Dad
has been doing poorly with his pneumonia. I visited him yesterday; he
was coughing and gasping. Today I got a call from the nursing home: he
was coughing so much he couldn't eat. There is a lot of fluid in his
lungs.
They wanted to insert a feeding tube, but I said no. It's too invasive and painful for what may be a temporary condition.
Since he was coughing so much, they also called the doctor. All he recommended was putting Dad in hospice, and recommended the feeding tube. I nixed both.
You already know what I felt about his hospice experience --before I pulled him out of hospice care (there to hasten, not soften, the dying process).
I don't know if he's approaching The End, or will rally and get better. Again. He's decrepit now and well beyond the point of trying to save him. But I still don't want the hospice vultures near him, with their easy & plentiful morphine... so easy to increase the dosage until... oops! well, he was old and done, anyway, they'd say as they excused themselves, not admitting anything.
They wanted to insert a feeding tube, but I said no. It's too invasive and painful for what may be a temporary condition.
Since he was coughing so much, they also called the doctor. All he recommended was putting Dad in hospice, and recommended the feeding tube. I nixed both.
You already know what I felt about his hospice experience --before I pulled him out of hospice care (there to hasten, not soften, the dying process).
I don't know if he's approaching The End, or will rally and get better. Again. He's decrepit now and well beyond the point of trying to save him. But I still don't want the hospice vultures near him, with their easy & plentiful morphine... so easy to increase the dosage until... oops! well, he was old and done, anyway, they'd say as they excused themselves, not admitting anything.
