Reply to When is right time for hospice?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]It's definitely something you can ask your parents physician. Hospice is not just withdrawing medication; there is more to it than that. I would start the conversation with your parents physician sooner than later though - it's possible that your parent is not yet a candidate, and they would be able to explain it to you. Or, it may be an option and they haven't raised it with you yet but would be happy to help you navigate it.

Hospice is also not just about care for the final 6 months of life. My FIL has been receiving some form of hospice for as long as I've known him (8ish years?) because he has a terminal degenerative disease. He signed a DNR, and stopped treatments that are intended to extend his life, but still takes medication that help keep his symptoms controlled to attempt to make his last years as comfortable as possible. I do not know if dementia qualifies for longer term hospice, but it's worth asking. In my FILs case, a nurse comes to my ILs home 1x/week for a quick exam/check vitals, and another nurse comes to assist with bathing him 1-2x/week. It's not full-time care so they still have to hire alot of caregivers, but its helpful because hospice manages his prescriptions so that he doesn't need to see his regular doctor as often (leaving the home is now impossible as his condition has left him bedbound at this point).[/quote]

This is great detail. To me, hospice means DNR/stopping extending life treatments but ALSO any other medications or  oxygen. It's confusing like someone said above that it's not linear.[/quote]

My FIL is on many medications. There are some that hospice won’t provide, but he’s on many meds. He has Parkinson’s, so he’s on meds that help control his dyskinesia (involuntary movements), one that helps him urinate, several that help with mood (his mood is very disregulated often and meds sometimes help).

My grandpa on the other hand only received hospice for a few weeks to a month. They also had him on some meds, but slowly discontinued them as his condition worsened. He had heart and kidney failure though, and was almost 99 years old, and at some point the meds were doing more harm than good. [/quote]

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