaking and was close to rupturing.

During the night it burst.

_________________________________________________________________
Advertisement: 10 Students. 1 Winner. You Decide 


http://a.ninemsn.com.au/b.aspx?URL=http%3A%2F%2Fletsshop%2Ecom%2FCompetitions%2FLetsNetwork%2Ftabid%2F550%2FDefault%2Easpx&_t=754951090&_r=letsshop&_m=EXT

Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=29364