Can I recommend that you let the doctor decide between palliative care and hospice. They are pretty spot on.
I would call non-profit organizations and ask them for a referral to a good geriatrician. They might even come do the needs assessment and get the doctors orders.
I am sorry that your family is going through this. May she find good care and have a peaceful passing.
You contact her PCP. Ask him/her if he can put in an order for Pallitive care. The provider needs a Doctors order to evaluate. If they feel Mom could use the service, they will then admit, her.
What kind of doctors treat her now? E.g., neuro, ortho, internal medicine, etc.
Have any of them raised the PC evaluation issue? If not, may I ask what prompted you to think of it? I assume she's showing signs of physical deterioration given the description of her conditions in your profile.
I think you can just ask one (or more) doctor to evaluate her for PC. A doctor who's been treating her consistently would more qualified to evaluate than someone who only sees her periodically.
Highlight the specific concerns you have when you ask for the evaluation, and raise the issue of how they'll affect her in the short and long term.
From you profile, I would think that the heart disease is probably the most likely to progress more rapidly than the dementias. But I'm not a medical person, and I also believe that the other co-existing factors could negatively impact her other conditions.
I would also ASAP address the UTI. If her behavior has changed since that was D'X'ed, are there new symptoms that make you feel PC is appropriate now?
Thanks for the reply! She has geriatric doctor, (who is horrible by the way) She is completely incontinent, can only say one word or two, cant walk/stand without someone holding her up, has no taste or smell, hence no appetite. Sleeps over 16 - 18 hours a day. Has UTI's constantly, they treat with antibiotics but comes back a few months later, if not weeks later. Teeth are falling out now too, things are just breaking down and I am sure that is the brain shutting down different areas so body starts to fail. Has a caretaker full days during the week, but we need a weekend person now since my dad has no clue how to take care of her anymore and he is losing his mind too (due to side affect of drug he took for a neurological condition he had). We were thinking hospice, but researched a little and saw the Palliative and thought that may be more appropriate.
I would call non-profit organizations and ask them for a referral to a good geriatrician. They might even come do the needs assessment and get the doctors orders.
I am sorry that your family is going through this. May she find good care and have a peaceful passing.
Have any of them raised the PC evaluation issue? If not, may I ask what prompted you to think of it? I assume she's showing signs of physical deterioration given the description of her conditions in your profile.
I think you can just ask one (or more) doctor to evaluate her for PC. A doctor who's been treating her consistently would more qualified to evaluate than someone who only sees her periodically.
Highlight the specific concerns you have when you ask for the evaluation, and raise the issue of how they'll affect her in the short and long term.
From you profile, I would think that the heart disease is probably the most likely to progress more rapidly than the dementias. But I'm not a medical person, and I also believe that the other co-existing factors could negatively impact her other conditions.
I would also ASAP address the UTI. If her behavior has changed since that was D'X'ed, are there new symptoms that make you feel PC is appropriate now?