Unequivocally, yes. That’s the short answer. However, the question and answer, which those who have not experienced this dilemma would say is a “no-brainer,” is much more complex to those who stare this harsh reality in the face.
Here’s my story:
My struggle began as we finally were able to get my suffering father into hospice care. I’d fought doctors for quite awhile, with the help of the nurses in the nursing home who knew him well, to get him better pain relief. The attitude of the doctor, who viewed his chart, was that he slept a lot, so he wasn’t in that much pain.
His body language told a different story. He’d half raise his head from the bed and slam his closed fist into his hand over and over, struggling to get out words that made no sense. He couldn’t articulate his pain, but he was trying to beat it to death. Dad was a gentle man, and this behavior was desperate. The nurses knew it, and so did we, his family. After much arguing, the head nurse broke through the barrier with the doctor in charge, and we signed the papers for hospice care.