It may seem to be just that but when a person is dying they don’t need to eat. Even when a person dies at home they aren’t interested in food. My mom died in hospice. A couple of weeks before she went to hospice she had no interest in food. In hospice, fluids were provided intravenously along with pain meds and undoubtedly sedatives to e…
It may seem to be just that but when a person is dying they don’t need to eat. Even when a person dies at home they aren’t interested in food. My mom died in hospice. A couple of weeks before she went to hospice she had no interest in food. In hospice, fluids were provided intravenously along with pain meds and undoubtedly sedatives to ease the anxiety. My BIL died at home using hospice and without the pain meds it would have been horrible to deal with for my SIL. My uncle is at home now with hospice and while he’s still able to eat he has no appetite. He’s been supplied with pain meds when he needs them but is not looking forward to “needing” them. While we all will suffer to a lesser or greater degree, it seems only humane to ease the pain and passage of our loved ones. I’m thankful I didn’t have to see my mom writhing in pain.
Interesting, because my SIL told my MIL on the way to Hospice that this was it, there was no coming out again. My MIL was super thin, but her main problem was from a stroke she had years before and she could not really speak coherently. It took her two weeks to die and they said she was not allowed food or drink, although they did swipe a moist sponge on a stick through her mouth once in a while. My hubby and sisters sat there and sang and held her hand and thought it was all fine. I had to leave, I could not witness the long slow (and what must have been angonizing internally) death march. I feel to this day it was planned and sanctioned societal murder. Horrifying.
Oh dear. That’s not a pleasant thought. I know of people who have come home from hospice so it doesn’t have to be the end. It might have to do with the state or country’s laws regarding hospice care. One of my friends was in hospice with what she thought was a life-threatening illness - it was not cancer. On Christmas Eve one year, she was not happy with what they were doing for her and/or giving her. She was told before she went to hospice, they would be able to give her some meds she could not get anywhere else. So, she checked herself out and went to an ER. There was some grumbling from the hospital. Once you’re in hospice, technically, you are signed off of other insurance plans. In any case, an alert ER physician heard her conversation with the admitting nurse, agreed to treat her and she is still living today.
I had an aunt who had similar symptoms to your MIL- 3 little strokes in a row which left her handicapped with a speech impediment. She died at home, thankfully. But the scene you describe is something I would not have wanted to witness either. If she was still able to eat, then I agree that it was more like euthanasia.
In a discussion on Catholic radio sometime ago, it was said that after ‘entering hospice’, if the patient or their family insisted on stopping the process, they would not be accepted by Hospice again.
I’m glad we’re talking about this. I want to know more.
I think if I had anyone in my family that was nearing hospice treatment, I’d be doing some research. There must be policies written in the law on a state by state basis. I can’t remember if denying hospice in the future once you sign out was an issue for my friend here in Florida. It seems to me that even in the dying process one would have some bodily autonomy. We have Living Wills that dictate what treatment we will accept or not accept. Then again, it may depend upon what sort of treatment hospice will afford you. Will it be caring for the dying in a humane and pain free way or for someone like my friend who needs certain treatment not given in any other institution. (That always seemed a bit odd to me.) And, I don’t think I’ve heard about food trollies rolling down the halIs either. I believe hospice in Florida is paid for by Medicare. I never received a bill. Hmm. Here is me wearing my conspiracy shoes. Maybe hospice is refused payment by the state if the patient doesn’t die there.
When the patient stops being able to swallow, they do not force food or fluid orally. If a Hospice patient begins to improve, they are discharged from the Hospice program because there are a limited number of days allowed by Medicare. They are able to restart the program if the patient needs it later.
Your experience sounds like mine. I get not forcing food. I do not like the totally doped up state I saw. Basically the hospital staff didn’t have to do anything other than administer the morphine regularly. The catheter bag never came close to filling up and thus needing attention during the several days I was there. My brother was never moved.
Dying is a pretty important process of transitioning. I want awareness and I am willing to endure some pain as a trade off.
Amen, it's an internal struggle of my own coming to terms with the entirety of the process and the systems we've instituted along with it; watching a loved one decline and suffer and being unable to help is a difficult reality.
So right. I just read an account of a British caregiver who was distraught over how the elderly she was caring for were given an inordinate amount of midozolam (sedative) which in some opinions actually slows the heart rate. This was during the scamdemic making it even more egregious. IDK, if anything will ever be resolved in that situation. However, If we have loved ones enduring these endings, I think it incumbent on us to be vigilant. Not to mention taking care to set plans in place for ourselves.
