I have had it with Hospice!!!!!

[cole70]

Everyone has always said how hospice is a godsend. Well my Mom and I had a terrible experience with them with my Dad. He was only on hospice a day and 1/2 before he passed away but we were treated poorly, they were rude, a nurse never showed up or called after he was put on continual care, etc etc. Now they are sending me letters about how to deal with his death-a month later. My cousin used to work in hospice administration so she told me to call them and tell them I didnt want their brochures etc and to take me off the mailing list or I will recieve them every month for the next year. They use these as a marketing tool. So I called today to tell them to take me off the list. They tell me that I NEED counseling and the brochures. That my anger at them wont bring my father back. I wasnt angry on the phone or raising my voice or anything. I am not angry I just want them to leave me alone. I am dealing with my fathers death the best way I know how. I dont need to be reminded every month about his death. I tried to explain about our negative experience etc. She still wouldnt take no for an answer. Then about 30 min ago they called me at work to get me to sign up for bereverment counseling. Stop calling me, stop sending me stuff. I get my counseling on my own!

BTW-I truly see the benfits of hospice care. Especially on a longer basis. I dont believe all hospice corporations are run as poorly as the one we went with and this one was a MAJOR corporation.

Cole

[schsa]

You might have had a different experience if you father had been in hospice care for a longer period of time. I know that it takes a very strong person to deal with death on a daily basis. I am sorry that you had such a bad experience. I would definately write a letter to them and cc your local hospital so that they know the treatment you received. They may be trying to help but they have left such a negative impression that nothing they can say will change your attitude.

[mistressB]

everytime one of our residents went on hospice they would usually pass over within a couple of weeks. i think it had something to do with all the pain meds they were given. sorry to hear about your dad. i don't know the whole situation, but i hope he went peacefully.

[janelle]

I hear what you are saying. We aren't that fond of them anymore after our experience and my hubby says to throw their things away when we get them.

If they keep bothering you about counseling tell them you were fine until they started to interfere. Now you do need counseling to get over your experience with them for not doing their job.

Don't you just love it when people say you need counseling after they screw you over? Geesh. Okay but they ae responsible for it. You weren't mad about your father's death but about their incompetence. Duh, they will never admit to that so you have issues. GAAAAAAA. :mad:

We should have fired them. We know our loved one will die but why hurry the process and leave us feeling like we did the deed?

[ChristiNate]

DH's Gpa is under hospice care at our house. They are the most rude people I have ever met. They are always saying that they have came by, when they haven't. His presriptions are never there when they are supossed to be. DH, 2 nurses and the social worker had it out last week. You think they could be more understanding considering the situation we are in.

[Njean31]

wow, this is the first negative experience's i've heard about hospice. as I've stated here before....i am a hospice nurse. i've only been doing if for around 3 months, but i've never seen a dissatisfied family yet. I do know that at our hospice, the ONLY way to become a patient is to be interviewed and assessed by a RN, who then determines your needs and delegates your needs to the appropriate team members. The OP said that a nurse never visited or called, at our Hospice your not even a patient of ours until you have the initial assessment. I don't understand how that hospice agency would have had your dad as a patient without first being seen by a nurse :confused: and to mistress b, you said that everytime one of your residents went on hospice they usually died within a few weeks........that is what hospice is.........to qualify for hospice a patient must have a life expectancy of less than 6 months (12 at the max), that's what we do.........care for the dying : :confused: possibly your confused as to what hospice is all about. I have admitted several patients who died within days....one within hours. The idea and goal of hospice is to provide support through death, concentrating on physical and spiritual comfort.......not curative care. It's hard for some families (and even myself at the beginning) to understand why sometimes a patient is better off without that antibiotic (when their death is imminent...i mean hours or a day or 2 at most) . or when a patient stops eating/drinking........alot of families don't understand why they don't need hydration therapy (IV's), but a dying person does not suffer from thirst and hunger........that's one of the first thing to go (hearing's one of the last). it's hard convincing them of this and so they believe we are incompetent.......when actually when the grief fades they understand clearer :( i am sorry that you had bad experience with your dad's death, that is definately not the norm

[janelle]

From what I understand when you hire hospice the patient has a set amount of time to die. They will give them ten days. YES, TEN DAYS TO EXPIRE and then let us go to our next case. We don't have the money to fool with you any longer so die already.

The withdraw food and only give water if the patient will take it. In lots of cases you feel like you have starved your loved one to death.

