Only good experiences with hospice. Everyone there tried to make the process as easy as possible for all involved.
Once the decision is made, and they begin their work, a huge burden is lifted from your shoulders. You'll know you are doing the best for dad. The following time is not easy, but you'll learn a lot about how to keep the patient comfortable. You'll begin to accept the inevitable.
Choose a nonprofit hospice, one affiliated with a hospital. With at-home hospice, which is the majority of cases, the team teaches you to be the caregiver (provide pain meds, clean, change, etc). They also support you in what lies ahead, the changes in health and behavior you can expect. Volunteers like myself will keep the patient company, keep YOU company at the same time in some cases, be a shoulder and an ear, and give you some space to do errands or some self care. They have wonderful CNAs, chaplains, a weekly visit from a nurse, and 24/7 support. A lot of our patients experience an uptick in quality of life and are a lot happier on hospice.
I've heard horror stories of for-profit hospice but have no direct experience with them. The comment we hear the most is, "I wish we'd done this sooner."
Good luck to you. It's a tender, difficult, beautiful time. I wish you the best.
So true. I have seen to many wait for the last moment to bring in hospice and it has been so very sad to see needless suffering because people do not want to face death, theirs or others.
God Bless You for the work you do, it makes a huge difference to those you help.
Currently hospice has gone from being a Mission for the end of life care to being much beloved of hedge funds and whittled down to a bottle of morphine, two baths a week from aids, an RN once a week and a call from clergy and Social Workers who don't always know a lot.
There are some that are better than others but it is important to do interviewing to ask exactly what is provided, to answer your questions, and to listen to yours and your loved one's expectations for end-of-life-care. It is important to bridge the gap between expectations and the reality they have to offer.
I wish you great luck. As a retired RN no one was happier than me to see Hospice and end of life care come to this country. And no one is more disappointed given what it has become. However, it is what it is, and it is the best we have for end of life care. I am sorry for your anticipated grief, and I hope you'll update us.
Once the decision is made, and they begin their work, a huge burden is lifted from your shoulders. You'll know you are doing the best for dad. The following time is not easy, but you'll learn a lot about how to keep the patient comfortable. You'll begin to accept the inevitable.
It's a time to accept death as a part of life.
I've heard horror stories of for-profit hospice but have no direct experience with them. The comment we hear the most is, "I wish we'd done this sooner."
Good luck to you. It's a tender, difficult, beautiful time. I wish you the best.
God Bless You for the work you do, it makes a huge difference to those you help.
There are some that are better than others but it is important to do interviewing to ask exactly what is provided, to answer your questions, and to listen to yours and your loved one's expectations for end-of-life-care. It is important to bridge the gap between expectations and the reality they have to offer.
I wish you great luck. As a retired RN no one was happier than me to see Hospice and end of life care come to this country. And no one is more disappointed given what it has become. However, it is what it is, and it is the best we have for end of life care. I am sorry for your anticipated grief, and I hope you'll update us.