Hold the phone

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My dad just told me that his 90-day hospice evaluation is coming up. They will evaluate whether or not he still needs to be on hospice. The nurse thinks they will keep him on.

"But if they don't, then it will just be your mother and I here."

"WUT."

"Well, I'm not on hospice, you and Matt don't need to be here."

"Why would they take you off hospice?"

"Because I'm doing so well."

"Well, I don't think that means you can take care of Mom by yourself."

"Why not? She doesn't bother me the way she bothers you and Matt."

"Oh, I don't think that's a good idea."

My heart is pounding hard. What? What? They could take him off hospice? Which means, what, what have we been doing all this time? Why did we put our mother in a home?

You mean after all this, we might be all the way back at square one?

Which means that not only will this all have been for nothing (well, arguably, it has probably contributed to my father's thriving, according to the nurse today), but WE MIGHT HAVE TO START ALL OVER WITH THIS AGAIN?

Oh HELL no.

If they kick my dad off hospice, the parental units are moving to Missouri. I am so not making THAT mistake again.

SOMEBODY JUST KILL ME.

Comments

  1. sherri PalmerApril 7, 2011 at 3:17 PM

    I thought people could stay on hospice care for as long as the dr says the person likely has 6 months to live. That some people stay alive longer than expected but aren't punished for it by removing services. I thought you only got kicked out of hospice if you try to find a cure rather than palliative care. I'm not even remotely close to being an expert, that's just how I thought it worked.

    ReplyDelete
  2. IlonaApril 7, 2011 at 5:27 PM

    I've never heard the word hospice used that way. What does "on hospice" mean, in practical terms? Does he lose access to certain services if he's not on hospice?

    ReplyDelete
  3. MissyApril 7, 2011 at 10:16 PM

    Oh geez. Good luck, Jen! :\

    ReplyDelete

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