It may seem to be just that but when a person is dying they don’t need to eat. Even when a person dies at home they aren’t interested in food. My mom died in hospice. A couple of weeks before she went to hospice she had no interest in food. In hospice, fluids were provided intravenously along with pain meds and undoubtedly sedatives to ease the anxiety. My BIL died at home using hospice and without the pain meds it would have been horrible to deal with for my SIL. My uncle is at home now with hospice and while he’s still able to eat he has no appetite. He’s been supplied with pain meds when he needs them but is not looking forward to “needing” them. While we all will suffer to a lesser or greater degree, it seems only humane to ease the pain and passage of our loved ones. I’m thankful I didn’t have to see my mom writhing in pain.
Interesting, because my SIL told my MIL on the way to Hospice that this was it, there was no coming out again. My MIL was super thin, but her main problem was from a stroke she had years before and she could not really speak coherently. It took her two weeks to die and they said she was not allowed food or drink, although they did swipe a moist sponge on a stick through her mouth once in a while. My hubby and sisters sat there and sang and held her hand and thought it was all fine. I had to leave, I could not witness the long slow (and what must have been angonizing internally) death march. I feel to this day it was planned and sanctioned societal murder. Horrifying.
Oh dear. That’s not a pleasant thought. I know of people who have come home from hospice so it doesn’t have to be the end. It might have to do with the state or country’s laws regarding hospice care. One of my friends was in hospice with what she thought was a life-threatening illness - it was not cancer. On Christmas Eve one year, she was not happy with what they were doing for her and/or giving her. She was told before she went to hospice, they would be able to give her some meds she could not get anywhere else. So, she checked herself out and went to an ER. There was some grumbling from the hospital. Once you’re in hospice, technically, you are signed off of other insurance plans. In any case, an alert ER physician heard her conversation with the admitting nurse, agreed to treat her and she is still living today.
I had an aunt who had similar symptoms to your MIL- 3 little strokes in a row which left her handicapped with a speech impediment. She died at home, thankfully. But the scene you describe is something I would not have wanted to witness either. If she was still able to eat, then I agree that it was more like euthanasia.
In a discussion on Catholic radio sometime ago, it was said that after ‘entering hospice’, if the patient or their family insisted on stopping the process, they would not be accepted by Hospice again.
I’m glad we’re talking about this. I want to know more.
I think if I had anyone in my family that was nearing hospice treatment, I’d be doing some research. There must be policies written in the law on a state by state basis. I can’t remember if denying hospice in the future once you sign out was an issue for my friend here in Florida. It seems to me that even in the dying process one would have some bodily autonomy. We have Living Wills that dictate what treatment we will accept or not accept. Then again, it may depend upon what sort of treatment hospice will afford you. Will it be caring for the dying in a humane and pain free way or for someone like my friend who needs certain treatment not given in any other institution. (That always seemed a bit odd to me.) And, I don’t think I’ve heard about food trollies rolling down the halIs either. I believe hospice in Florida is paid for by Medicare. I never received a bill. Hmm. Here is me wearing my conspiracy shoes. Maybe hospice is refused payment by the state if the patient doesn’t die there.
When the patient stops being able to swallow, they do not force food or fluid orally. If a Hospice patient begins to improve, they are discharged from the Hospice program because there are a limited number of days allowed by Medicare. They are able to restart the program if the patient needs it later.
Your experience sounds like mine. I get not forcing food. I do not like the totally doped up state I saw. Basically the hospital staff didn’t have to do anything other than administer the morphine regularly. The catheter bag never came close to filling up and thus needing attention during the several days I was there. My brother was never moved.
Dying is a pretty important process of transitioning. I want awareness and I am willing to endure some pain as a trade off.
Amen, it's an internal struggle of my own coming to terms with the entirety of the process and the systems we've instituted along with it; watching a loved one decline and suffer and being unable to help is a difficult reality.
So right. I just read an account of a British caregiver who was distraught over how the elderly she was caring for were given an inordinate amount of midozolam (sedative) which in some opinions actually slows the heart rate. This was during the scamdemic making it even more egregious. IDK, if anything will ever be resolved in that situation. However, If we have loved ones enduring these endings, I think it incumbent on us to be vigilant. Not to mention taking care to set plans in place for ourselves.