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My father has cancer and dementia. He has around the clock care. He has gotten very weak and recently fell. I checked him from head to toe. He was fine. I called the doctors office to see if they could prescribe a wheelchair for him. The doctor who was on call, (not my dads doctor), said I needed to bring my dad to hospital for evaluation. My dad had told me in the beginning, no hospitals. Am I going to be in trouble if I don't bring him in? I know my dad is dieing and he wanted to die at home. His own doctor we saw on Thursday of this past week. I have power of attorney.

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No doctor really wants to admit his patients are close to dying, especially if they have been with him a long time and are friendly to each other. I've read stats that show that if a doctor is social friends with someone, that person has a hospice referral 3 months later than someone with no social attachments to the doc - and often those 3 months are too late for hospice to be of much use.

You are doing the right thing by calling Hospice in. Make sure they put Cancer as his primary diagnosis as it makes acceptance much easier. They will be requesting his doctor's records so they will know hospice has become involved.
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Susanlouise, I think you made the right decision, especially in light of your father's wish to avoid a hospital.

You are certainly correct that many doctors don't seem to recognize that people's medical needs change as we grow older. Geriatricians specialize in that.
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I have decided to cancel the MRI. It makes no difference what they would find and it would make him truly uncomfortable. After my father passes, I am going to look for a new doctor. I think the one we are seeing, does not understand the elderly. Not that I am old, but I will be sooner than I would like. Hospice will be in on Wednesday and from then on I won't have to take my father out of his home. I pulled my back getting him into the doctors last week. I will tell the doctor tomorrow that I called Hospice. Thank you to all of you who answered my question. I feel very alone in this. My husband is great but he didn't grow up with my family and now they will all be gone. When Mom died I had the hardest time because I used to call her all the time to talk over things. I don't have that anymore. It is sad.
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The doctor on call was not being unreasonable: he could not be sure your father was fine without seeing him, and wouldn't want it on record that he hadn't advised an evaluation.

However, if you are happy to take responsibility for the decision then I don't see any problem with your trusting your own judgement. So no, don't take him to hospital - with the ordeal of the journey, a long wait, unnecessary tests and all the rest of it - if you are quite sure that the fall did no harm.

Call back during the working week about the wheelchair, or wait for the hospice visit. Meanwhile, you can probably find techniques online for correct support of a frail elder with poor balance - there's a knack to it. Circle of Care has a YouTube video, and there's another at mariecurie.org.uk.
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I don't understand the need for the MRI either.
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Why put him through an MRI except to get more $$? You know he's terminal - get him evaluated by Hospice first!

Hospice provided the wheelchair when mthr stopped being able to walk. Hospice provides everything she needs medically - I had no idea they had so many interesting pieces of aid equipment, but it makes her life so much better.
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See above answer
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Hospice is coming in on Wednesday. I called them when I saw that he was going into a decline. His Doctor has schedualed a MRI for tomorrow. I wanted the wheelchair for then. But my friend and I will get him to the car. The imaging place has wheelchairs. My father will be pushed in the wheelchair. I know he wouldn't be able to work it on his own. Cancer and dementia are the worst thing a daughter has to watch. I have watched and taken care of my mother, my brother and now my father. My father is the only one with dementia. My brother and mother were of sound mind when they were dieing. I didn't have to worry about the decisions I do with Dad
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Do you have hospice coming in? They should have staff that can do the evaluation and prescribe a wheelchair. Hospice and wheelchair are completely covered expenses under Medicare. Due to the dementia he may not remember to use the wheelchair. 
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