It's ok if the person dies quickly and keeps with their program but if they linger they get quite testy with you. :mad: :mad: This is why people have such different views of them.

[mistressB]

that's odd, hospice where i was from was for people who were terminally ill and had 6 months or less to live. i can't imagine that they would only help those who had 10 days left! that's insane. of course we did do most of the care ourselves but they did send out bath aides and when a resident would die they would come out on the spot and take care of everything.

[janelle]

If a person wants to eat I don't see why you can't give them some food even if it's a frosty from Wendy's. The dying person wants it and I thought hospice was to keep people comfortable until death. I read the dying porcess book they gave us but I do not understand some of the things they do.

Drug them and let them die fast is what I see them doing. Then the family is left with the quilt. My SIL quit working for them.

[janelle]

that's odd, hospice where i was from was for people who were terminally ill and had 6 months or less to live. i can't imagine that they would only help those who had 10 days left! that's insane. of course we did do most of the care ourselves but they did send out bath aides and when a resident would die they would come out on the spot and take care of everything.

I got the ten days from a hospice worker but that is ten days of actually being in the dying process where the body is shutting down. She had one woman rally which lots of people do so hospice had to leave her and she died without them being there, only the family. How can that help?

Once you start to die don't you dare rally and get better or they are out of there. Maybe the patient could survive to live another year or six months. My neighbor woman's mother has been really bad at times but she comes back. She has a strong spirit. Whose to say when we should die except for God?

[Freebeemom]

Sounds like you need to report the company that your sister dealt with...or even report the one that dealt with your situation.

Our hospice didn't do that at all. Nothing of the kind.

[mistressB]

no, they were just put on high doses of morphine and died quickly. these were people who were ill, yes, but i suspect that they got a little too much of the stuff. as a caregiver i had to follow the prescription orders. every single one, at least 10 of my residents were all put on morphine. most weren't on any form of pain medication before that. i know exactly what hospice is all about, i've dealt with hospice for many years. hospice is there to speed along the death process.

[Njean31]

From what I understand when you hire hospice the patient has a set amount of time to die. They will give them ten days. YES, TEN DAYS TO EXPIRE and then let us go to our next case. We don't have the money to fool with you any longer so die already.

The withdraw food and only give water if the patient will take it. In lots of cases you feel like you have starved your loved one to death.

It's ok if the person dies quickly and keeps with their program but if they linger they get quite testy with you. :mad: :mad: This is why people have such different views of them.

that last statement in the first paragraph is an awful thing to say. :(
hospice don't withdraw food :confused: if a dying person doesn't already have an underlying swallowing problem related to stroke, esophageal strictures assoc w/cancers, alzheimers which prohibits them from taking anything by mouth, they usually just quit eating on thier own. a dying person does not need the nutrients a healthy person does nor the hydration.........thier body is dying........shutting down. Yes, the families don't understand because it clings so close to their hearts........starvation is inherantly horrific in thier minds.........but it's not for the dying patient. it's the cancer, the alzheimers, the copd, the stroke that's killing them..........not lack of nutrients. most patients when they dying are very congested in the lungs and that is very hard for patient, family, and nurse to deal with BUT water, hydration is going to make it worse because it gives them more fluid volume.....which in turn increases mucous production in the lungs........there is alot more to it than the family can or will understand when they are in the midst of it.

[Njean31]

If a person wants to eat I don't see why you can't give them some food even if it's a frosty from Wendy's. The dying person wants it and I thought hospice was to keep people comfortable until death.

i've never seen one of our patient's request anything to eat or drink and be told no, that is ludicrous. If they have an underlying reason why they can't swallow..........then you ofcourse would not put anything in thier mouth. i am sorry you've had such a horrible experience, you must have morons running that hospice.

[Njean31]

no, they were just put on high doses of morphine and died quickly. these were people who were ill, yes, but i suspect that they got a little too much of the stuff. as a caregiver i had to follow the prescription orders. every single one, at least 10 of my residents were all put on morphine. most weren't on any form of pain medication before that. i know exactly what hospice is all about, i've dealt with hospice for many years. hospice is there to speed along the death process.


no, you don't know what hospice is all about. you've just dealt with a bad agency. yes, we do prescribe morphine alot.........these people are dying and it hurts to move.........to even breathe.......it is a comfort measure. take away the morphine and they still die.......just not painlessly :( and not all patients get morphine, just the ones who need it for pain..........it also slows respirations and when you have a copd pt struggling for breaths, breathing at 30 breaths a minute, morphine slows it down. atropine is also used alot, it clears resp secretions............but it also has bad side effects but you weigh the good against the bad.

