My grandma was placed in hospice yesterday, we ended dialysis after 7 years. She has missed 2 sessions of dialysis today and her edema is showing, in her hands mostly. She has tears in her eyes and I suppose it's due to the fluid in her body but she also seems to be in pain and I have given her morphine. I am so overwhelmed and don't know where to turn. The nurse said he would be back in 15 days. I don't think my grandma will make it that far and I honestly don't want to see her in such bad condition any longer.
My mom and sister are here but they always turn to me for reassurance.
Have any of you dealt with such? How did you cope? Was it traumatizing to see your love one gasp for air? What to do in a moment of panic?
This is very scary experience for me and I am filled with grief over my grandma.
I called hospice earlier and the nice lady told me she would have the nurse answer my question and she would call me back. She did about 45 minutes later.
Your grandma should ideally not be in any stress or discomfort, so if she is, they(hospice)needs to fix it ASAP.
Your grandma may also need to put on oxygen to help her breathing as well. I can tell you from personal experience, you HAVE to stay on top of the hospice staff to make sure that your loved one is getting the care they need and deserve. I wish you and your grandma the very best.
You wouldn't be given adequate amounts of the EOL drugs to last 15 days--so that's one bad sign. Call and get someone out, pronto.
Perhaps the nurse said "15 days or sooner if you need me". They do have several patients and are run kind of ragged at times.
If you get nowhere with the agency, call another one.
You can call them any time of day or night, so do it if you're worried or scared. You are not expected to do "the end" alone. They're there for you.
Did hospice talk to you about what to expect? Morphine is probably going to be the only thing that will keep her comfortable. I'm sure it is overwhelming and very sad. I imagine hospice is available to talk to you about how to handle the end-of-life things that will be coming your way? If not, I'd call. Or google it.
Just remember that it's her time to go and that dialysis. has been keeping her alive. I'm sure her quality of life couldn't have been good. It's time. Let her go in peace and with as little pain as possible.