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My 93 year old mom lives with us and uses a walker to move from room to room most of the time, sometimes she forgets. She was diagnosed with Alzheimer's four months ago and has A-fib. She had a TIA 18 months ago and is on a pureed diet due to esophagus issues. She takes meds for the pain and for anxiety. She also has macular degeneration in both eyes and can no longer read. Her paranoia and irritability are increasing. She has not been able to handle her affairs for about two years. We have palliative care once a week for her that helps her in the shower. Her fatigue level has increased to the point that she sleeps 18+ hours a day on and off. She fell five weeks ago and fractured one, possibly two ribs. The pain has not decreased much during that time. Her appetite has diminished during that time and she lost 7 pounds in just the last week. She has gone from 135 pounds to 113 in the last year. We have hospice coming to do an evaluation. I would appreciate any insight as far as life expectancy and personal experiences.

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My mom was in a great deal of pain. During a 2 month period of time she had MRI and X-rays ... the vertebrae in her back were crushing...eventually it would paralyze her. The pain was terrible. She was losing a lot of weight. There wasn't anything left to do for her. She was sleeping about 18 hours a day.  Mom went from 140 lbs to 107 during those 2 months.

I had to insist her doctor refer her to hospice.

The evaluation was done by a nurse and doctor with hospice. They accepted her. She was put on some serious levels of painkillers. Finally she was comfortable...she was then sleeping about 22 hours a day...but...pain free. After 3 weeks on hospice she passed. It was a blessing...and their pain medications was a blessing.
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Helping mom, I think you are going in the right direction. We have to think about quality of life issues for elders at this point. Non of us in our right minds would want to continue the fight with all this suffering and medical issues.

I know this is difficult. Good luck to you.
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When my dad could no longer swallow, and the pain from several crushed vertebrae became more painful--mother called in Hospice. They evaluated him, his abilities and inabilities and asked HIM what he wanted. He was done. Hospice stepped in providing a hospital bed and supplies. He went into that bed and didn't get out again. I have forgotten how long he was actually "in hospice" less than 2 months. Once a person can longer swallow--it's really only a matter of days. Dad did not want any heroic efforts, so he didn't have IV's or feeding tubes.

His passing was humane and peaceful.
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The palliative shower helper also cared for her grandmother until she passed and said she believed my mom probably wouldn't make it until March. That was the first medical person to voice their opinion and it helps with the coping and planning.
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My mom was accepted into Hospice care yesterday based on her heart function diminishing and her steady weight decline. They are probably going to be discontinuing her eliquis and digoxin. We believe this to be a good idea since comfort is now the goal. Has anyone had experiences with this?
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