At some point in our lives, all of us will have had some experience with hospice. Hospice is the care provided by professionals for those that are terminally ill and/or dying. I have had a personal experience with hospice.
Back in 2016 my mother became ill. She had cirrhosis of the liver. We all knew she would eventually die from this, but she unexpectedly became too ill to recover. At this point, the doctor suggested that we take her home and set up hospice care. So, that’s what we did. The hospice company came out within a couple of hours to set up everything, and start providing comfort care to my mom. One of the first things they did was to arrange a hospital bed for mom. They had it brought to the house and set up for her within 30 or so minutes. We were very grateful for this! Next they introduced themselves to the family, and talked to us about what to expect. They were going to be working closely with us, so it was vital that they made introductions. My mom was in a lot of pain, so the next thing they did was to start her Morphine treatment.
Comfort
This consisted of her getting Morphine doses every two hours around the clock. This was going to keep her comfortable and pain free until she passed. However, that didn’t go as planned that first day. My mom’s significant other decided he wasn’t going to give her any of the Morphine at all. His reasoning was that he didn’t want to be accused of overdosing her, so he felt it better to withhold it altogether. This is most definitely not the right thing to do in this situation. So that first day, after hospice gave mom her first dose of Morphine, she didn’t have any more until the next day when they came back. She was so uncomfortable, and in pain.
Now, sometimes hospice stays with the patient around the clock. This wasn’t the case for us, because there was family to help out. For us, they came once or twice a day to check in, and make sure we had everything we needed to take care of mom. They left the vials of Morphine for her, along with the syringe. It was an oral dose, given in her mouth, so we didn’t have to use needles or anything.
Most of the time, insurance will take care of the hospice needs. This would include Medicaid, Medicare or any private insurance. The hospice company will know the best hospice billing company to use, so you shouldn’t have to deal with any of that at all. They will take care of all that, so you can focus on your loved one.
Our experience with hospice was a very positive one. They made sure my moms needs were met, and helped us through it all. When the time came that mom passed, hospice was there to help with calling the funeral home and such, and verifying her passing. Hospice is a great asset to use when caring for a loved one.
Majenica
"Time spent with cats is never wasted." ~ Sigmund Freud
