Hospice Time

Aging people find hospices are best places to be for life endings. But going to them is usually a reluctant endeavor. Recently, someone I know has had occasion to enter a hospice. As often happens, the elder discovers suddenly, some kind of illness or disease that means going to hospital and consequently never returning home. It's a traumatic matter because these things can happen instantly and their effects are deeply concerning not only to the victims but also to everyone connected to the affected one.  To be told that you are in the hospital and that your state means that to go home will be for a visit only, if at all, is devastating. It seems that most of us don't prepare for such happenings and thus are confused and upset and sometimes angry and frustrated.  To live the rest of your life in a medical facility of any kind is a shocking thought,  but to have going home ruled out, is completely impossible to comprehend. None of us, no matter how old, truly understand when there is a sudden  affliction that has come down upon us. As always, there are lessons to be learned from bad situations. One is for all elders to have their affairs in some kind of organized form. Wills need to be clear, Powers Of Attorney completed and wishes known if a debilitating situation arises where you cannot speak for yourself. It can happen and it does. The matter of finding a hospice that works for you is something that ought to be considered. Believe it or not, there are waiting lists. If the hospital cannot accommodate you until you enter a hospice, you will have to go home and find some kind of care for yourself. Often times, a partner or spouse, is not safely capable of home care for another elder. In that case, a care-giver, relative or home has to be found and some kind of suitable care plan enlisted. Home nursing care is very expensive as is going into a care home. Some of the latter are better than others as far as facilities, programs and food are concerned. It's a good idea to do some exploring before a crises erupts. Changes to a driver's license, finding persons to give personal assistance  and getting someone you can trust to handle your affairs is important and needs prior planning. It's never too soon. The individual I know was taken to a hospital and since that day is needing items from home, business matters solved and personal arrangements completed. This lovely person must do it all  from a bed in the hospital. The matter of being able to go into a home or hospice of your choice immediately is almost a fairy tale. If you can't have the one you want, you may have to go to another location where it is difficult if not impossible for your friends and relatives to visit you. It's a big world and often times, there are just no immediate beds to for everyone. It takes patience and understanding.  Personnel try their best to find the place each person wants to be in, but often there is a waiting period and another location that is temporary, must do. With our aging population, it is often not possible to fit everyone right away into a place of  their perfect wishes. If we aging folk would only do some early thinking about life end, it would make things better for everyone when that time arrives. And it always, sooner or later, does.