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A month ago my father was given a few days/possibly two weeks to live. We began hospice at home and thankfully my father is still here with us today. My question really is about other people's experiences with end of life of a loved one. There have been so many days where I thought we were at the "end" only for my father to rally back. Granted he is still very frail, and we do of course know the inevitable is coming, but i get confused by this roller coaster. I'm certainly not "hoping" things move towards his passing quicker but it's so difficult to get to that place of acceptance and prepare for it and then start the process over again. Has anyone experienced these late "rally" moments? Do they last? Today was a very good day for him under the circumstances. He had not had any food at all for 6 days prior today and managed to get a few morsels down today. And he seemed so much more "lively" I spirit. But the truth is he is down to 128lbs from what should be 175lbs, not eating and on more medications than I can count. Sorry for the rambling post/question. I'm just very confused by all this and trying my best to keep him (and my mom) content and comfortable.

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All of the hospice situations I have been in, we were told that they would be given whatever it took to keep them comfortable, even therapy. Some people are on hospice a long time. And some days are better than others. It's believed they will die within 6 months but that doesn't always happen. Enjoy the good days.
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thank you for your responses. He is on morphine for pain, Ativan and Trazadone for anxiety/sleep and Haldol and a rectal suppository for nausea and vomiting. He has Leukemia and after 5 months of very intensive chemo and endless transfusions they determined it was not working and offered him hospice at home or hospice at the hospital.
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I had the exact same question about why your dad is on so many meds since he's on hospice.

I would imagine that the hospice gave you materials on what to expect at the end of life. Not everyone on hospice experiences these things and if the person does experience these things it doesn't always happen in the order in which it's written in the materials.

Each person, each situation is different and hospice tries to prepare the family by giving them reading materials so the family isn't caught off guard by something. But the end of life is a very personal and intimate thing. Because a symptom is listed in the material doesn't mean that your loved one will experience it.

The information hospice leaves with the family isn't written in stone. It's more of a guideline of what may happen.
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What is you father's life-limiting illness? I'm also confused why he's on meds?
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Why so many meds? Usually on hospice all meds are stopped except for pain control and mood medications like Ativan for anxiety.
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