What If You Only Had A Few Weeks Left, How Would You Live It?

Life Rarely Goes As We Plan.

Charlotte was diagnosed with breast cancer as she celebrated her 85^th birthday in August…

A spirited, independent woman, Charlotte did not let the course of illness stop her from enjoying the things she loves doing.

Charlotte loved celebrations – she would make an excuse for a get-together!

However, as the disease progress and as she began experiencing more pain, she shared her wish to stop the curative treatment and opted for hospice in November.

While the nurses tried to assure that everything would be okay and she would be able to join her family for Christmas dinner, Charlotte said, “No, I know I’m going to die and I’m okay with that and you should be too.'”

Hospice Care allowed Charlotte to live the last few weeks of her life peacefully and celebrating the gift God has given!

She enjoyed every minute she got to spend with her family and on Christmas Eve she called her friends and family to say her goodbyes! She died in the early hours on 25^th December!

Charlotte’s family said that Hospice care allowed Charlotte to live her last few weeks just as she has envisioned – CELEBRATING LIFE!!!

The last days of terminal illness can be really challenging for the patient and the caregiver. When you have only a few weeks left, what would you like to do?

As one approaches the end of life, the focus often changes from aggressive treatment to making the patient as comfortable as possible. Depending on the nature of illness and the patient’s circumstances, the last days of life can vary from a few days to a few weeks and a few months.

The choice about how to spend the time, what would you allow into your life, and what measures to take, often differ for different people. During the last days of your life, it is important to move over the trauma and choose to be happy.

In the final stage of a terminal illness, hospice care can help control pain and other symptoms along with offering emotional and spiritual support to the patient and his family. The simple act of everyday living often combined with end-of-life decisions can make the journey for the family caregivers uniquely challenging.

End of life care also includes saying your goodbyes, resolving any differences that you may have, expressing your love and forgiving any grudges. While it can be an extremely painful time for the patient and his family, choosing the right hospice care can help you come to the terms with your loss and make the transition from caregiving and grief towards acceptance and healing.

While it is impossible to point out a specific incidence in an illness when end-of-life care begins, it often depends on the patient and the progression of his/her illness. If the patient is suffering from dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, the doctor will suggest hospice care based on the stages in the diagnosis.

Here are a few signs that may indicate it’s time to choose hospice care, rather than opting for curative options for the patient.

• The patient has made multiple trips to the emergency room in the past few weeks
• The illness continues to progress significantly while negatively affecting the patient’s quality of life
• The patient wish to remain at home rather than spending time at the hospital
• The symptoms have been worsening irrespective of curative treatment
• The patient decides to stop curative treatment for the disease

YES. Hospice care helps a patient live the last few days or weeks of his/her life as comfortable as possible.

Hospice care service providers cater to the patients changing needs and offer their services in the following areas.

• Care and Assistance

  Is it difficult for your terminally ill and aging loved one to talk, sit, walk, eat, or do other everyday tasks without assistance? Do routine activities such as dressing, bathing, feeding, and turning require your support? The hospice care team can provide assistance for these tasks to help patient live a comfortable life.

• Comfort and Dignity

  As a person grows old, his cognitive and memory function depletes. However, a person’s capacity to feel at peace, feel frightened, sad, lonely, loved, or secure remains intact. The most helpful interventions from a hospice team are those which help the patient ease his pain and discomfort. Being pain-free and at peace helps the patient create a meaningful connection with his loved ones.

• Respite Care

  End-of-life care can be overwhelming and intense for the caregiver. This is when an experienced team of hospice providers can offer the family and caregiver respite care. A hospice volunteer may choose to visit the patient for a few hours so that the caregiver does not feel burn out and indulge in some self-care.

• Grief Support

  Anticipating the death of your loved ones can produce a reaction from sadness to relief and feeling numb. Spiritual advisors help the family prepare for the coming loss before the death of the patient and deal with the loss after the patient dies.

When caregivers, family members, and loved ones are clear about the patient’s preference to stop curative treatment and choose hospice care, it is important to honor the patient’s wish. While every patient’s and the family needs differ, a majority of patient chooses to remain at home during the final stages of life. Make sure to plan ahead of time and give the patient enough time to decide what’s best for him/her.

Hospice is often considered as an option for patients who have six months or less to live. It can be provided at a hospital, at home or other health care facilities. Hospice care professionals provide emotional support, spiritual support, physical therapy, assistance with personal care needs, and a lot more other services.

People often believe that hospice care is for a patient who is going to die. Others believe that hospice care hastens death. However, it is a misconception.

The goal of hospice care is to improve the life quality of the patient and provide him comfort by alleviating his pain. While hospice care neither hastens death nor prolongs life, studies have shown that patients with certain illnesses often live longer and better with hospice care than those with the same illness who don’t choose hospice care.

Moreover, patients are allowed to leave a hospice program at any point in time they want. They can re-enroll in the program again if they wish to.

A hospice may be for-profit, non-profit, community-based, independent, or work as a part of another organization. While all hospices meet the same basic requirement, they are different from one another.

Why settle for less than the best? We just do Hospice better than the rest. At Inspiration Hospice, we believe in helping patients and families receive care and services when they need it the most.

For Us, Patient and Families Always Come First!

Did you know with early referral to hospice care, it become easier for the patient and his family to manage the symptoms in a better manner, be comfortable and prolong survival?

What if you had only a few weeks left to live? What do you want that time to be like? What do you really want?

Happiness…

Physical comfort…

Being pain-free…

Assistance when needed…

High level of care…

Family not burdened financially…

Having loved ones around…

A peaceful DEATH…

We just do it better…

Don’t settle for less than the best…

Inspiration Hospice offers individuals and families a variety of hospice care services that provide assistance to all ages. We believe that nothing is more important than delivering compassionate and loving care to our patients and families.

Think about it…

What If You Only Had A Few Weeks Left??? What Do You Want?