When it’s time for Hospice Car for Cancer Patient

At some point the family of a cancer patient realizes that they need help. They can no longer provide for all the needs of the dear loved one. Because hospitals seem like a hostile environment, most people prefer to die at home. Hospice care makes this possible.

By my own experience with Hospice care, I feel like I can say without a shadow of a doubt that Hospice makes one of the worst experiences of life more bearable. After you call Hospice, a nurse will come to the house to get the information they need to help the patient as much as possible. After the family agrees not to seek a hospital stay and to let the cancer victim die at home, Hospice takes over.

First they bring in a hospital bed and any other equipment that might be needed. They offer counseling, medical services, and the Hospice nurses have a direct line to the oncologist. Being able to contact the doctor quickly is so wonderful when everyone is scared and worried. The nurses have a sense of calmness and a surety about themselves that seems to calm down any situation.

When the patient becomes comatose which will more than likely happen before the end, you will need sitters unless the family can take care of this. Sometimes before this stage sitters have to be hired if the wife too is in poor health.

Hospice nurses come frequently to check for vitals and other important health issues. If the nurse realizes that the patient is in pain, she arranges for stronger pain medication like morphine. She will advise that starting someone morphine for the first time may result in also calming the respiratory system which can cause an earlier painless passing. She lets the family make his decision. The nurse will also tell you that a body knows what it needs in the end and also what it doesn’t need. Towards the end food is no longer important and finally even the need for water stops. Knowing what to expect makes this horrible period less frightening.

When the end comes, you call the Hospice nurse and she will come, whatever the time, and pronounce the death. She will contact the funeral home and take care of all the paperwork. The next day all the accouterments of the Hospital Room are gone. Again Hospice offers counseling services but are neither insistent nor obtrusive.

At the end of a cancer patient’s life, Hospice enables him or her to die at home rather than in a strange hospital room. The help and services they provide are absolutely priceless.

Copyright 2007 Janice D. Sterling - All Rights Reserved

Tour de Georgia 2008 - Benefiting Cancer Research

Technorati Tags: Cancer Research, Hospice Care For Cancer Victims

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