Re: Debunking the hospice myth-truth versus falsehood

[Guest guest]

I am so very glad that I never thought of Hospice in any bad light!!  We know

for ourselves what is a better path for us individually.  As I say, I'm not

afraid to die; but, I am afraid of the pain.  Knowing that Hospice will take

care of that end of things, makes me comfortable.  Already I've thought things

out a bit and know that I won't put up a real stink if it appears I'd be better

in the hospital.  I do have other people to think of, besides myself.  I would

be selfish if they tried squeezing in this RV to be with me.  Go gentle into

the night!!  (just a thought that went through my head at that moment)

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Debunking the hospice myth.

People believe that the goal in hospice care is to just let nature take it's

course, or an even worse urban myth- that hospice nurses are like angels of

death, sent to hasten death on purpose by using morphine to " kill " the

terminally ill patient. Nothing could be further from the truth.

---****Quality today versus quantity tomorrow (at all costs)****---

The difference between standard medical care and hospice is not the difference

between treating and doing nothing. The difference was in your priorities. In

ordinary medicine, the goal is to extend life. Standard medical care will

sacrifice the quality of your existence now by performing surgery, providing

chemotherapy, putting you in intensive care for the chance of gaining time

later. Hospice deploys nurses, doctors, and social workers to help people with a

fatal illness have the fullest possible lives right now. That means focusing on

objectives like freedom from pain and discomfort, or maintaining mental

awareness for as long as possible, or getting out with family once in a while.

Hospice and palliative-care specialists aren’t much concerned about whether

that makes people’s lives longer or shorter. Many people believe that hospice

care hastens death, because patients forgo hospital treatments and are allowed

high-dose narcotics to combat pain.

But studies suggest otherwise. In one, researchers followed 4,493 Medicare

patients with either terminal cancer or congestive heart failure. They found no

difference in survival time between hospice and non-hospice patients with breast

cancer, prostate cancer, and colon cancer. Curiously, hospice care seemed to

extend survival for some patients; those with pancreatic cancer gained an

average of three weeks, those with lung cancer gained six weeks, and those with

congestive heart failure gained three months. The lesson seems almost Zen: you

live longer only when you stop trying to live longer.

When Ardis was admitted to a hospice in August 2006, I was told that she could

only stay if she showed positive signs of dying. If she began to " rebound " as

often is the case with liver patients as soon as the host of liver-toxic drugs

are discontinued,I would have had to take her back to the nursing home. This

distressed me very much, because they told me that they could not  be sure if I

could get another bed for her at that hospice, as it had just opened it's doors

for business. Within a day she progressed, and died the best way any one could

ever ask for. Mercy was bountiful, and I hope that my end is as graceful and

swift. For newcomers, the story is here-

http://sweetlorrane.blogspot.com/

Bobby Aragon