Hospice Care..Is It For You

I have finally experienced hospice care giving first hand. It is not something that I would wish upon anyone - after all...it means you are having to deal intimately with death. Not many people are comfortable with this fact. Some people have a hard time even admitting to themselves that a family member is terminally ill. That type of person I think would not be able to handle hospice care in their home.

Death is part of living. It just happens at the end of life. We personally found that it was easier to have our family member with us the last couple of weeks of his life - than to have him anywhere else. It is something that we do not regret doing. We know he was given the best care possible with more personal attention then he would have had anywhere else. His smiles and antics made the very private things we did for him worth every moment.

There are cons - you must be able to handle death and admit it is going to happen. It will also more than likely happen with you there and it is going to happen in your home. Can you handle those facts? Another con - Will the spouse be there? We also had the mate here and now they now cannot look in the area where the bed was without deep sorrow. Their partner died there ...nothing can change that. Will they ever get over it... I cannot promise you they will. It has been over 6 months and we still deal with it almost daily.

Would we do it again? ABSOLUTELY YES -it was worth having "Pop" here - sticking his tongue out at me -laughing and smiling those last few days. I know he died with dignity in the comfort and privacy of our home -where he knew he was surrounded with love.

We miss you Pop - but we are glad you are no longer suffering...