First up I just want to say that this thread is proving to be really good tool for decision making in that if I have to write things down in a way that explains it to a general someone else, I have to get it pretty clear in my own head first to do that. So, thanks folks.
I also have my best Bud of 38 years in my corner; he has been going through a lot of this with his mother for the last decade, she is 92 and his experiences are helping me see a bit further down the road than I otherwise could.
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A new day, a new set of decisions. This is an update to
this post.
Yesterday was a busy one. I spoke to the hospice intake nurse I had been setting an appointment with for when I would be there, and she drove over to the nursing facility to do and evaluation with my folks now rather than later. She had access to all of the medical records, spoke with the Dr on site and my father's previous GP. She spoke individually and together with both of my parents and then called me. After a lengthy discussion with the nurse, and then a long call with my mother in the evening, I have decided what's next.
I'm going to have my father re-catagorized from a rehab patient to a hospice "Comfort Care Only" patient. I will have Medicare stop paying for room and board, my mother will start being responsible for that portion of it. (Read: I will sort out her income and set up a financial plan on my next trip and hand her the checkbook and tell her what to write and to whom. No responsibility
there.
) Hospice will begin billing Medicare for their services and we (mother) will pick up any financial overruns with me in the audit seat.
He qualifies for hospice with his stroke related issues so I don't have to run around getting the cancer angle worked out which is a big relief to me. He will be offered pretty much whatever he wants without any pressure to do anything that would make him uncomfortable or cause duress. With his physicians directive and DNR in place, we will let nature take it's course without alteration. He has made it clear to everyone involved that this is his choice and preference. I will call the director of the facility today to see if this can be done without the conference call.
I will make this as seamless as possible for my mother, although that may be
tricky. She is completely overwhelmed by paperwork and jargon, she doesn't understand it. When we signed him in, I was her effective proxy. It was as my Buddy described; the facility was so relieved to see an adult child arrive that they worked almost exclusively with me. They had one simple form for my mother to sign reassigning her signature to me as a "family Representative" and another for me stating my roll as representative and releasing me from any financial culpability as her proxy. It worked well because I was there in person. I hope to delay paperwork until I get there but have prepped my mother that she may have to sign some things she doesn't understand (something she has never done) and I will have to guide her on the phone as it happens.
It feels right and I am glad to have something going into place that makes
sense for the situation.
I speak only from my family's position as atheists and right to die proponents. This set of decisions is obviously not mainstream, but it works for us.
Thanks for listening, I'll be back with and update to my whole 'decisions about mother' later.
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I found what I think is a good resource, especially for my mother, but also myself, in learning what to expect, and what some good questions to ask are
regardless of a persons beliefs around death. An NIH booklet titled "
End of Life: Helping with Comfort and Care" I would recommend it to anyone dealing with a situation that may end in death as general good information.