! {for later reading}
blah if I ever get to the point where I need hospice I’ll just have a few drinks with family and go out and pick my own ice floe. Of course that won’t happen until I get really old like 30.
Very sad story. It is horrible enough to lose a parent but couple that with the believed “guilt” of not doing the right thing... a hard pill to swallow (no pun). Just a thought
“A death panel is one doctor. The American public does not understand this. You can go into an emergency room for an acute condition and if you have a chronic diagnosis that already exists, that doctor will look at you and, if you’re elderly or you don’t have the right insurance, they’ll say: ‘Well, it’s just not worth treating the patient.’”
I can’t believe this happened.
“My mom had bone cancer in both of her upper legs. She was in a wheel chair so it was hard for her to travel. She was also on bottled oxygen”
“So in a time span of 5-6 days, our mom went from being an independent, strong willed woman, to a child like infant, and then finally just gone.”
So how do these two statements mesh with one another?
I recently experienced a Hospice situation with a family member.
Yes, they do speed up the process however this is a side-effect of keeping the patient comfortable.
Heavy pain medications slow breathing and the dying person generally stops eating because they sleep all the time. Then, death occurs.
If you don’t want Hospice care don’t put your loved one in Hospice however be prepared for them to be in pain.
Hospice showed up at my father’s last illness. The nurse essentially told me how to overdose him so he would die quickly. I didnt understand until it was over. I hear stories like this often within my practice from grieving family members.
Never would I permit hospice to provide family care.
Hospice showed up at my father’s last illness. The nurse essentially told me how to overdose him so he would die quickly. I didnt understand until it was over. I hear stories like this often within my practice from grieving family members.
Never would I permit hospice to provide family care.
Hospice was nothing but professional and sent by Angels! They were called only when the body’s death sequence had begun. I’d want them for mine when it comes.....
Our experience with hospice was just the opposite. My MIL was in the final stages of Parkinson’s. Her doctor suggested hospice as a means to accessing additional services that she didn’t qualify for under other plans. She lived in an assisted living facility. Hospice came in every day and helped feed her, bathe her, did massages, light physical therapy, provided spiritual comfort, and showed the staff how to best handle her in her fragile condition. They worked with us as we interacted with them and the staff. She did great, didn’t show any decline and actually was doing better with having help with eating for over five months. Then, with the inevitable end of a horrible disease, they helped with that, too. They kept her pain free and comfortable, but she was in no way overdosed. She slept a lot, but that’s normal for a Parkinson’s patient, she had been doing that for months before hospice arrived on the scene. When she was awake, she was conscious and present, even after her DNR went into effect. She passed away a few days later. Over the course of those five-six months, we spent a lot of time with the hospice team as we worked with them to care for my MIL. They were incredible.
Been there, done this as medical power of attorney for someone (not a relative) - 2 years nursing home, 4 months hospice (died in June this year). My advice, which was learned the hard way - being thrown into the lion’s den knowing nothing: knowledge is power. Educate yourself on EVERYTHING: medical conditions(s), meds, care plan, rules/regs, process of dying, what hospice is, DNRs, DNHs, what your loved one truly wants, etc. Next, take your knowledge and ask questions - if it doesn’t sound, look or feel right, it probably isn’t. Find an ombudsman (federally mandated) and get their help in educating yourself as to what you should expect & then hold the facility to it. Do NOT be intimidated - if you’ve done your homework, you won’t be. I was told that my person would have died probably two years earlier but for my intervention & care. Her last two years were as good as I could make them for her & she was a blessing in my life. There are a lot of elderly folks warehoused in nursing homes who have no one to oversee their care, make sure they are not dehumanized, and to be with them when they die. It is a true tragedy and what still eats at me is that while I kept this from happening in one person’s life, there are many others that I cannot help.