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You are one smart cookie Stacey, that's what it is. 😊

The nurse will be here twice a week going forward. On her first two visits, she never mentioned the eye drops. She explained the box contained, morphine, Adivan, oral and rectal anti nausea meds.

I bet she didn't want to say that in front of Mom, who was already weepy and softly crying. (She feels better finally)

I meant to ask her, but the first week has been a head spinning flurry of activity. Thank you Stace.... you're awesome *as usual*👍🌹
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Pepsee read the bottle, but they may be ATROPINE 1%. There's should be clear instructions, but to my knowledge (and Hospice experience), it is use to dry up respiratory secretions in the throat, that some people get at the end of life, also known as "death rattle".  If I am correct,  and it is ATROPINE eye drops, they will actually be used under the tongue,  also known as sublingualy. 

Thankfully, we never had to use them, but I would definitely recommend that you speak with your Hospice Nurse, and review All of the medications, and their usages, should you ever need to use them.
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What are the eye drops for in the hospice comfort box?
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Do not use hospice or those morphine drugs!! My grandmother just passed away last week. She was 91, had no cancer, her kidneys were failing. Rushed her to the hospital one night. Next day doctor was pressuring my grandmother to decide whether she wanted to be revived if anything was to happen. My grandmother was so confused because she didn't feel like she was ready to go. She was talking and waiting to feel better and got home. For some reason that same day the family was convinced to put her on hospice. Biggest mistake we made. At home she was prescribed morphine, tramadol, and another drug, which were given to her every hour. Sometimes doubling the doses. All this medicine had her asleep, not able to move nor talk, barely open her eyes. She was definitely not in a comfort zone, how hospice makes it seem. She was only with us for 3 days since we took her home from the hospital. I asked myself the same question about morphine and hospice. Did that rush my grandmothers death ? I believe it did. My advice is about hospice and those drugs. They literally rushed my grandmothers death! And I really wish there could be something i could do to stop the doctors from prescribing these drugs to elderly patients who don't need them!!!
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Having a difficult time dealing with watching dad losing weight and on the morphine regiment all of a sudden. No purée as of two days ago. Questioning myself as to whether I am causing him more pain by not feeding him and squirting water in his mouth through a syringe a little at a time. Having difficulty writing this right now. The only thing that I can try to use to make myself feel better about this whole thing is that he is 94 and we just found out a month ago that he has 4 cancer masses. Colon, lung, spine, and brain. Both mom and dad are hospice; at home with me. I don’t think I am stressing too much. Had mom for about a year with dementia; then a month ago I brought my dad home from a 10 day hospital stay at which time I found out he had cancer. I don’t know what I am asking except, I don’t like watching and helping a “comfort death”.
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My dad is at the end of the trail. When he is not on Ativan, he is certainly more clear headed and responsive. But when we are not at his bedside, he attempts to get out of his bed when it is blatantly obvious, he has no ability to do so. I wan't him to survive until my sister arrives in two days. But I acknowledge that my desires are selfish. What is best for him is most important. He doesn't look like he's enjoying the end of the ride. He doesn't appear to be in pain either when we are there. But he is still breathing with and without Ativan. But he looks like he enjoys it more off Ativan when we are there. The responsibility is on us to be there when he is not on Ativan. He is not the only patient they have to serve. They've done great otherwise.
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I know that any Staff who care for patients are stretched and overworked and wonderful my Mum was a Nurse I have heard that a legal high dose of medication can kill a weak ill person and as there are cut backs and staff shortages this could have happend to my Dad before he had Cancer he was 6feet4 strapping man who had mostly served in the Army Born in 1935 onced he had Cancer he shrunk very thin therefor weak it torments my thoughts and feeling every day that the thought of him being snubed out quikly as if he was a Burden ?
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Hi I have always wondered how my Dad coulfd be sitting up in bed writting a list of shopping one day then after being tranfered to a Hospice he died the next day with a shocked expresstion on his face yes he had Stomach Cancer but his passing was very sudden and one of the young members of staff told me when I had asked why he had a shocked look on his face she replied he kept shouting to staff I know what you are doing to me when he was given medication that day and then he died at the time I was so overwelmed with greif at losing my lovely natured Dad that it was years later I keep thinking that the Staff gave him too high a dose of medication? and now im hearing that hospitals are now being investigated for the very same thing? I wouldnt have wanted my Dad to suffer in pain though I did think he died too soon the day he got to Hospice?
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I feel they are rushing a friends death. They were admitted to hospice and could talk, smile and reason and by morning they were non responsive. Hospice decided to start them on haldol for agitation but the fact is they did not have any. I’m not sure how many doses but when they gave them a dose and they were out of it I asked Why would you give them something if they are already knocked out? The response was it’s given on a schedule. I asked them to no longer administer the drug and they switched to morphine. I believe haldol sent them on a downward spiral. Now going on day 4 with a continuous morphine drip. I don’t understand why the rush to use these drugs. The patient never used any pain meds in the hospital prior to a hospice house.
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Yes, PamB. Basic.
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Is the hospice nurse supposed to record all medications that he/she gives to a patient?
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A horrifying YES. I am still so traumatized I can barely speak of it. Jayne
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Imehere, I think you are right, the reaching out and talking to no-one can definitely be a sign of the meds, they definitely snow cause some confusion, but that's OK, at least the meds keeps her pain level in check, and bone pain can be terrible, I know, as we had our Mom on Hospice for 5 months, and her bone pain was awful!

