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My mom has Lewy body dementia with PD. She has been living with me for 16 months of which 14 months she has been on hospice. Last fall hospice strongly advised for flu and pneumonia shots and basically shoved the permission form in my face. I have mpoa. They have treated several utis and mild pneumonia with antibiotics.
My mom's quality of life is ok. Physically, she can get around with a walker but has fallen quite a few times. She has trouble swallowing liquids so has to have them thickened. Her taste buds are pretty much gone so she is a very picky eater and only weighs 96lbs. She had a feeding tube for over a year but I recently had that removed because she eats solid food just fine. The tube was causing her pain.
She is always asking for "Tylenol" and is prescribed vicodin for pain. Mentally, she is unhappy, mean, critical, negative, you get the picture. She is maxed out on anti-depressants, anti-anxiety, anti-psychotics. Before those, she was a force to be reckoned with in the nursing home. She was very unhappy there and so came to live with me.
My question is at what point is it right for me to say no more flu shots, no more antibiotics, enough is enough. She is scared to death to die literally and I swear she hangs on to make my life a living hell. Thanks in advance!

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mynuthouse...I believe the only way you can remove her meds from her is if you have durable power of attorney. If hospice is giving her antibiotics for utis...they are giving her meds for comfort and care. If you have ever had a UTI its very painful...and as for the vaccination shots I do believe you can decline those. But only if you have DPOA. If MPOA gives you the authority over her medical treatment then I am sure you could decide whats best for her. With my mom she had a DNR advanced directive that gave strict instructions on what life sustaining procedures could be done. So when the time came and mom couldn't swallow any more...the nurses and social worker and I sat down and discussed what was next. I recommended the appropriate time to discontinue all her meds. She didn't want any feeding tubes...so basically all we could do is keep her comfortable. I'm sorry...Lewy Body Dementia is horrible...I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. God bless you.
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