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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Need a dx from doctor of 6 months or less expected life span.[/quote]

That’s not accurate. I currently provide home health services to a 95 year old woman with congestive heart failure who is on hospice and has been for well over six months. She could die tomorrow, or she could live another year or two.

In the six years I’ve been doing this work, I’ve cared for a number of elderly and younger terminal patients on hospice - they were all on a DNR status, but did not have definitive life expectancy of six months or less.

Maybe you are thinking of the criteria for physician assisted suicide? That requires, in some places where it is legal, a definitive six month terminal diagnosis. But of course the funny thing is, doctors don’t know this with any certainty - terminally ill people sometimes die much sooner, and sometimes last much longer. I cared for one elderly man who was on hospice of over two years before a respiratory infection finally did him in.

OP you should contact hospice services in your area and have the conversation. If you parent wishes to be DNR status and has progressive dementia and other issues, they likely would qualify. Hospice services are wonderful in many instances, they provide so much support to the patient and the family. [/quote]

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