He is also diabetic and has had a quadruple bypass. He has 5 stents that have been put in place since his open heart surgery. In March he had 2 strokes, a mild heart attack, blood and kidney infections. In September, he had a severe bladder and kidney infection and he was urinating pure blood. He was also dehydrated.
I will be praying for you and your husband. I will pray that he accepts the faith as his time draws nearer.. You do the same. I know how upsetting that can be. Just speak the truth to him about your beliefs and let him know there is nothing to fear! I thought my brother died with no beliefs, but a friend of his who spoke at his funeral assured me that he had a great deal of faith! It was so comforting to me. I wish you the best. Yes, Hospice House is very expensive, but Medicare pays for Hospice at home, in a nursing home, or at a hospital. You still need to get in touch with Hospice. Just give them a call and explain everything. Love and prayers to you Diana and your husband. from Nancy
At 7 they usually become bedridden, and forget how to swallow, everything goes then! I hope you are not at that point now!
As to the stages, their are four stage and seven stage scales depending on the organization however your husbands many health issues plus his obviously advanced Alzheimer's would indicate a need for comfort care.
Take care of yourself, too. This is tough to go through and hospice is generally good about providing guidance for the family.
Carol
Not sure when your husband is now (I'm assuming in a nursing home?)
I'm also assuming Palliative care at home for him at this point is not an option/something you would want to consider?
Wow, he has fought through an awful lot hasn't he? Had a tough time of it. Just been through this with my mum. She ended up contracting pneumonia and it took her in a week. (Was actually very peaceful way for her to go, so after all the medical poking and prodding and trying to get her over the latest ailment, she was literally at peace.
(Some people said 'It must be a relief', but that made me very mad. It was not a 'relief' for me. I adored my mum and we were given hope she would pull through 2 weeks before she died)
But I can see that for mum it was probably the kindest thing. It stopped being clear whether she was fighting to live, or whether it was just us fighting to keep her with us. I think for the last couple of months it was probably the latter.
It was incredibly hard to accept we 'had' to give up fighting. But once we did, a kind of peace settled on us all. The fact that I was no longer constantly going nose to nose with over-stretched hospital consultants over her treatment did enable me to just spend time with her holding her hand, and reassuring her I'd look after dad and my siblings. (She died 2 hours after that)
I will say prayers for you both at this time.
Big hug.
Me personally? I'd call them.