Hospice

[hatrack]

35. My Dad, 18 months ago

1. Is home hospice care an option? W/O knowledge of his household and medical circumstances, it's hard to say. That said, the in-home service we got was just first-rate, and Dad didn't end up in some hospital room for the last two weeks of his life. He his had family, and his cat, and his books, and I think that really made things easier for him.

2. Get to know your hospice nurses - as was posted above, there may be some that you (or more importantly, your Dad) don't really get along with. If he does have staff preferences, be sure to let the hospice agency know.

3. Know the drug side effects - Morphine may induce strange and vivid dreams, or visual/auditory hallucinations with some patients. Be aware that if his behavior seems to be getting really weird, there's a good chance it's the drug talking.

4. Make sure that paperwork and medical/legal issues are settled to match your father's wishes. If there's a DNR (assuming he doesn't want extraordinary means taken), make sure it's signed and that hospice staff know about it. This wasn't an issue for us, luckily, but my brother's seen plenty of knock-down drag-outs between family members when patient preferences were not clear during the end stages, and where there was no DNR/Advance Directive.

I really hope you get through this OK. It was really hard, and I still miss him every day, but the fact that I was able to be there, and able to help out when he really needed it the most meant a great deal to me.