Hospice

[Guest Calamity]

What do you all think about Hospice? Have you ever had to use them, or knew anyone who did? My mother-in-law died last Friday, and they had Hospice there. Just thought I'd ask if anyone had any experiences with them, or any opinions about using them. Thanks.

[Faith1]

So Sorry to hear about your mother-in-law Calamity was she the Lord's?

A very dear Christian friend of mine died in a hospice from breast cancer. I also worked as a Care-giver in a private hospital for the elderly who really were just put there to wait for death.

I was able to talk to many of them about salvation before they died.

I believe that God would have His people everywhere doing His work for Him. We are promised that His Word will not return void. And sometimes (like the thief on the cross) when death is very near that is the time that they will reach out to Christ and claim salvation through faith in Him and Him alone Amen!

I know that there are some of these folk who are or seem to be not understanding what is being said due to massive amounts of drugs. But I also believe that God knows the heart even in that state and the Holy Spirit will find some way of making the gospel understandable to them if the heart is truly seeking Christ.

I am unsure of what angle your question is coming from so sorry if I digressed.

In Christ

Faith1

[Guest dove2]

I had a dear friend who was on hospice care. She was only 31 when she died. The hospice people were very kind to her. My friend had lead a really wild life but was saved when she died. I think one of the hospice people lead her to the Lord. Before our friend died she asked Gary to preach her funeral. She knew she was fixing to die and was ready to meet the Lord.

[Guest Calamity]

Thank you both for the replies. Yes, Faith1, she was ready to go home to be with her Lord.

The problem I have is this: ( Not necessarily in my mother-in-law's case, because by the time Hospice got there, she wasn't far from death, but for those who are in it for months and months before they die.) They do not treat anything. That's my problem with them. I understand that someone can purposely admit themselves into Hospice (with Dr's. approval), and know all about this. But what if they are in no condition to admit themselves to hospice care, and someone else chooses it for them. Then, what if that person was terminally ill, say with cancer, but months before they would die from cancer, they get pneumonia. The way I understand it, unless someone insists on getting treatment, the hospice won't do anything about the pneumonia at all, other than maybe morphine for comfort. If they get an infection, same thing. To me, this is wrong. Even if that person is dying from some incurable and untreatable disease, I believe that if they contract something that IS treatable, while they are still living, that it should be treated.

Maybe I understand how they work wrong, but somehow, it seems more like mercy killing to me, in some instances. I could never choose Hospice for someone else, at least unless I change my feelings about it. And, the morphine they use. Under certain conditions, it can actually cause someone to stop breathing and die. That used to be called mercy killing, and I believe it's wrong. It's one thing to die from a terminal illness, and another thing to die from drugs, or lack of treatment for something treatable, before the terminal illness causes death.

Like I said, maybe I don't understand how they work, but I'm going by what I've read about them, so I don't know.

[Guest dove2]

I did not know that they would not treat a curable disease to help these people live longer. That really upsets me. I may have to do more study on them.

[Guest Calamity]

Dove, that's the way I understand it. Like I said, I may be wrong, and I think you can insist on getting treatment by a doctor, but otherwise, they won't.

[IslandRose]

As I understand the mission of hospice, they are there to give comfort to the terminally ill and their family. If your loved one needs additional treatment that is between the family and their doctor. The hospice people will administer any medicine perscribed by the doctor. they do not diagnose themselves. They are just there to ease the burden on the family. And they will follow the wishes of the family and the patient as far as extrodinary measures are concerned.

We have had several in my husbands family die of cancer, and the hospice people have been very kind and efficient in serving the needs of the family.

IR

[Guest Calamity]

IR, that's good to know, and makes me feel a little better. So, if you call a doctor or want to take them in to see a doctor about something, then you can do that while still using hospice? That makes more sense.