My neighbor is home, under hospice care death watch. Why do we do this?

This good man lived his 74 years with dignity, but is now in and out of consciousness, no grasp of reality and no hope of recovery. He came home 3 days ago because the family couldn't visit him in the hospital. They thought he would go quickly but he isn't. So now what? Why do we do this? Why is there no option for termination of life in hopeless end of life situations? His wife is flipping out, his daughter who I will be helping out with the Mom, is at her wits end. The Grand kids are freaking out. This is just a nightmare.
yep, dying sucks. sorry for the stress on the family but how else sholuld it be done?Some things just suck and there isn othing you can do about it. hospice makes the transition as easy as it can be but still not a fun time.
A shot of something that will humanely end the suffering of the patient. I realize that can quickly turn into a slippery slope of who get's what and when, but that can be mitigated with a review of the patient's condition by 3 doctors all of whom have to sign off.
there are states where that can be done. still not a court case I would want to rule on if I were a judge. That all being said we have far fewer choices in life than what we should in many respects. i would like to have some control of the way I go out. That is for sure. I watched my grandmother go in a way I have no plans on letting happen to myself. I will take it into my own hands at that point. Getting old sucks and dying sucks. You will never get out of this life alive, just gotta grin and bear it I guess. Billions have gone before us with no more comforts than we have.
 
My uncle just stopped eating...he was home and not in much pain but he couldn't get up and walk...cancer had ravaged his entire body...so he refused to eat and Hospice obliged...he was gone in less than two days after that....
 
This good man lived his 74 years with dignity, but is now in and out of consciousness, no grasp of reality and no hope of recovery. He came home 3 days ago because the family couldn't visit him in the hospital. They thought he would go quickly but he isn't. So now what? Why do we do this? Why is there no option for termination of life in hopeless end of life situations? His wife is flipping out, his daughter who I will be helping out with the Mom, is at her wits end. The Grand kids are freaking out. This is just a nightmare.








If he is in Hospice care the family has control over whatever meds he is on. I helped my mom pass when she was no longer with us.

As I understand it, control over the meds means you can help them not be in pain. Can you help them end their life sooner?








Sure. Most terminal patients are on almost pure morphine. They control dosage while they can, then the family does when they can't.
 
This good man lived his 74 years with dignity, but is now in and out of consciousness, no grasp of reality and no hope of recovery. He came home 3 days ago because the family couldn't visit him in the hospital. They thought he would go quickly but he isn't. So now what? Why do we do this? Why is there no option for termination of life in hopeless end of life situations? His wife is flipping out, his daughter who I will be helping out with the Mom, is at her wits end. The Grand kids are freaking out. This is just a nightmare.








If he is in Hospice care the family has control over whatever meds he is on. I helped my mom pass when she was no longer with us.

As I understand it, control over the meds means you can help them not be in pain. Can you help them end their life sooner?








Sure. Most terminal patients are on almost pure morphine. They control dosage while they can, then the family does when they can't.
Really? I didn't know that.
 
My half sister was sent to home hospice care to die. I called her. She couldn't speak but I got to see her hooked up to tubes and machines. Her husband was crying so hard he couldn't talk. We all said our good byes. She was removed from the ventillator. Then she got better. The hospice care agency came and removed all their tubes, machines and bed. No one knows how she got better. Her doctor said it was as if a switch had been flipped. One second she was unable to breathe. The next second she was breathing normally.


That's wonderful...and why we don't just kill people because they are on hospice care.
Why can't we allow them to die a painless death if they wish it, asshole?
When they are on morphine and out, it is painless.
 
This good man lived his 74 years with dignity, but is now in and out of consciousness, no grasp of reality and no hope of recovery. He came home 3 days ago because the family couldn't visit him in the hospital. They thought he would go quickly but he isn't. So now what? Why do we do this? Why is there no option for termination of life in hopeless end of life situations? His wife is flipping out, his daughter who I will be helping out with the Mom, is at her wits end. The Grand kids are freaking out. This is just a nightmare.
My father passed with brain cancer. It was merciful in it was not that painful, but merciless in how it ravaged his body.
In 6 weeks time he went from a slight problem with balance to bed ridden, unable to speak. He could not control his bladder. His legs became paralyzed, as did his left arm...then his right arm also went. Then he lost the ability swallow, lost consciousness for about 36 hours and then simply stopped breathing.
While he was still home, I had to go over every morning before work, at lunch, after work to help my mom change his diaper etc. I cannot begin to tell you the pain of doing so. This is my dad. He was superman at one point in my life.
By this time I had cried several times. Before that I believe it was well in excess of 20 years, probably closer to 30 since I cried. Now for some reason I can cry at a drop of a hat.
I wasn't as much upset by the fact my father was dying as seeing this man being tortured to death. The humiliation of ending his life as if he was an infant.
I will not die like that.
 

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