[mistressB]

odd that myself and so many others scattered apart from each other all over the u.s have all dealt with "bad agencies" perhaps your agency is just an exception?

[Njean31]

odd that myself and so many others scattered apart from each other all over the u.s have all dealt with "bad agencies" perhaps your agency is just an exception?

perhaps........... maybe you could give them our number for training ;)

[mistressB]

sounds like a good idea, but i've hung up my latex gloves to be a stay at home mom.

[cole70]

Njean31-does the hospice you work for send out pamphlets etc every month? I wonder if this is the norm or what?

An admissions nurse did visit to sign him in on the first day. She had us on a nurse visit ONCE a week. (he was diagnosed with advanced liver cancer a week before and was severly jaundice etc) He was already in a coma like state but she never mentioned this to us. We thought he would wake up. About an hr after she left he started to make strange noises-almost like he was choking. It was just my Mom and I and we panicked. My mom called Hospice and asked what we should do. The nurse told us to take a turkey baster to try and suck out the phelm....well that wasnt going to work and the noises were getting weirder and weirder. So my mom called back and asked if a nurse could come by. They said they would send one right over. 3 hrs later one did. SHe was great and explained that my Dad was in the process of dying. It would be maybe a few days at the most. He was in a coma like state but could hear us etc. We asked to be put on continual care as we were VERY uncomfortable handling this on our own. My father sounded like he was choking and making all of these strange noises that was just nerve rattling to us. So she calls in to have a nurse sent over. They kept on calling us to tell us the nurse was going to be an hour late, then another hour and then finally they called and said she decided not to take the job and they had no one else lined up so we were "on our own". Another nurse was supposed to arrive at 6am but didnt show up until 10am. SHe was just an asst, not a nurse,and couldnt do anything we needed her to do. She would not help us lift him up to get him in a better position. We had to call a neighbor to help. During the final moments we asked her to give us some privacy but she refused to leave the room. After my father "expired" as they kept on saying, she called the hospice to report it. She was on the phone in the same room my father and the family was. We could tell she was being asked about her ETA to see another patient. JEEZ she wasnt even finished with us!!!!! Then because she was not a nurse we had to wait 4 hours-YES FOUR HRS with my fathers body in the living room because a nurse had to pronounce him before the funeral home could pick him up. When I called after about 2 hrs the team leader we were assigned to was on another call and the receptionist said she said she was going to lunch after that call and not taking any more calls. I asked to speak to another lead and this woman was RUDE! Telling me that my father was dead and that nothing more could be done. If I was uncomfortable with his body being there for that long that we should leave the house! She then hung up on me. I did call a few days later to complain about the treatment but I was brushed off. I really didnt care anymore until I started getting the brochures and pamphlets.

[catssass]

I had a great experience with hospice with my FIL but they were there for 3 mos.,they were wonderful and supportive to all of us... I had a so-so time with my mother but she went so fast I never had a chance to experience hospice with her, I do like when they check up on me each month, I can let my feelings out and they understand, they also are having a "group" for daughters that have lost their Moms coming up, I think I'll attend it...I did learn that different hospice groups do run differently, I am so sorry you got a bad one....

....and I thank God for the morphine, my Mom had lung cancer, and with the morphine she was able to breathe normally, with no struggle, I can't even imagine how much suffering she would have had without it...

[joraemik]

I work in a nursing home mostly with rehab patients, but we do have 4 rooms that are reserved for comfort care. Some of these patients do recive hospice and I have never heard a complaint. The nurses are great and help us out a great deal. A lot of the comfort care patients we get are on pain meds and they really do need them. As for drinking/eating issue - Usually the dying person is not alert enough to eat. We do give small amounts of water or we swab the mouth with a hospice mix so that it doesn't get to dry. I am so sorry for your bad experence and for the loss of your father.

monica

[justme23]

Hospice must have really changed over the last 16 years... My mother was a patient of Hospice for more than a year (this was in the 80s tho, and her death was indeed iminent) and they were ALWAYS respectful. The only thing they EVER asked of my family that kind of upset them was to request they take down the Christmas tree so that she would think Christmas was over and she could let go... but it wasn't Hospices fault that they were upset, they just knew it was a matter of days before she was gone and they weren't entirely ready for it. They never starved her, they never withheld medications... they always said 'if she wants it, she can have it, we will do what we can and you do what you think you should do to keep her happy'... I do think in the end that the overdosed her on Morphine, but it is my understanding that they do that w/ most patients in the last week or two... and if it kept my mother out of the horrible pain she was in for the 3 years prior, then that is ok w/ me.

