Switching Gears – Hospice

We signed for Hospice today, which will change a few things for Karen.

Karen is no longer receiving treatment for her cancer, so her care has been in limbo since discharge. All the same doctors are willing to continue helping her, governmental regulations make pain management very difficult, since she can’t travel up to the Clinic to see her doctors.

We tried to continue using home health for therapy, and palliative care for medications, but the palliative care down here isn’t the same as it is at the Clinic. Up there, they prescribe meds, down here, they don’t. At least the ones we spoke to didn’t.

Over the last week Karen’s priority transitioned from therapy to symptom management, so we reached out for Hospice. Home Health and Hospice is an either/or thing, but not both.

What does this mean?

Karen now has a local on-call doctor who can prescribe meds, a nurse that stops by several times a week, and a team of support that manages many of the things we were doing. They’ll deliver meds to the door when needed, order supplies, give advice and spiritual care, and other services, all here in house when we need, day or night.

So, why didn’t we make this choice earlier?

Hospice is symptom management, not treatment. Karen needed to decide for herself that she won’t be seeking treatment any longer. For instance, a couple weeks ago Karen was bleeding internally, so we went to the hospital, they stabilized her, treated her, and transported her home. It was a close thing for her. Nothing they did was really fixing a problem, but they did treat her for the problem. It is less likely that if she starts bleeding again that they could send her home again, so she’s decided not to seek that treatment. She’ll stay here at home if something like this happens again. Or anything like it. She wants to be here.

That doesn’t mean they won’t treat normal things. Colds, infections, broken limbs, etc. Just not anything the cancer related issues that can’t be fixed. Now, they will solely be treating her by what they can see or she can communicate. If she feels queasy they will make her feel better. If she feels pain, they’ll adjust her meds. No more blood tests or trips to the hospital for her.

This doesn’t mean that anything is imminent. If anything, we’re hoping that she achieves a greater level of comfort, and allows her to do more than she has been. Less poking and prodding, and hopefully, a little more relief. We’ll continue to take it day by day, and hour by hour. And I’ll continue to post with regularity.

I’ve had friends reach out asking if I’d seen something on Facebook or elsewhere, and I haven’t. We’re not really doing a lot of personal correspondence right now, and probably won’t start. I’m reading notes, letters, comments, etc. to her but we’re not able to reply to them. Thank you for your understanding.

I’m hoping that hospice can help her be more comfortable, allowing her to take a phone call or FaceTime call every once in a while. Fingers crossed. If we can arrange that, please remember that talking much leaves her short of breath. I’ve tried to schedule calls in advance, and it just doesn’t work out, since the meds play havoc with her.

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