Mom not doing well

[April]

We had a really bad day yesterday. She woke up throwing up and did that most of the morning. She didn’t eat anything until 5 last night and she only used the bathroom twice. When I got there she had a tint of yellow about her, but by the time she went to bed she was very white. I’m just wondering how much longer she can go like this. The pain was so bad in her legs and shoulder yesterday. She has a pain patch that she wears and we also had to give her some of her pain medication. It is just so sad seeing her like this. I pray everynight that the Good Lord will just take her while she is sleeping and she won’t have to go thru anymore of this. Yesterday was the 1st time that she could not pull her self up with her walker. It was so heartbreaking watching her try and try and not succeed. I just have this feeling that she will be gone by this weekend, but she may suprise us and stay with us a little longer.

[LRG]

April,
I’m so sorry. My dad threw up all the time. As I told Barbra on another topic hospice told us to not push them to eat. In the beginning of the week he would get up and walk to the bathroom all by himself but by Wed. he started going in a bottle and then with in a couple days he wasn’t even going to the bathroom at all. He was in so much pain and we kept fighting wiht Hospice to give him somthing stronger. But he was in so much pain and so figidy. Even though he couldn’t move by himself there were times that the pain would bring him straight up all by himself. It was the most horrible thing to watch. I’m sorry if I give you to much details but I wasn’t prepaired to see everything that I did. and the fact that he was my father, the strongest person I had ever known made it so much worse. Hang in there and I will pray for you and your family.

Lori

[Debe]

April, my mom just passed away with aml. She was insistant on not having hospice, cause that would mean no more transfusions, but last monday, feb. 28, she was so weak that we had to carry her to the car. Her spleen had grown to be the size of a volleyball, she had alot of pain from that, then she got so weak. We took her to the dr. and he said she only had a few days left, so mom wanted one last transfusion and then wanted to go home and have hospice come in. Well, the last transfusion went into her tissues and not her organs, she got violently sick and was throwing up blood. Her pain was so awful in her legs. They gave her morphine and ativan sp? and that helped, but she never got to go home. She too, was a yellowish color. They put in a catheter, and the last time she said anything was Wed. I still think she knew we were there, but was too weak and medicated to talk. It was a very horrible week, the pain was great, she would moan and it broke our hearts. We never left her. She left us Friday March 4th, a week ago. She died peacefully when for the first time that day, everyone in our family was with her.
If you have any questions, I will certainly try to let you know other circumstances that happened that week, or the previous weeks before she died. My mom was brave and strong, I am so proud of her. Deb

[April]

Thank you guys…I would really like to know some things to look for. I talked to my neice this afternoon and she said that mom has a lot of energy today. She is able to get up by herself and she has used the bathroom. From everything that I have read it says that sometimes they get a burst of energy a day to hours b4 they let go. Her breathing is really irregular also. For some of you that don’t know my husband is the baby of the family. He lived with her all of his life up until 9 months ago when we moved out. We moved in with his parents when we got married and stayed there for 11 1/2 years. It has been so hard on him and I just want to look for some signs that the end is near so that I can get a grip and be able to be there for him.

[mommachkate]

April, I am so terrible sorry the suffering your Mom-in-law has to go through, and you and your husband for the pain to see her so near the end. Be strong, my thoughts are with you . Kate

[sarah]

April, I am so very sorry to hear of her suffering. I pray for strength and comfort for her. Prayers and thoughts are with you and your family.
Sarah

[Naomi]

Deb:
I am sorry that your mom passed away. Keep the good memories and that will help you get through the days ahead. My prayers are with you
Naomi

[Naomi]

April:
I hope that things go well for you. You are strong and have been going through this with you mother-in-law, so be there for your husband no matter when it all happens.
Prayers are with you.
Naomi

[April]

Well, she has suprised us..she made it thru the weekend But now she is seeing some very scary things. She told her daughter this morning that there was a hook sticking out of her. She keeps seeing a claw coming towards her and on Saturday there was a little boy standing next to her walker. Is all of this the “normal” process? She hasn’t changed any of her meds..so we’re not sure what is exactly happening…Thanks for your prayers…you will never know just how much they mean to me…

[bper]

April,

I am not sure about the claw, but I do know there are signs to look for. When my Dad passed away I wasn’t sure what to look for. It was after he died that I googled for some info because the last night really frightened me. Here is a link to a hospice site, http://www.hospicepatients.org/hospic60.html
..My Dad had the strange breathing pattern a week before he passed away. He had swelling etc too.

My thoughts are with you.

Beth in Toledo, Ohio

[April]

Beth ~ Thanks for the site. Mom has a few of these things in the Active Phase and alot in the Pre-Active phase. It’s really scary hearing her talk about these things..you know..you would think that things would be peaceful and not scary like that.

[JulieMarie]

April,

Back on 12/27/2000 my grandmother passed away. Being relegious, right before she past away she said she seen the blessed Virgin Mary. So I would say, yes, they do “see” things right before they pass away.

Her husband, before he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s was seeing monkeys in his house, and home repairs (walls being taken down and new walls in different places being put up) that weren’t there. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the time he called us about the monkeys. Always brings a smile to my face for some reason.

Best of luck with you and your mother-in-law.

[mommachkate]

Hi April, Some medicin could have this kind of reaction. Does she started to take some new pain med. latele. George was talking the werdest thing , while they gave him pain medication. First i thought he was joking, than I saw, he was sirius.He was seeing a concert in his hospital room, he was having down some pluming job in his body, and on and on. Luckily he was able to stop taking those medicin. I am so sorry for all of you to have to go through this terrible thing. My thoughts are with you. Kate

[LRG]

April,
My grandma went through the swame stuff before she passed. I remember the one day I stayed with her while my grandpa had some errands to run. I was down stairs doing laundry for them when I heard some strange noises. When I came upstairs she was gone. She couldn’t move with out a walker and her chair was empty but her walker was still sitting there. Here, she was in the back bedroom trying to get a broom stick out of the closet because there was someone in her bedroom. She was so scared. I just kept telling her that I will get him. She was so afraid that one of was going to get hurt. Then she told me about a guy that was standing in her hallway. She said that he would sit and watch TV with her and sometimes she would wake up in the middle of the night and he would be sleeping on her couch. At the time we thought maybe the cancer had moved into her brain, or she was taking to much medicine. couldn’t figure out why else she would be seeing things like this. But when my dad was in his final days we read the book by Hospice and I realized what was happening. I’m sorry to say that she is getting close. I don’t know why it has to be so scarey. We tried to take comfort in the fact that the guy on her couch was her guardian angel. I will continue to send prayers your way. Try to stay strong.

Lori

[Terri]

April, prayers are with you and your family

[Author]

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