It's probably time to get hospice involved. They will have a nurse come once a week to start, and aides to bathe your mom twice a week. They will also supply any and all equipment needed in moms care and any medications as well, all covered under moms Medicare 100%. Now that will still leave 99 % of moms care to you, so hopefully you have family or friends to assist. Only the Good Lord knows when He will call your mom home, and since you didn't share what kind of cancer she has and what the Dr.'s prognosis is, there's no way to know. Just be there for her, let her know she's loved and leave nothing left unsaid. Hospice will try their best to keep her comfortable, until her time comes. God bless you.
Look up hospice companies and their reviews. (Yelp is a decent source for reviews.)
If she's in a nursing home, they likely have a number of patients on hospice and you can ask them which ones already come to the nursing home and perhaps choose one of them since they know the routines of the place already.
Her doctor has to sign off on hospice, which shouldn't be an issue.
Once you sign up with hospice, they'll explain everything they do, what services they provide, and how it all works. It's all paid for by Medicare, including medical equipment like hospital beds
Know that if you don't like the hospice company or how they're doing their job, including how they treat you, the family (because you matter, too), you are free to fire them and get another company to come in. I had to fire the first hospice company I had for my dad because their social worker was nasty and told me -- the exhausted primary caregiver and main contact -- "this isn't about you." (Grrrr.) They also never returned phone calls. I've had excellent luck with the second company I hired, and with the company I'm currently using for my mother.
Good luck, and know that hospice is an absolute lifesaver, because the focus shifts from endless medical care to keep your mom going forever (quantity of life) to quality of life. It takes a huge load off your own mind knowing that nature can take its course, and Mom will be comfortable until her last breath.
Every single case of cancer, no matter what kind, no matter how metastasized, or not, is individual to the patient as his or her own thumbprint. There is no way to tell for us for certain, and even her own MD can only provide a rough guess. You are going to now need hospice and the MD will know when you are looking at a likely time frame of 6 months left to live. I would suggest palliative care, then moving into hospice and comfort care. If no blockages form then you may be looking at a better quality of life, possibly even a better longevity than with chemo which is dreadfully hard on the body. I agree with your assessment. Do discuss with your Mom's doctor how spread, what stage, the likely number of months and your plan for palliative care. Ask about hospice and the prognosis. Wishing you good luck.
You don't say what type of Cancer she has. But really no one can predict how long someone will live with any cancer.
You may want to check out Hospice. You still will do most of the care but you will get an aide to bathe her 3x a week. A Nurse checks in 2 or 3x a week, should be on call 24/7. Mom will be given pain killers probably Morphine when needed. Depends and prescriptions, durable equipment and other things.
There was a member that said she was given an aide more than an hour at a time. It may depend on how many clients a Hospice has to how many hours they can give.
4 Answers
Helpful Newest
First Oldest
First
Now that will still leave 99 % of moms care to you, so hopefully you have family or friends to assist.
Only the Good Lord knows when He will call your mom home, and since you didn't share what kind of cancer she has and what the Dr.'s prognosis is, there's no way to know. Just be there for her, let her know she's loved and leave nothing left unsaid. Hospice will try their best to keep her comfortable, until her time comes. God bless you.
If she's in a nursing home, they likely have a number of patients on hospice and you can ask them which ones already come to the nursing home and perhaps choose one of them since they know the routines of the place already.
Her doctor has to sign off on hospice, which shouldn't be an issue.
Once you sign up with hospice, they'll explain everything they do, what services they provide, and how it all works. It's all paid for by Medicare, including medical equipment like hospital beds
Know that if you don't like the hospice company or how they're doing their job, including how they treat you, the family (because you matter, too), you are free to fire them and get another company to come in. I had to fire the first hospice company I had for my dad because their social worker was nasty and told me -- the exhausted primary caregiver and main contact -- "this isn't about you." (Grrrr.) They also never returned phone calls. I've had excellent luck with the second company I hired, and with the company I'm currently using for my mother.
Good luck, and know that hospice is an absolute lifesaver, because the focus shifts from endless medical care to keep your mom going forever (quantity of life) to quality of life. It takes a huge load off your own mind knowing that nature can take its course, and Mom will be comfortable until her last breath.
ADVERTISEMENT
You may want to check out Hospice. You still will do most of the care but you will get an aide to bathe her 3x a week. A Nurse checks in 2 or 3x a week, should be on call 24/7. Mom will be given pain killers probably Morphine when needed. Depends and prescriptions, durable equipment and other things.
There was a member that said she was given an aide more than an hour at a time. It may depend on how many clients a Hospice has to how many hours they can give.