Anyways... I am sorry you all had such a horrible time w/ your situations... I believe honestly tho, that grief is so strong that anything a doctor or nurse recommended would make us miserable, simply because we were losing someone we loved.

[SpookyKid5]

I'm sorry you had a bad experience w/ them. I also had a bad experience w/ a nurse not showing up for my grandmother etc etc. What you can do tho is call Hospice and tell them that if they don't stop calling you and sending you stuff you will file harassment charges against them (which you can do). That should get them to back off

[Njean31]

Njean31-does the hospice you work for send out pamphlets etc every month? I wonder if this is the norm or what?

An admissions nurse did visit to sign him in on the first day. She had us on a nurse visit ONCE a week. (he was diagnosed with advanced liver cancer a week before and was severly jaundice etc) He was already in a coma like state but she never mentioned this to us. We thought he would wake up. About an hr after she left he started to make strange noises-almost like he was choking. It was just my Mom and I and we panicked. My mom called Hospice and asked what we should do. The nurse told us to take a turkey baster to try and suck out the phelm....well that wasnt going to work and the noises were getting weirder and weirder. So my mom called back and asked if a nurse could come by. They said they would send one right over. 3 hrs later one did. SHe was great and explained that my Dad was in the process of dying. It would be maybe a few days at the most. He was in a coma like state but could hear us etc. We asked to be put on continual care as we were VERY uncomfortable handling this on our own. My father sounded like he was choking and making all of these strange noises that was just nerve rattling to us. So she calls in to have a nurse sent over. They kept on calling us to tell us the nurse was going to be an hour late, then another hour and then finally they called and said she decided not to take the job and they had no one else lined up so we were "on our own". Another nurse was supposed to arrive at 6am but didnt show up until 10am. SHe was just an asst, not a nurse,and couldnt do anything we needed her to do. She would not help us lift him up to get him in a better position. We had to call a neighbor to help. During the final moments we asked her to give us some privacy but she refused to leave the room. After my father "expired" as they kept on saying, she called the hospice to report it. She was on the phone in the same room my father and the family was. We could tell she was being asked about her ETA to see another patient. JEEZ she wasnt even finished with us!!!!! Then because she was not a nurse we had to wait 4 hours-YES FOUR HRS with my fathers body in the living room because a nurse had to pronounce him before the funeral home could pick him up. When I called after about 2 hrs the team leader we were assigned to was on another call and the receptionist said she said she was going to lunch after that call and not taking any more calls. I asked to speak to another lead and this woman was RUDE! Telling me that my father was dead and that nothing more could be done. If I was uncomfortable with his body being there for that long that we should leave the house! She then hung up on me. I did call a few days later to complain about the treatment but I was brushed off. I really didnt care anymore until I started getting the brochures and pamphlets.


cole, yes my hospice does send out bereavement phamlets...they have an automatic schedule which i'm not sure of yet but i think it's like they send a card immediately, then in a month, then at three months, six months, and a year and then it stops. the hospice agency you had must have been severly understaffed with a moron for a supervisor. There is no way that one of our nurses would schedule weekly visits for a patient like your dad was. There is NO WAY that we would tell someone to use a turkey baster for suction :( , we would get a suction machine there as well as possible medication to reduce the secretions. and i really can't believe that they left you there for 4 hours after he died, that is horrifying :mad: i would definatley report them, that is totally uncalled for. i am sorry :(

[angelinwaiting]

cole70, I just read this and I had to respond...The hospice that you had sounds like something from a horror movie...they treated you and your family VERY disrespectfully...I am shocked to hear that a organization such as hospice would treat you like this...I worked with hospice for just over 2 years and had over 300 patients to die and heard NO complaints like this....When I got a call from a family and they told me what you said, I would be there as fast as I could and if I could get noone to stay when continuous care was started, then I would stay until someone else came to relieve me....I have NEVER left a body in the home for that long of a time....and NEVER would I tell my families to leave if they were uncomfortable and leave the body there by itself...that is so tacky....I am so sorry for your experience....

