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Hospice
First,
a little background. My husband had a closed head brain injury in 1990 and
stayed at Health South Rehab hospital for about 5 months learning to deal
with short term memory issues and getting back on his feet. Within a few
months after he had recovered from that he also developed a melanoma cancer
on his leg which had already spread to his lymph nodes when found and he had
surgery to remove lymph nodes in the groin part of his leg, move the muscle
over the artery running down the leg and learned the lymph nodes had the
melanoma cancer in them. After the surgery we began a chemo drip at the
doctor’s office every week for two months and then I gave him prepared
immunotherapy shots three days a week for the rest of a year. During his
treatments he went back to work. He eventually had to retire.
Roughly coming up on the 10 years when you can say “you are cured of the
cancer if it hasn’t returned,” he had a massive heart attack as we were in
route to the emergency room and went without oxygen to the brain for a few
minutes. I was told they had to shock him 5 times to bring him back. Due to
the previous closed head brain injury and the loss of oxygen to the brain he
later started developing dementia. We dealt with this for several years and
also during that time the cancer returned and showed up on his face for
which he had several surgeries to remove the cancer until it finally
metastasized in his lung. By the time the cancer came back in his lung his
dementia had progressed so that I had to hire a sitter to stay with him
while I was at work and then when he got worse I had to call in Hospice to
assist me and the sitter and assist they did. You begin by talking with them
and filling out the paperwork for the insurance, as in our case to begin
with, or Medicare-Medicaid and from there they take over. I was not bothered
by that again until Pat passed away.
To begin with they started coming by sporadically to have a nurse check on
him and also to see if I needed anything or had any questions. I had a
nurse, someone to help bath him, a case worker, the minister and had access
to all their information and knowledge which also empowered me with what to
expect or what to look for. They gave me material to read. Evidentially they
assisted with how to provide a walker, a wheel chair when he could not walk,
shower chair and had a hospital bed moved into our bedroom when he got so
weak he could not get out of bed. They got the type of mattress that had air
that circulated to keep him from getting bed sores. The only good thing
about the dementia at this point was that he did not understand what was
happening when the cancer was beginning to take its toll on his body. When
he needed oxygen to help him breath they got it. They stayed on top of
everything to help him stay comfortable and not be in any pain. They
provided the same nurse so that he could get use to the one person. Even
toward the end for a while as his blood pressure got weaker and weaker, the
nurse stayed all night in the living room, while me and Pat were in our
bedroom, him in the hospital bed and me in our bed next to him.
The night he passed away, he of course had gotten a little better so it was
just me and him at home that night and when I woke up in the middle of the
night and did not hear him breathing and got up to check on him, he had
passed away and the first call was to the case worker to let her know and
she immediately came over to be with me. They called the police because of
him dying at home and dealt with them, they called the funeral home to come
get him, they filled out and signed all the papers, they destroyed his
medicines, they had the company come get the bed to get the room back in
order and then they stayed with me until I could get my friend Stacy to come
over to be with me until the morning when my family got back from being out
of town.
No where will you find a more caring group of individuals when you need them
and I don’t care which Hospice you choose, they are a Godsend and definitely
special individuals to be able to deal with this on a daily basis. They are
available to you 24/7. I can tell you, they are strong, but I know they also
wept when he passed away because they get attached to the individuals they
are caring for.
While I was dealing with Pat in his last few months, my brother and I also
had to help assist caring for my Aunt Blanche and eventually my Aunt Helen.
Curtis took over for Aunt Blanche because I was dealing with Pat and she
took more care and time and I assisted with Aunt Helen, because she had her
husband, Ben, of 10 years at the home to also help her. I bought the
groceries for them and helped pay bills. Both of them had other health
issues and also eventually developed dementia and eventually became bed
ridden and we had to call in Hospice for each of them. First Hospice was
there for my Aunt Blanche who we moved into my Aunt Helen’s house at her
request so they could be together. They set up a room with the hospital bed
for her and began the same process for her as they had done for Pat.
Eventually we had to also have them for Helen when she her health also
declined and so Hospice was at one point treating both of them at the same
time. Different case workers, but the nurses and minister were the same.
Having Hospice allowed my husband and both of my Aunts to be able to stay at
home at the end of their lives and be around family and friends for which I
am so glad we did. My Aunt Blanche passed away in February and 2 months
later my Aunt Helen passed away. All three of them passed away easy and with
family around them.
I don’t care which Hospice you choose to support with the SCC; they are ALL
worthy of support. I am also an advocate for using any Hospice to help your
family member pass from this life with dignity at home, if at all possible,
and to also help their spouse or other family members in preparing for that
end. Also, Hospice is not just for the last few months when you are dying.
They helped me and Pat for a much longer time. As long as you have a disease
that will continue to get worse and eventually cause your death, you could
be eligible for Hospice. I know someone who had Hospice for several years.
It may be that at first they are not there as much, but they are there when
you then need them for much more assistance.
Deborah Fike, APIR
Insurance Licensing Supervisor
Alabama Department of Insurance
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