Wellness

[ford1224_2]

Ellen and others:

I have talked to my brother, who spoke with the hospice care association that is providing hospice care for my sister at the nursing home. The manager of this association is going to speak with the nursing home management about the mistreatment given to my sister. The woman told my brother that when this occurs (and it is not rare), they are very effective in monitoring the treatment of a specific patient, since the workers then realize the family is watching closely. He said they then become afraid of losing their jobs, so they are more likely to hold their "impatience" in check. We shall see.

On the other issue of there being actual "hospice locations," you are correct. They are available. However, even though my sister is terminal, she is not considered to be in "imminent death" condition. Hospices are reserved for those who clearly have only days or a week or so to live. In those cases, these individuals are given 24 hour care by hospice workers who, as you have indicated, are extremely gentle and caring toward the patient.

Although my sister was clearly close to death in the hospital (again, see my post on "Miracles" in this forum about a week or so ago), in fact, she was given last rites by a Lutheran minister (which I neglected to mention in that post), she has inexplicably rallied to the point that they obviously feel she can live more than a few days or a week. That's why they chose to put her in this facility that Medicare is paying for 100 days.

So we shall see what happens in the next several days . . . how this affects her care.

BTW, and this is truly unbelievable, my sister's children are now in Arkansas (we live in NJ), called by a relative yesterday morning that their father (my sister's first husband) is dying from the final ravages of untreated diabetes. He is in total organ shutdown at this point and has been given only days to survive. So they have had to choose who is in more immediate danger.

What a test of their strength.

Carolean