JenniferS
When you're the leader, you don't have to follow.
I know some people really want to pass at home in familiar surroundings, but if I’m not going via a massive heart attack in my sleep, this is where I would want to be.
The compassion, care, and dignity afforded to the patient and family would make you weep with gratitude to witness. Plus, they have the good meds there.
Auntie is resting on a $10,000 mattress that inflates and deflates at various intervals to reduce pressure spots; she was given a bed bath and back rub before bed last night; she is offered food and drink multiple times/day (although she is really past food at this point), but it’s offered. (And it smells delicious!) Family are free to partake of all the beverages, snacks, and meals as well.
Everyone there is DNR, so there are no extreme measures … no clicking, beeping monitors like in a hospital. Just a sparkling clean, welcoming facility that gives the family a break, and the peace of mind that their loved one is 100% comfortable and free from pain.
Like your mom, Auntie has pulmonary fibrosis. Hers is also complicated by a second disease called bronchiectasis. In her final hours, she will be sedated so that she is completely unaware that she is drowning in her own secretions.
I have the overnight shift tonight. For once I’ll be dozing with a light heart, not worried that she’s going to pass in the middle of the night, and I’ll be alone. The nurses there do all the heavy lifting (so to speak). We just get to offer reassurance, love, and companionship. All of our care burdens have been lifted.
The compassion, care, and dignity afforded to the patient and family would make you weep with gratitude to witness. Plus, they have the good meds there.
Auntie is resting on a $10,000 mattress that inflates and deflates at various intervals to reduce pressure spots; she was given a bed bath and back rub before bed last night; she is offered food and drink multiple times/day (although she is really past food at this point), but it’s offered. (And it smells delicious!) Family are free to partake of all the beverages, snacks, and meals as well.
Everyone there is DNR, so there are no extreme measures … no clicking, beeping monitors like in a hospital. Just a sparkling clean, welcoming facility that gives the family a break, and the peace of mind that their loved one is 100% comfortable and free from pain.
Like your mom, Auntie has pulmonary fibrosis. Hers is also complicated by a second disease called bronchiectasis. In her final hours, she will be sedated so that she is completely unaware that she is drowning in her own secretions.
I have the overnight shift tonight. For once I’ll be dozing with a light heart, not worried that she’s going to pass in the middle of the night, and I’ll be alone. The nurses there do all the heavy lifting (so to speak). We just get to offer reassurance, love, and companionship. All of our care burdens have been lifted.