December 17th, 2008

My mother is not doing very well. We called Hospice and they have been very helpful. These people really care about us. They do not dance around the issue like the doctors we are used to.

Hospice is an organization that cares for dying patients. The goal of hospice is to allow patients to continue with an alert, pain-free life and to manage other symptoms so that their last days may be spent with dignity and quality, surrounded by their loved ones. Death is considered the last stage of life to Hospice. Care can be and is given twenty- four hours a day, seven days a week and is can be done in a patient's home, a hospital, nursing home, or private hospice facility. Hospice comes in to relieve the symptoms of cancer, not to cure it, this is called palliative care. They usually come in when the patient has six months left of their life.

I can not tell you how helpful this was to my mother. She was not able to care for my dad all the time and she wasn't a doctor, she had no idea what to do. When hospice came in, it relieved her. They were so friendly and make the last few months smoother and easier on us all. My mom told me that she was a little bit hesitant to get into the program because she felt like it would be like letting go of hope. After she decided however, I think that she knows it was the right decision.