Posted 5-18-19
Had an extended visit with my numero uno mom today. 🙂 She is still doing great, especially for someone on hospice. She even mentioned my wife’s name, asking how she is doing. That is a first in almost as long as it has been since she said my name! This sequence means that she not only had a flash memory of my wife, but she pieced together that I am married to her. Amazing brain. Amazing. Later in the visit her memory went wildly haywire and the the words left like bubbles in the wind.
One update worth note is the blessing that her hospice has already been in just a few short days. Before I get into that in some detail, please let me dispel the myth or misconception behind hospice. Hospice CAN mean that the patient’s death is imminent. They swing by with the 55-gallon morphine drip and other tools and relieve pain. Yup. That happens. It especially happens in more “acute conditions” like advanced cancer, where pain is so intense that, without the help from hospice, it become unmanageable and unbearable. (Does that make the slow-moving, long goodbye of dementia an obtuse condition?) In summary, there is a set of conditions that one must meet to qualify for hospice starting with a diagnosed likelihood of passing away within six months, and some…perhaps many dementia patients outlast their timer and get removed or renewed.
So, mom’s hospice workers will be there early and often, supplementing her care in some wonderful ways…all as part of her Medicare plan. Their first order of business was to replace her dumpster diver special wheelchair with a really nice, newer one. Today I pushed her in her Cadillac chair as we toured the entire facility and went outside to get some fresh air! What a blessing! The hospice folks will send an RN twice a week to help mom with some aspects, an LPN twice a week for other concerns and they will take over her bath time. The dandy who will have this task is a 20+-year veteran in the condition and will do great. They will also have a regular chaplain visit a couple times a week as well.
In short, a few days in and hospice is a win! 🙂
Last thought bounces back to early in the piece. How on Earth did my bride’s name reappear in mom’s mind? How do the card catalogs of information strewn throughout the disconnected mind of a dementia patient suddenly reconnect? No real comments, just curious your thoughts. 🙂 It is counter-intuitive to the core that broken connections would reconnect. Regardless, we rejoice on the highs of the roller coaster ride and prepare for the lows with an eternal future in mind.
It’s the little things like wheelchairs, baths and experienced care that makes hospice and care in general work…
#EndALZ
As a former hospice volunteer, I can’t say enough good things about hospice care. They are there for the patient and the patient’s family. So glad your mom is getting the extra care she deserves.
They have been a blessing in week one…I am certain they will be at the end someday too. 🙂