Hospice vs big interventions - when the end draws near
MIL's health has been getting frailer and took a turn for the worse on the weekend - she's 90. She is in the hospital now, and when we talked to the doctor today and the cardiologist, neither had good news. She has lost her ability to swallow, and it is either a feeding tube/heart surgery/figure out swallowing issue/rehab or Hospice. She was pretty lucid this morning and was leaning toward the latter - she has gotten a lot weaker and is in reality probably not up for all of the fixes needed and rehab. I lean toward Hospice as well, but since she is able to make a choice, we'll support what she wants. We told the girls tonight, and are still processing the news ourselves.
Those of you who have been here - lay it on me, please. Any advice in any area is welcome - bucket lists, insurance headaches, putting things in order, helping kids cope - anything that might be useful. We'd ideally like to have her get Hospice in her unit at the retirement home. We are feeling overwhelmed and unsure of what the next few weeks/months will bring. Hearing from those who have been there would be most appreciated. Books that are useful in our situation would also be good to know about. Thank you.
Hospice vs big interventions - when the end draws near
I’m so sorry your family is going through this. FIL had home hospice at the end. (He did go to the hospice center for a few days at one point, but he really wanted to die at home.). Hospice brought a hospital bed, a walker, and the nurse would help with pain meds. Everyone was amazingly nice and supportive. They have lots of resources for families.
ETA: we told our kids when we knew FIL was terminal. He ended up living about two mo longer than expected and ds1 (who was around 6 at the time) kept asking when FIL was going to die. Dd was 9 and understood better (sad but didn’t want to talk about it). FIL didn’t want the kids to see him at the end so he has said his good byes during his last burst of energy a couple of weeks before he passed.