Did Hospice Kill My Mom?

Question by Mattia: Did hospice kill my mom?
My mom was diagnosed with lung cancer stage 3 about 2 years ago. she lived a lot longer then what they said and even continued working up until a few months before her death.The tumor had spread to her brain so they gave her steroids for it. btw, she also tried chemo and radiation and quit, then started these natural healing with IV treatments.. The steroids made it so hard for her to walk since she was swelling up so much, then ended up getting eczema that would crack open and ooze. She had a wheel chair, but didn’t need it all the time. Then she got to where she needed help constantly because of the pain she was in. It would hurt her so bad when we would help her get up in her wheel chair. But she was still function normally. She had morphine and Oxycontin but didn’t like to take it because it made her sleepy. She was also on Oxygen but didn’t need it 24/7. One morning she said she couldn’t even get up because it felt like her foot was broken, but here was no way that could of happened. So the EMS came and got her. She was screaming so much that they pumped her up with A LOT of morphine, i mean A LOT . She was acting strange and saying weird things. Then the next day they tried to give her methadone and they thought it would work, but they only gave it a day, i was told it works in like 3 days. They then decided to transfer to a hospice place. She was normal the first day, then the rest of the days she was in a medicated coma, SHE HAS NEVER BEEN LIKE THAT. They were not feeding her, she was not getting any liquids, no oxygen to help her breath, NOTHING she just laid there and all they did was keep her doped up on all kinds of meds all day long, i think it was way too much, they said they were trying to keep her sedated. she said that she did not want to be sedated before she even went to the hospice. but they kept her like that and mixed all kinds of meds together, pain pills, anti anxiety meds and all kinds of stuff. One lady there told me that her mom started to get upset, and what did they do? doped her up so she would be asleep. My mom even got some kind of sore or infection from some of the meds they gave her. Oh and my mom was only 23. But is it right for them not to even try to tube feed them, or give them something to eat? She had a huge appetite before they doped her all up. I know that all those meds can stop your breathing and ecspcially when you don’t have your oxygen when you need it. To me it sounded like they killed her. All that stuff can kill you. Those people don’t care if you live, they just try to help you die better. I don’t think that’s right to keep a person like that. She didn’t have any signs of death before this hospice. The day before she went to the hospital she was talking about dying her hair! and then i was brushing her hair and styling it for her. Do hospice really just kill people? Please let me know what yalls opinion is.
but who really knows when you are going to die? They don’t and no one else does. The doctor was wrong the first time, then the hospice people were wrong. they can’t just starve you, dehydrate you, and not give you oxygen when you need it.
Oh and another thing, my mom did not want hospice care when we talked about it. My sted dad talked to the social worker with out her knowing. she was very angry for that. My step dad wasn’t treating my mom very nice at home, or at the hosptial he was really yelling and cussing at her. But the when they decided to transfer her, she was not in her right mind at all, and was all doped up and very confused because of the meds, so when they asked her, she ended up saying yes, there would of been no way she would of agreed to it if she had been in her right mind.
The point of this is that she was in her right mind, and acting and functiiong normally UNTIL all the morphine and other drugs they mixed it with. They asked her when she was on all of those drugs about hospice that day. The other days at home she refused hospice. she had a big appetite and was asking for food the day before she was so heavily sedated, they never even gave her a chance to wake up. so how would they know if she didn’t want to eat? they couldn’t even ask her! she was getting an allergic reaction to all the meds!!!
and another thing about her quiting that treatment, her body couldn’t handle it and they gave her too much radation. The IV treatments did help her tumor on her lung, it did shrink i little
mistake on the age, my mom was 53, i am 23

Best answer:

Answer by tandkalexander
Hospice is for helping people remain pain free in the end stages of life. Doctors place patients in a Hospice program when the prognosis is grim. They don’t just kill people, but they do not promote healing. They simply assist in easing someone out. Hospice is there for family too. You should contact them and tell them you have questions and need answers and some help to grasp what has happened.

I am sorry for your loss.

Answer by RipCity
I am sorry for your loss I know what it is like as my mother went through multiple surgeries as a result of her battle with breast cancer. In the end it was difficult to see her in such pain and how the medications took her away from us in a different manner than the disease. No the hospice did not kill your mother. The results of cancer did and what you were seeing is how far we need to go so those that have cancer can live, survive, or at least have a more peaceful end to their life. I truly believe if we would put as much effort into killing one another into cancer research we could make a world of difference. I know this won’t help your mother now but take this as your own future crusade to make a difference for others. I hope this helps and wish you all the best as you proceed through the healing process for yourself and family. Good luck

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