Hospice is giving Dad morphine around the clock. Is that right?

faithandlove, I see by the profile that your Dad has cancer... never assume that he isn't in pain with such an serious illness. You want him to be comfortable and not to suffer. Choose what is right for him, not for yourself.

They did the same thing to my father. He died within days. It is a kind of legally assisted death in hospice care.

Any time you don't understand something that's going on always ask questions.

Having said that, I work in hospice. I administer morphine. The morphine usually comes after the person isn't able to swallow a pain medication anymore. Morphine comes in liquid form. I am a firm believer in staying ahead of the pain. I've seen unmedicated people who were dying and they yell and scream and moan and it's very, very traumatic for the family. When someone is living their last days it's much better to stay ahead of the pain than it is to catch up to the pain. I don't want someone's dying parent to experience even 5 minutes of pain.

Many people at the end of life become unable to verbalize their pain but when they're turned it's evident that they are in pain. I always assume the person is in pain if they're unable to verbalize it. I'd rather err on the side of caution than have that person laying there, unable to speak, locked in their own body and being in pain.

What is the downside of morphine around the clock? Is he hallucinating or having any uncomfortable symptoms that might be attributable to the morphine?

Is he unable to communicate with you when you think he otherwise might be able to?

If you think the morphine is causing problems, discuss your reasons and request the dose be adjusted a bit to see if that helps.

But if the morphine is not doing apparent harm, assume it is doing good, and leave it alone.

Dying is painful, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Let the nurses manage the pain meds. If you don't "stay ahead of it" it becomes very difficult to minimize the pain.

Find out the dose he is getting, and how often. Check it with his doctor. Does he seem groggy? If he's awake enough to talk to you, I wouldn't worry.

When I look back on my father's dying, I wish I had given him more pain medicine. He wasn't in a lot of pain, but I realize that it probably nagged at him a lot of the time. It made him crabby, and why should a person suffer any unnecessary pain in the last weeks or months of their life?