Here is what happened to my mother. Stage 4 cancer which became unmanageable after awhile, non-repsponsive to more aggressive treatment. Hospice had been discussed, and now offered as an option. Which she agreed to. In hospice about three weeks and her labs were so stable, that it was suggested that she not be in hospice. Ok, she opts out. Few months later and the labs/imaging were worse, ok-back in hospice. The hospice workers were wonderful, caring, compassionate and always available. Mom died in my house, peacefully and as she wanted. Hospice did not speed up this process, if anything, they made dying gracefully, with dignity, a true gift to those who are caregivers.
Hospice is truly a godsend, IMHO. We used it with daddy and he was so much more comfortable in his last days--making it emotionally easier on all of us, and of course, on him.
Hospice DOES NOT provide enough of any drugs at one time to kill someone. They are carefully and closely monitored. Dad DID want to be 'put to sleep' so to speak, but that was not possible under Hospice. We kept him comfortable and out of pain and his body responded by slowly shutting down (which it was doing anyway).
It is not uncommon for people to feel that they have been coerced into Hospice when they see their LO die sooner that they are ready--thinking, "if only we'd held back on Hospice, they'd still be with us'--but this is selfish thinking. Why make a dying person live one minute longer than necessary because YOU feel sad and responsible.
Euthanasia is illegal in this country--to a degree. My FIL was actively dying in the hospital. He was slowly drowning in his full of fluid lungs. The dr met us at the hospital and asked if we would allow him to give dad something to 'ease his breathing'. I was the only one who knew what that actually meant. when DH and his sister said "yes, please" the dr. turned his back to us and took from his jacket pocket a syringe with a HUGE dose of morphine in it---He very slowly injected that into dad's IV, then left saying "I don't think he will last much longer". 15 minutes later, he passed.
The fact a DR did the injection was the tip off. And when I later explained to my DH what had happened, he was angry, at first and then grateful b/c his dad was suffering so severely.
That, to me, was the act of a VERY compassionate man who had cared for my very sick FIL for 15 years.
Keep in mind that death doesn't occur on your time table but rather on that of the person who's dying -- and often not even then. Just because you aren't ready to accept it doesn't mean death will be put off until you are.
Hospice allows nature to take its course with less battling against death and more treasuring the time we have.
The hospice organization should have grief support to help you process your grief. Use their resources.
You don't give us much information to go on, but to answer your question, hospice does not hasten death, although I believe those patients that end up in a hospice facility/home prior to their death typically do die a little quicker than those who remain at home or in a nursing facility, as at the actual hospice home they are allowed to give stronger medications, than they are allowed to in an in home setting, and that can perhaps "hasten" the dying process. But you must remember that your loved one would have died regardless, whether it was days or weeks. I'm sorry for your loss, and I pray that you can find some peace in the fact that your loved one is no longer suffering and is now at peace.
You don't give us much information to go on, but to answer your question, hospice does not hasten death, although I believe those patients that end up in a hospice facility/home prior to their death typically do die a little quicker than those who remain at home or in a nursing facility, as at the actual hospice home they are allowed to give stronger medications, than they allowed to in an in home setting, and that can perhaps "hasten" the dying process. But you must remember that your loved one would have died regardless, whether it was days or weeks. I'm sorry for your loss, and I pray that you can find some peace in the fact that your loved one is no longer suffering and is now at peace.
I doubt it. A person has to qualify for hospice. And then are basically put on comfort care (pain meds like morphine, etc.) to make sure the person is not suffering as they are dying.
We get these questions here all the time. If hospice 'hastened death' then they would be shut down because 'euthanasia' is illegal in the USA. Medicare only pays them during the time they actually provide care for patients! If they 'killed' their patients, they would not get paid by Medicare and would have been out of business long ago. I don't know what you mean by 'coerce'. Hospice accepts a patient when they feel s/he has 6 months or less to live, and is therefore already at the end of their life. Comfort drugs are administered to keep the patient comfortable and out of pain, not to speed up their demise. Remember that the patient is already dying, not because of hospice, but because the disease process or the age process has a hold of them BEFORE hospice sets foot in the door.
It's also good to keep in mind that family members/POAs can fire hospice at any time during their care process for a loved one if they feel that something is going wrong with the care that's being given. The loved one can be taken to the hospital at any time and hospice's services can be terminated. That's always an option and something that should have been covered during the intake process when the patient was taken on with the hospice company. When hospice was caring for my elderly father, I was unhappy with his original nurse & asked that she be taken off of his case & someone else be assigned; they were happy to oblige.
Some people feel certain that hospice 'killed' their loved one while others know for a fact that hospice helped their loved one transition with no pain or suffering, as was going to happen anyway; hospice just eased their way.
Hospice DOES NOT provide enough of any drugs at one time to kill someone. They are carefully and closely monitored. Dad DID want to be 'put to sleep' so to speak, but that was not possible under Hospice. We kept him comfortable and out of pain and his body responded by slowly shutting down (which it was doing anyway).
It is not uncommon for people to feel that they have been coerced into Hospice when they see their LO die sooner that they are ready--thinking, "if only we'd held back on Hospice, they'd still be with us'--but this is selfish thinking. Why make a dying person live one minute longer than necessary because YOU feel sad and responsible.
Euthanasia is illegal in this country--to a degree. My FIL was actively dying in the hospital. He was slowly drowning in his full of fluid lungs. The dr met us at the hospital and asked if we would allow him to give dad something to 'ease his breathing'. I was the only one who knew what that actually meant. when DH and his sister said "yes, please" the dr. turned his back to us and took from his jacket pocket a syringe with a HUGE dose of morphine in it---He very slowly injected that into dad's IV, then left saying "I don't think he will last much longer". 15 minutes later, he passed.
The fact a DR did the injection was the tip off. And when I later explained to my DH what had happened, he was angry, at first and then grateful b/c his dad was suffering so severely.
That, to me, was the act of a VERY compassionate man who had cared for my very sick FIL for 15 years.
Please get some help with your grief.
Hospice allows nature to take its course with less battling against death and more treasuring the time we have.
The hospice organization should have grief support to help you process your grief. Use their resources.
I'm sorry for your loss, and I pray that you can find some peace in the fact that your loved one is no longer suffering and is now at peace.
I'm sorry for your loss, and I pray that you can find some peace in the fact that your loved one is no longer suffering and is now at peace.
It's also good to keep in mind that family members/POAs can fire hospice at any time during their care process for a loved one if they feel that something is going wrong with the care that's being given. The loved one can be taken to the hospital at any time and hospice's services can be terminated. That's always an option and something that should have been covered during the intake process when the patient was taken on with the hospice company. When hospice was caring for my elderly father, I was unhappy with his original nurse & asked that she be taken off of his case & someone else be assigned; they were happy to oblige.
Some people feel certain that hospice 'killed' their loved one while others know for a fact that hospice helped their loved one transition with no pain or suffering, as was going to happen anyway; hospice just eased their way.