I believe that the Nurses are wanting to to medicate your Mom around the clock, so the meds don't wear of, and she then has break-through pain, and I tend to agree with them. 5mg of Morphine every 4-6 hours should not be enough to make her "out of it", but only enough to keep some of the pain at bay. At some point, it may be necessary to give her even more pain meds, but that will become evident as time goes by.

Having gone through the Hospice experience with 2 of our parents, my Mom, and more recently my FIL, whom my husband and I did the Hospice care in our home, for the final 9 weeks of his life, and he passed here with us, last September.

Towards his final 2 weeks, our Hospice Dr gave us orders to give him more and more pain meds until they were as needed, along with meds for agitation too, as he had a lung (cancer) mass, and metastases to his rib bones, very painful!

I really would not worry about her being sleepy or asleep, it definitely beats her being in pain, and it allows you to have some rest from the exhausting work that it takes to care for someone 24/7, and who is in so much pain.

Remember, some Cancers can spread really fast, the patient often Is so tired, so leave them to rest. There is So much to do in caring for someone on Hospice. The meal preparations and serving, making sure they are drinking enough, bathing, laundry, entertaining, visitors, medical staff visits, CHARTING!!!, my Least favorite thing to do!

Do what you can to rest as often as possible, it's exhaustive work! If you can, enlist others to help, like grocery shopping, patient care and entertaining, tidying your home, dishes, laundry, some meal prep, but do be careful to have your Mom's meds put away in a safe place, even the emergency med pack that Hospice gives you, as you don't want those high powered meds to get into the wrong hands, especially children! You've got to rest wherever you can!
Near the end, you might need someone to stay with you some nights, if your Mom is anything like mine, who needed things during the night time.

I hope that things go go smoothly for you, but too often, unexpected things do come up, that throw you for a loop, bowel problems were a big issue for both of our parents, and you need to be flexible and calm. Remember, your Mom is now nearing the end of her life, and You need to keep a cool head. More then anything, she doesn't want you to be frazzled, so You take care!
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Thank you for responding. Im sorry im very off and ramble fast. She was diagnosed with bladder cancer first. Then a few months back they said it had spread to vagina. Well it hasnt it was just how it was on ct scan. Next has tumor mostly removed and they said in ct scan could see lung cancer but needed another image was scheduled for july 11. Then the nephrostomy tube became clogged. Granted she had a back ache and some times not great at walking. She was drinking ensure and eating small amounts several times a day and was drinking. Some days not a great amount but not less than i on some days. Anyhow, we went to er for the. Tube. They do a ct scan and say cancer in now in bones. Spine and hip specifically. They admitted her, never touched tube for an entire 24+ hours. I kept asking everyone because i was afraid the kidney would stop. It was clogged. Nothing happened the next day i said ok well you're keeping her drugged but she hasn't slept in 3 days so lets get her home. Next morning dr. Says she dying maybe not today but she wont make her follow up. Im like shocked because before going there and less than 2 weeks before there was nothing on that mid section ct scan that we didn't know. Anyway skip to them rushing to get hospice which i appreciate and the nurses have been great and informative. But they have suggested i keep giving her meds even if not fully awake. I sort of disagree with this because she has pain when it hits and not all the time. They are only giving her oxy 5mg. But she is with it when she wakes and was awake this am for a few hrs. Before saying her back hurt. The nurse said the signs of talking to noone and grabbing at things that arent there are only after her meds and have decreased since we've been home. I was worried that they read those signs as death when it may have been meds.
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Imhere, I'm so sorry that you're going through this and don't have a clear idea of what's happening.

