Bruce showed no external sign of being dead in the apartment. He looked like he was sleeping. No facial swelling was noticed or any seizures were observed, nor were their any unusual facial grimaces seen by Dr. Chu. Just a deep coma with some dilation of the pupils and the breathing was shallow. At this point, he was still alive to a degree.
When Chu entered the bedroom, he said Bruce was well-dressed and was sleeping on his side. It was reported that Bruce went to lay down and was sleeping on his back in Betty's bed. Than how did he get on his side before Chu entered?
Betty and Chow pulled him off the bed and tried to wake him up. They laid him back down, but on his side before the doctor came in. There would be no other answer for the change of sleeping position than what I listed. It's logical. There's no way Bruce could. Dr. Chu couldn't get a pulse and figured Lee was dead. But, at the inquest, Chu said he was not sure if Bruce was dead or alive at the time. What?
Dr. Langford's card was found in one of Bruce's pant pockets. The problem with Bruce was he was in denial about the hashish and wouldn't listen to them. Dr. Wu said he knew Bruce would come back and he was right. He and Langford could tell Bruce was in denial when they spoke to him at the hospital in May.
I know in the last few months, his cortisol reserves were lower. THC in cannabis will reduce the amount of cortisol that is produced by the adrenal glands. He went into adrenal failure on July 20th, too. So, that's another negative effect it had on his body. That's why he was given a cortisone shot on both dates, with July 20th being too late, sadly. There wasn't enough of it in the adrenal glands to stimulate the heart. Also, the sugar levels in the pancreas were lower than normal on July 20th, where they were at normal on May 10th. It may have been as simple as hypoglycemia.
No heavy metals such as mercury or lead were found in the bloodstream upon autopsy. These are the top two choices to poison someone. None were found in the body. No organic drugs such as cocaine or heroin were found.
Alluding to the morgue photos, there was no broken neck that was observed by Dr. Lycette. I've seen the two shots that were taken by a reporter. You see a fold on each side of the neck (which was heavily swelled from edema). He was placed on the autopsy table and they put a rest under the head. You can see the weight loss in the neck along with the swelling.
His hair got drenched from the typhoon when they took him out of the apartment. That is what you see in the B&W photos. The left side of the temple does show broken blood vessels, that is a symptom of a seizure. Also present is swelling that goes up the left brow ridge. It looks like his eyebrows were still wet from the storm. That's why you can't see the left one as well. The swelling could have easily affected it, too. Either or both would be the answer. The embalming process restores the natural appearance.
Brain edema is bilateral. Both sides are affected, not just the one. Of course, if there was more pressure on the left side of the brain, this could be a result. When he was side-sleeping, if he was on his left side, the pressure from the edema may have broken the vessels on the left temple right there in the bed. By the way, the major arteries and veins in his brain had no breaks or blockages. There was no sign of hardening of the arteries. Just water retention from the edema.
I do know some blood vessels in the brain were broken when the edema went fatal. There are no external signs of broken blood vessels under the skin on the right temple in contrast to the left side.
The eyes and mouth are closed very tight, which is a part of the seizure he went through. The nose was plugged with cotton, but the cerebral spinal fluid was still seeping out. The sinuses or ears is how the yellow fluid will evacute from the brain. His arms were crossed over his chest, with the hands and fingers clinched. The feet and toes, too.
To put in mildly, Bruce waited a little too long to return to see his doctors.
Rick
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