Anyone familiar with hospice care?

[hippymamato3]

I am wondering if it's typical for daily meds to continue being given during hospice care, or if that up to the individual/family? 

[Jean in Newcastle]

Hospice just means that the person might die within the next six months.  Daily meds are given, especially if withholding them will lead to pain or discomfort.  One of the main purposes of hospice is to help the person pass without pain or discomfort (but not to aide them in passing sooner). 

[prairiewindmomma]

5 minutes ago, hippymamato3 said:

I am wondering if it's typical for daily meds to continue being given during hospice care, or if that up to the individual/family? 

Depends on the meds and the situation.

Hospice just means that the focus is on quality of life. If meds increase or maintain the quality of life, they will be continued. Meds are generally only discontinued if they are causing harm in the larger scheme of things or if there is no benefit to continuing them and the person would like to take fewer meds. 

[Jean in Newcastle]

My mom is on hospice right now.  She still takes her meds.  She even takes meds for an infection - to let the infection run rampant would cause her to suffer.  Some meds - like cancer meds - can have such harsh side effects that stopping them is a blessing.  Other meds improve quality of life even if it's for a few months.

[Pam in CT]

(( Jean )) . Holding your mom and your family in the light.

 

My father went into hospice after he chose to stop aggressive treatment of originally-bladder cancer that had spread to his bones.  As pp have said, he continued on with other medications that mitigated infection risk / kept his respiratory system functioning. Over time -- in his case it was only weeks -- pain management became the medication focus.

I really can't express how great a blessing the hospice team was for him, my mother, and the rest of us.  He had a lousy last year but a really wonderful last few days.

[Lori D.]

My dad went into hospice when he stopped dialysis. (His body was starting to shut down from a number of things, and the dialysis was no longer providing quality of life for him.) 

At that time, he also stopped the blood pressure meds. I don't recall about the insulin, but I believe that too was stopped, as they no longer did the multiple finger pricks a day. He thought it was wonderful, as he could eat whatever he wanted. He ended up only needing one pill for pain during his hospice stay, and passed away in his sleep about 10 days after stopping the dialysis (which is pretty typical).

Hugs and sympathy to all of you who have / had a loved one needing hospice. It is a hard stage to be at end of life, but hospice was a tremendous blessing for the whole family in my dad's situation.

[mlktwins]

Both of my in-laws went on home hospice this spring (on the same day).  They both continued their meds except for one (my FIL stopped taking one at that point).  

[hippymamato3]

Thanks for the replies, everyone! That's what I thought. 🙂

Edited August 6, 2021 by hippymamato3

[prairiewindmomma]

Fwiw, the meds should start getting billed through hospice, rather than you having to pay a copay for each one. It was a surprise but huge happy financial relief to us…

[Faith-manor]

Ditto what everyone else said. In my area, they do not provide any in home care. It can differ by state and region. So we had to do all of my dad's meds and physical care. My mom even had to continue to drain his drainage tube so he could comfortably breathe and not panic. A nurse was slated to come in once per week to check on everything and see if his pain management was up to par. But he only blasted five days, so we didn't get that far. After he passed, the organization was wonderful about calling and checking on my mom and referring her for grief counseling for that first year so that was very nice.

[lauraw4321]

It's up to the patient / family. ::hugs:: I'd ask your hospice coordinator (nurse).

[Jean in Newcastle]

6 minutes ago, Seasider too said:

(((Jean)))

Praying for comfort for your mother, and that you will all feel at peace and be able to have some good time together during this time. 

Thanks.  She's just very very old at age 96 and a half.  She's not ill with anything (other than a recurring infection).  Her body is just slowly shutting down.  I may or may not get to see her before she passes away but I am at peace with it.  She's had a long productive life and is looking forward to going to heaven.