Expert: Violet Argo RN - 11/15/2010

Question
i question why my mother who spent her last days in hospic care was highly druged and wasent given food. she was fighting ovarian cancer for 8 years, her chest toob fell out at home, for some reason they desided not to put it back in so she could get nutition through the toob in her chest. she died 4 days after intering hospic care on sunday morning why she couldent have been saved?

Answer
First of all, I would like to offer my sincere condolences for your loss. Before I attempt to answer your question, I need to remind you that I never cared for her and do not know her case personally. However, I have been a hospice nurse for 17 years. People with ovarian cancer do not usually live 8 years so you and your family were very blessed that she got so much time, that said, for a doctor to recommend hospice they had to feel she has 6 months or LESS to live. Please look back in your mind on her condition in the past year. Had she been loosing weight, how was her appetite, how about pain? did she have more or more intense pain. How about breathing, were her feet swollen? Was she developing more fluids in her lungs or abdomen more often. Was her abdomen very swollen? If she had these things happening to her, she had entered into a process where her body had started to shut down, meaning she had started Into the dying process. As far as her being highly drudged, hospice does not use pain medication lightly, so I will "assume" two things, one, she was in severe pain, two, the medications did not have her drugged but her cancer had her very drowsy. When the body starts to shut down that is one of the things we see, the patient sleeping a lot, 16-18-20-22 hours per day. When the body starts to shut down, it also refuses food, if your mom was hungry she would eat, but in her condition she could not eat, and if forced she would have vomited causing more pain, and frustration. The lack of appetite is normal in a dying patient. I do not know what tube she had in her chest, are you sure it was her chest and not her stomach? Please clarify this point. Your last question "why she couldn't have been saved?", I think she could not have been saved because the cancer took over and took her life after a very long battle. I hope this answer gives you some peace. I hope she had a peaceful death.