Through mouth or IV.
I have a family member who is on morphine - for last 5 days. Its a torture to watch her everyday like this aslep with nothing except meds going in her. Anyone else experienced this? How long before they passed? She hadn't eaten from even 4/5 days before that. |
Is hospice involved? They can make a better guess than me. Also, how old is this relative? |
She is not in pain. I'm so sorry. |
Make sure the nurse knows that mom wouldn't want to be in this state and that you will be so relieved if it's over (if all of this is true)
|
Is this code? Because I want to convey this code when I am in this state. Planning ahead. Which more people should do. |
Why is she getting meds on hospice. My dad lasted 5 days with no water. It was excruciating. |
So as not to die in pain. Death is coming today or tomorrow. The entire point is to let people go painlessly. My grandpa and my FIL went like this. I‘m sorry, OP. |
Yes. I've talked to nurses who say some nurses will dial up the meds quicker. |
It’s anyone’s guess. Could be a week or longer. |
OP, I learned long ago that dying by dehydration can be peaceful. Of course comfort care should be practiced - so swabbing the lips with gauze (my late dad had sponge lollipops) and…prescribed morphine.
From Wikipedia Studies have shown that for terminally ill patients who choose to die, deaths by terminal dehydration are generally peaceful, and not associated with suffering, when supplemented with adequate pain medication. |
No food or water is the humane way to let someone go when they are near the end. Hydration and nutrition prolong and contribute to suffering. |
I'm so sorry you're all going through this. May she pass peacefully soon. When my grandfather was on hospice we were instructed to use the morphine drops if he showed any sign of discomfort. This helped him die comfortably. If there are circulation changes (my understanding is that their feet will look different but I don't know how) or blood pressure changes that might be a sign death is imminent. Hugs to you. |
My dad became semi conscious after body ejected bodily fluids (with Hospice in attendance and had already been deteriorating) on a Tuesday, fully unconscious late on Wednesday with no more bodily fluids, never regained consciousness and died the following Monday. He did not seem to be in pain after he became fully unconscious. |
If you are administering the Hospice supplied drugs at home, you need to keep very careful records of what is given and when. At the end, you are supposed to call Hospice first and they come to reconcile what was provided, what is left, to what was charted. All this must match up. |
A few loved ones were on hospice.
They lasted 4-5 days without water. However, even tiny amounts of water prolong their suffering. |