My 95 year old Mum was transferred from hospital to hospice on last Tuesday. Nice place, beautiful grounds, good food, peaceful setting for greater London.
There was a mess up with the discharge and mum didn't get given her medications with which the hospital discharged her. Hospice nurse asked me to collect the meds from the hospital and take them to hospice and that I did the following morning. On the Thursday morning two of the doctors and their supervising doctor came in and spoke to me. Mum had had severe constipation, infection and has uterine cancer that was not being treated agressively. So I asked what their treatment plan would be - was the constipation loosened up, how the infection was, had cancer spread - that sort of stuff.
It came as a surprise when the head doctor said " we don't know and we don't care. I stopped all her medications and we just treat for pain relief".
I know mum has wanted to die for many months and I accept that she will. I didn't think that hospice meant that all of the meds would be stopped altogether and so soon, not least since I had been asked by hospice to bring the meds from the hospital - a special journey for me. I wasn't told that mum would have her meds withdrawn - meds for high blood pressure, diabetes, antibiotics, antidepressant. Some of these you're warned not to stop all at once for they have withdrawal side effects.
Again, I am accepting that mum has to die sometime but the meds withdrawal seems to be intentionally hastening that death, and that does disturb me. Does it you?
There was a mess up with the discharge and mum didn't get given her medications with which the hospital discharged her. Hospice nurse asked me to collect the meds from the hospital and take them to hospice and that I did the following morning. On the Thursday morning two of the doctors and their supervising doctor came in and spoke to me. Mum had had severe constipation, infection and has uterine cancer that was not being treated agressively. So I asked what their treatment plan would be - was the constipation loosened up, how the infection was, had cancer spread - that sort of stuff.
It came as a surprise when the head doctor said " we don't know and we don't care. I stopped all her medications and we just treat for pain relief".
I know mum has wanted to die for many months and I accept that she will. I didn't think that hospice meant that all of the meds would be stopped altogether and so soon, not least since I had been asked by hospice to bring the meds from the hospital - a special journey for me. I wasn't told that mum would have her meds withdrawn - meds for high blood pressure, diabetes, antibiotics, antidepressant. Some of these you're warned not to stop all at once for they have withdrawal side effects.
Again, I am accepting that mum has to die sometime but the meds withdrawal seems to be intentionally hastening that death, and that does disturb me. Does it you?