Is mom on hospice? Can you call the 24 hour hospice line and talk to a nurse about your concerns?

What kind of cancer does mom have? Did they tell you what stage, and where it's spread to?

Are the meds for pain? Cancer pain, especially the cancer has spread to the bones, is excruciating. Morphine will help control the pain.

You're not killing your mom, the dosages are not high enough for that.  The morphine is for pain relief and to ease breathing difficulties.
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I need advice on hospice. Back story. Aug 2017 my mom had major emergency surgery for perforated ulcer. She survived but they found cancer. Anyhow 2 weeks ago she went in to have 70%of one of the tumors removed. Found it had spread. They put in nephrostomy tube in. A week after she had slowed her eating and drinking. The tube then got clogged went to er they found more cancer in different spots. They admitted her didnt fix tube for 24 hours then the next day. Now she hadnt slept for 3days and meds i thought was loopy. They said she was dying and wont last a month. Nobody says what happened why so fast? I get her home yesterday she slept and woke up coherent. Yes sleeping alot. But noone said what is stopping that makes her dying.so stopping fluids except when she wakes. And they said give her more and more meds. Am i helping her die? She was eating a little but always drinking liite or enough before going in. Im sorry if this is muddled but i dont know how this happened.
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Yes. Hospice does hasten death. I watched it happen to my mother in law. She was given Ativan and morphine rapid-fire. When I asked questions I was brushed off. Afterwards I realized she had been euthanized. A friend who works as an occupational therapist told me hospice nurses are called The Angels of Death.
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Katie that was a horrible way for your sister to die and as a retired hospice nurse I have been in attendance several times when it happens.
There really was nothing that could have been done to stop the bleeding but she could have been sedated if she and the family wished.
When admitted to hospice the caregivers are instructed to call the hospice nurse first and not take the patient to the ER.
That being said the RN may decide that the patient should go to the hospital for many reasons but not for life saving measures.
I agree with your description of the negligence of the staff assigned to your sister, there is no excuse for that kind of behavior and you should write a letter of complaint to the Board of Directors of that hospice. In the hospice i worked for that would have been a fireing situation. No notice no nothing just get your stuff and get out.
Don't know if they were overworked, underfunded or short staffed or anything else.

As a side note hospice nurses earn roughly 1/2 the salary of their counterparts. not that matters to you.

Be at peace you have lost your dear sister so do your grieving and remember anger is part of the grieving process
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Hi Katie. My apologies. And welcome to the site.

The last 10 or more posters who opposed Hospice were one time posters and never posted again and had no history which made them look suspiciously fake I suspected your post was another fake post hence my rude reply.
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By the way, I'm not as stupid as your post makes me sound!
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umm I found this site through facebook?? I joined the page there. Thanks for the welcome by the way! I have not had a chance to set up my profile. I will do that tonight when I get a chance and will NOT post anything else until you can properly inspect me :-( Sorry, I didn't know the rules. I was relieved to be able to share my story with people who may understand. I will answer questions AFTER the profile is done. SO sorry. I hope you have a great day. Be blessed.
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Katie-
I looked up your profile and could not find any information about you on this site.

You didn't say if you took care of anyone.

You only have 3 answers which are hidden.

Just wondering how you suddenly found and appeared on this particular tread.

Regarding your sister, why didn't you take her to ER right away? If someone was bleeding to death, you were supposed to take that person to ER or call 911, not beg and wait a day for non emergency service to give you permission to act. Why would you need Hospice's permission?
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My sister basically bled to death at HOME!!!!! She was throwing up blood all night, Hospice came the next day and gave her a suppository ??????????? and left her!! They never came back to check on her, even after begging and pleading from her daughter for some help with symptom control. My sister was freaking and scared to death! It took until that night to get Hospice to allow her to be taken by ambulance (even though they would not help) She was comatose by that time and had lost 80% of her blood volume! She died the next morning in a nasty HOSPITAL emergency room bed!!!! NOT in the inpatient hospice comfortable bed surrounded by loving family that she was promised!!! I am LIVID, HURT, and will NOT shut up about this!!! She deserved better!! They have not once called my 19 year old niece who was her main caregiver, who had to watch her Mom basically bleed to death in their home!!! and she died 2 weeks ago!!! As a matter of fact, they have even ignored calls to come pick up their equipment!! They did not drug her to death, but definitely did not give her any relief at all of these horrible symptoms and did not help make it any easier on my niece or get her in to inpatient hospice as the Hospice director promised my sister that day in the hospital in my presence!! This was NOT a peaceful death by far!! Up until this, all my experiences with Hospice had been wonderful. I assured my sister this was the right choice. Now I also live with that regret, along with tons of others concerning her death. I will NEVER recommend Hospice to another soul :-(
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miamyualove, so sorry for the passing of your uncle.