[nosanity05]

no, you don't know what hospice is all about. you've just dealt with a bad agency. yes, we do prescribe morphine alot.........these people are dying and it hurts to move.........to even breathe.......it is a comfort measure. take away the morphine and they still die.......just not painlessly :( and not all patients get morphine, just the ones who need it for pain..........it also slows respirations and when you have a copd pt struggling for breaths, breathing at 30 breaths a minute, morphine slows it down. atropine is also used alot, it clears resp secretions............but it also has bad side effects but you weigh the good against the bad.


From my own experience with hospice, I can't say enough positive things about them. My step-daddy died of bone cancer 3 years ago. Everyone connected with the agency, from the nurses and aides, to the social worker and grief counselor, just bent over backwards to do everything possible to help my Mom and I. One nurse drove 40 miles each way to get my Dad liquid morphine when our local pharmacy did not have any, just so none of us would have to leave him. They were all honestly just amazing.
For anyone who has had a bad experience, I would contact the National Chapter of Hospice, and let them know. Perhaps they are not aware of some 'bad apples' in the bunch.

[june72]

I hope its ok for me to say this. But I would just like to tell you about my experience with hospice. My mom has spent the last year in pain 24/7. For the last few months of her life she was in so much pain. We were totally against hospice because we felt the same as some of you. We felt like all they did was dope the patients till they died. We came to learn that YOU and the patients Dr. have the final say so over the med. that the patient recieves. My mom spent two days crying in mysery because the pain was so bad. We finally decided that we had no choice but to call hospice. It turned out to be the best decision the we made. My mom was in so much pain that it was so unbearable to watch her let alone know her hurt. So we went from home health nurses to hospice. YES they told us that the more pain mom was in and the stronger her med. the faster she would die. My mom was ready to leave this world and she didn't deserve to be in so much mysery, as noone should have to be in mysery. Yes we hated the thoughts of her being out of it as they say. But I couldn't even hold my mommys hand without her hurting. So it was so nice to be able to accuatly be able to sit on the side of her bed and her not hurt. Yes the med. does make them go faster, but we were fortunate enough to have a wonderful experience with hospice. They did such a wonderful job. Never did we have anyone who was rude or out of line. They were straight forwarded and never sugar coated any of the information. But they were very comp. with us and was always friendly. I watched my mommy take her last breath and will never forget it. But it was a very peaceful last breath. I am very sorry that you all had bad experiences with hospice. I never thought I would ever say this but I am very grateful for the care they gave my mother and the support they gave us kids.
For those of you who did have bad experiences, yes I would find someone to complain to. But most of all ask God to give them comp. for there patients and their families. Thank you for letting me have the chance to say all this. I do it in memory of my precious mommy who left us to be with the Lord on Nov. 20, 2004, she was 66 yrs. old. So enjoy them and cherish them while you have them. God Bless!!!!!!!!!!

[twinkiesmom]

I am so sorry u had such an awful experience w/hospice. I would definitely complain to someone. Better Business Bureau if u hafta.

Janelle - Hospice is about the comfort of the patient. Not how speedy we can get him to die. I worked hospice for 2 yrs and never did I hear about a 10 day rule. OMG, that's just crazy. In fact, there were a couple of patients we had over an 18month period.

This has got to be the first time I heard dissatisfaction about hospice.
Again to the OP, I'm real sorry you had this bad experience. Take it to the top. I'm even wondering if this was an accredited agency.

[cpbaby]

My grandfather was on Hospice for over 3 years. YES, 3 years. His doctor arranged for Hospice because he was convinced my grandfather could NOT live another 6 months(one of the requirements) He was fooled. Not because my grandfather wanted to live that long but his body refused to give up. There were some substitute nurses that he wasnt fond of, but he LOVED his regular nurses. They arranged to bring all of his meds and did so much for him. They also did alot for my grandmother and my mom and siblings(the children were staying 24/7, one at a time) mentally. They explained everything and made sure to answer any questions. His main nurse gave them her home phone number in case something happened and they needed her "after hours". There was never any mention of morphine(he wasnt in pain, heart failure). They arranged for ambulances to take him to the doctor and for any type of machines he needed(some type of oxygen thingy). When he "got bad" they arranged for a hospital bed and other needed items. The night he died(actually early Saturday morning), his nurse was there even though she was scheduled for major surgery on Monday. Because she was there, there was no need for an autopsy, which relieved some of my grandmothers stress. She called the funeral home and and sat with the family until the funeral home took the body. Then she stayed with the family as long as they wanted her there. She even came to the funeral home in a wheelchair after her surgery.

