HUSBAND WAS FAILING RAPIDLY A LITTLE BIT EACH DAY. HOSPICE WOULD COME HERE AND SUPPLY MEDS AND COMFORT ME. I DID FIND HIM DEAD ONE MORNING AND THE FIRST THING I DID WAS CALL HOSPICE.THEY WERE THERE,IN A VERY SHORT TIME. THEN CALLED MY NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOR. HOSPICE KNEW EXACTLY HOW TO HANDLE THE SITUATION EVEN DOWN TO THE FUNERAL HOME TO CALL. IF IT WASN'T FOR HOSPICE AND MY NEIGHBOR, I CAN'T IMAGINE WHAT I WOULD HAVE DONE. HOSPICE STEPPEED RIGHT IN AND HANDLES EVERYTHING. NOW THEY ARE GIVING ME GRIEF COUNCELING. GET HOSPICE ON YOUR SIDE!
Caregiving is tough. Have my 90 year old mom and my 103 aunt and I fear ur question daily. Also fear how it will affect my mom when my aunt...her last living sibling out of 11...dies.
Thank you again everybody for the advice. I’m going to definitely check with her doctor, but I doubt she’d qualify for hospice. The skin pallor might also be linked to anemia, because of other symptoms such as leg cramps and fatigue. Dr. is coming to do blood work early next week, so I’ll have more answers soon. Think I’ll review her advance directive with him as well, because there are different levels.
If she’s not on hospice and she passed at home, you have to call 911. Paramedics will come out and so will law enforcement. I would get her on hospice if you think the end is near, that way they can provide support and you won’t have to make a 911 call. You’d just call hospice and then a mortuary.
Does your Mom have Advance Directives? Does she want to have CPR done if she is found on the floor? Many 911 operators and ambulances/rescue squads are required by law to perform CPR unless an Advance Directive form indicating DNR (Do Not Resituate) is with the person. You need to check the Advance Directive laws of your state.
Why has the doctor not recommend Hospice? How long ago? Maybe you can tell the doctor your concerns and ask again about Hospice.
Thanks for the advice. She’s not on Hospice and her Dr. hasn’t recommended it, so I don’t think she’s near the end. But she has been sleeping more (12+ hrs a night), and some mornings her pallor seems more gray, less than her usual rosy complexion.
Wally is right. You give no information, but if you are concerned Mom is approaching the end, you need to contact her doctor and have her set up with Hospice Care.
On the other hand, if Mom lives alone and you are afraid she will fall and hurt herself or worse, you need to contact Adult Protective Services and have them send someone out.
Why has the doctor not recommend Hospice? How long ago? Maybe you can tell the doctor your concerns and ask again about Hospice.
On the other hand, if Mom lives alone and you are afraid she will fall and hurt herself or worse, you need to contact Adult Protective Services and have them send someone out.
More information would be helpful.
Police, ambulance, family, friends or neighbours.
There is no need for you to handle it alone.
When I found my dad. The first thing I did was run to the local surgery and get someone to come. They helped with who else to call.
You are not alone.
Hugs