The same amount of morphine that was used is the same that one gets when you have major surgery. I have had several major surgeries and each time had morphine for pain.

The amount of morphine given is 5mg to 15mg.... in order for morphine to kill someone the amount would need to 200mg. Since morphine is a highly regulated drug that is closely watched, no way would any doctor or nurse give a patient 200 mg.
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my Family Had something similar happen with my Uncle he did it make it to respite care. He was in the hospital What family all around him he was talking and eating We were sitting there laughing and talking about old times.the doctors Came in and asked us to leave the room and when we did they gave him a shot in his IV and all of a sudden they said they had to put him on life support Right away. I asked The nurse and the doctor what did you just give him At 1st they would not tell me so I requested for his charts that's when the doctor said a small dose of morphine and we all know morphine can kill you specially when you're weak.
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Rob,  I'm so very sorry for your loss!

I'm still not understanding; was your dad under Hospice care? Are you saying that Hospice CAUSED his decline?

I think many of us are confused by your posts.
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@polarbear....my Daddy died. I shared my experience upon researching if others had experienced the same. I don't feel like I am obligated to continue to post. I'm not sure why you even think I or others should. Likely they are, like I, grieving their loss as well as dealing with the guilt of being part of the final decisions. My story is real. My experience and perception is real. I'm not sure you get it. I am appalled at your accusation.
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In my experience with hospice they never managed my late mother's pain . She had small cell lung cancer that spread to her spine so bone cancer as well. Morphine can speed up the dying especially given in increasing amounts over a number of days . In my late mother's case the week before she passed on I had some family members who came home for their good byes and all they did is cause her pain they were all smokers and the smell of that on their clothing when they would hug her would cause her a great deal of pain and discomfort so I had to give more morphine to manager her pain. This same family members had there own agenda in mind and completely didn't respect me as my late mother's care giver. My hospice team wasn't much help at that time. Three days after the week long visit my mother was admitted into hospice house and two days later she was dead. It was between the stress of the week before and the extreme pain she was in and she suffered more cause of her allgery to morphine so that faithful last night of her life . well in a nut shell I can't be in a room without sound.
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In my mind they do cause the last week my late mother was alive she was having constant break through pain. She had small cell lung cancer and bone cancer. So I had to administer a lot more quick acting morphine which she was also very algeric too. They also at least my local hospice were poor at communicated with my sister and I she was the power of attorney and I was the round the clock care giver further more they didn't do much to help with my family situation I had with visitors that were overwhelming my late mother the week before she died and I was asking for their help.
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Blueridge, if they were close to dying then hospice didn’t speed up the process. They were called in at the end and that’s not uncommon. My MIL has been on hospice for 3 months exactly. She’s on morphine and lorezepham. And it’s by choice. Hospice doesn’t just come in drug people. Medication is given with consent and the patient and or their family can say now. My MIL is sleeping more now that she’s on morphine but the alternative to that is suffering. Do you want your loved one to be comfortable and pass in peace or do you want them to suffer until the end? Hospice encouraged morphine because MIL was suffering. They knew her caregivers views and they never pressed the issue when her oxygen was increased to 16liters and she was having more episodes where her oxygen levels dropped considerably and she struggled to breath, they did make a stronger suggestion to start morphine. After seeing her suffer, starving for air, I am glad she’s on morphine even if it means she’s not as alert. It is extremely difficult to see a loved one go through this and I understand why some think there is a correlation between death and the time hospice comes in but death happens when it happens. And in many cases, the alternative to the person being drugged up is suffering—either starving for oxygen or suffering severe pain. Hospice uses medication to control symptoms, they don’t administer them for no reason. So your loved one was probably suffering from pain or lack of oxygen.
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