I have no idea if they are sending brochures, my mom has never mentioned them if they are.

For my grandfather, Hospice was a Godsend. They took care of the "medical" side of his care so that my family could enjoy what time they had left together.

However, I do know that not everyone has a good experience(just like shopping at Walmart) and if you had a bad one, it should be reported. There is no need for them to be disrespectful of your feelings and to send you things after you have requested them stopped is just rude.

[cole70]

Thanks everyone. I am going to write a letter to the hospice and also send a copy to their corporate headquarters. Maybe then they will get the picture. The hospice we went with is Vitas. I think its one of the largest hospice corporations in the US. Because he was on Medicare we only had 2 choices and my Mom chose Vitas because she had heard they were the best in the area.

Thanks Again!

[Kelsey1224]

OMG...we used Vitas as well and we were inundated with followup letters. I have no complaints with my mother's care...but they kept calling and sending letters.

I have a strong personal faith and have a good support system through friends, church, etc. I did NOT need their follow-up care and told them so. I was quite nice and thanked them...but tried explaining that my personal relationship with the Lord was sufficient.

They still kept bugging me up until the one-year anniversary of my mother's death.

Geesh...these people were a pain in the neck.

[janelle]

I can do a search on here but one member of BBS had her mother on hospice and hated it.

Her mother never slept lying down. She would ALWAYS prop herself up on pillows. Well hospice took her pillows away and she struggled for breath for a half hour before dying. The family has nightmares about seeing it. That is oxygen starvation. You might as well put a pillow over her face and get it over with quicker.

[gingerswit]

hospice was wonderful for my uncle. I don't have details but my aunt talked all good about them. Sorry you had such a bad experience.

[nightrider127]

My aunt, who died from lung cancer just over two years ago had hospice care. They couldn't have been nicer to our entire family. My aunt was not at home, but at the hospice facility itself.

Yes, they did give her strong drugs but she needed them. When they asked her to rate her pain on a scale of one to ten, she said ten. She had been hurting like that for a long time and hadn't told any of us. My aunt was overjoyed that she no longer had to suffer. We were actually able to get her up out of the bed and take her outside, she was doing that well. At the end, her nurse sensed that she did not want to die in front of her children and told them to consider leaving and the reason why. Her daughter asked her if she wanted her to leave and she let her know that she did. My aunt was gone in under an hour. My aunt always did things her own way and she did it her way right to the end.

To the OP, I am so sorry for your loss and for the treatment you got. I would report their behavior to the appropiate agency. I have never heard of hospice care being done in such a manner.

[buglebe]

My thoughts are bless those nurses who work with Hospice. Can you imagine giving that much of yourself, day in and day out with patients you know are going to die? And it is not the patient who is hard to care for , it is the family.
When a loved one suffers and dies it is the hardest thing most of us ever go through in our lives. We want to blame anyone for this suffering we are going through and our loved ones are going through. My dad had Hospice for less than 8 hours. He had lost his leg with 3 amputations due to diabetes. The last week of his life he spent struggling to breathe because he had COPD. He had already requested the doctor make him a no code. He knew what was happening. It is terrible to watch a loved one struggling to breath and it is extremely difficult to be in the room with a dying person especially a loved one. When they are struggling to breathe the lack of oxygen makes them extremely panicky. Those last hours of breathing are called "death rattles"
because fluids have accumuated in their throat and you hear them with each inspiration and exhalation. This is miserable to go through and even when the person is dying and you know they are dying and you know death is imminent you still want to say "Do something!" Daddy was given one dose of morphine cocktail. It relaxed him and he left us. It was a blessing.

[TexasGal]

They recommended hospice for my father, but he passed away in the hospital. I was ignorant to the circumstances under which hospice was called in and was still expecting him to recover like he had done so many times before. I was devasted.

I'm very sorry for your loss.

[buglebe]

Texas Gal, Yes I understand what you mean. That was how I felt about my dad at first also, and he didn't want to die. The fact he was aware of what was going on was the hardest part for me. He was still in the hospital too. They just turned his care over to hospice and turned his room into a hospice room. I had never heard of that before. I feel your pain. Some of us were lucky and got fantastic fathers. Evidently yours was one of those, as was mine.