My mom hasn't been told she has a terminal condition, there is no estimated timetable on her decline. However, she is going through a lot of difficulty right now with many issues...she has some dementia, and it is made worse by what her doctor thinks might be systemic candida. She has yeast infection sores breaking out all in numerous places on her body, as well as a thrush infection in her mouth. She does not have HIV.
To top it off, the ALF got her started on round the clock Ativan for anxiety, which really backfired on mom...her confusion worsened, her panic worsened, her breathing got very slow and shallow along with her speech getting slow and slurred. She had a large quantity of the classic side-effects to Ativan and I told them to get her off it.
Mom is pulling off it (she was on 1 mg, 3x a day) and suffering muscle cramps, confusion, speech problems, panic.
Now they are saying we should call hospice. How can I do that when her doctors don't say she's terminal?
Besides, she still wants to fight if the Candida is beatable.
I'm crying so much lately, this is just awful. I don't know what to do.
Thanks. You've all given me so much support recently and it's deeply appreciated.
The candida may well be beatable. Has an infectious diseases specialist been called in? I am battling candida myself - due to too many antibiotics - something to be aware of. The only one who has known how to treat it is a specialist . He. or she knows if it can be dealt with and, if so, what to do about it. Systemic candida is exhausting, causes brain fog, aches and pains and a number of other symptoms, which are not helping your mum's overall condition. There are a small assortment of drugs that are pretty effective.
She still wants to fight, then bring in the people who can treat the candida. Once they have done what they can do, see how she is, and go from there.
Most people, including general practioners have no idea how debilitating systemic candida is. It also has a 40-45% mortality rate. Give her a chance and get her treatment for it.
In my Mom's case, she had already slipped into that coma-like state before the Dr recommended hospice. So even though the Dr wanted her permission first, I had to be the one as POA to let the Dr know what Mom would want.
Before Mom was on hospice, she was receiving palliative care from the same agency --- the Visiting Nurses Association. Palliative care is for patients who are not considered terminal but their condition is not curable.
For us, the nurse would come out two or three times per week to make sure Mom was not in pain or distress --- not to fix the illness but to make her comfortable. Mom had Parkinson's Disease, hydrocephalus, NF2 and many other health issues.
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