Mom is 91, CHF, stroke, vascular dementia, broken hip repair, now has had pneumonia on and off, mostly on, since January. Pleural effusion (tapped 6 weeks ago, nearly died of sepsis) has reappeared and now a collapsed lung. Pulmonologist has advised no further intervention. We are talking to Hospice folks at NH tomorrow. How do we ensure that mom does not die in respiratory distress? When they tapped her in the hospital, she was gasping for air. The ended up doing a bipap, but refused her morphine. Does hospice know how to prevent this from happening?
Ultimately, everyone dies of respiratory distress. Just like everyone dies from heart failure. When the heart and lungs begin shutting down they both go into distress. Hospice will get your mom through this with very little anxiety and/or pain.
I am very sorry for the journey you're all taking right now. It's heartbreaking.