I think my mom is near the end

HamsterInWheel

My mom is no longer walking and sleeps most of the time.  When a PWD becomes bedridden, about how long is it before the inevitable happens?  She is on hospice now.

Cynbar

Both are definitely signs of disease progression, but people can live quite some time bed bound, especially if they have a hospital bed with special mattress to help avoid bedsores. Eating and drinking are good benchmarks, when those slow to next to nothing you'll know the end is getting close. But I encourage you to bring these questions directly to your hospice nurse. She (or he) will have the expertise to evaluate her symptoms , vital signs, speed of recent decline. Ask specifically what the nurse thinks. Also, she will likely have a booklet to give you such as "Journey's End" which is very helpful in navigating the last stages of life. Good luck.

dayn2nite2

Her hospice workers might be able to judge better because it depends on her condition prior to dementia also.  My mother lived a year on hospice after she stopped walking.  Everyone is different.

HamsterInWheel

Cynbar, she eats and drinks very little.

LicketyGlitz

Sorry to hear this, Hamster, it's a tough time even if it is often a mercy too. I don't have the excellent advice Cynbar does as I haven't been to that mountain yet, but I second day2nite2 in asking hospice for a guestimate at timeline.

Peace to you and your mom.

Abuela

Hamster... I don't think even Hospice workers can tell how long.  So sorry for you but it does seem that she is near the end.  I would listen to what they answer when you ask if you should contact the family about visiting her.  And I realize having said that with covid visits might not be happening, but most places allow end of life visits.  Not sure if she is home with you or in a facility.   Hugs.

4Grams

My DH was placed on hospice a week ago. He is completely bed bound and unresponsive. He quit eating last Wednesday. Morphine and Ativan is given every two hours. It is hard to see him this way. Nurses said he my have a week and a half. Only God knows. Just one day at a time!

Bless everyone who is going through this time with LO’s. 

SonShine Lady

This is such a difficult time.  I am a retired Hospice counselor and was asked this question often.  As one responder said no one can give a definite answer as I have had patients who lived much longer than expected.  However, there are medical "markers" that determine what is called the "active dying phase."  The first is usually refusal to eat or drink.  Many family members are upset about this, but for their LO, it would actually be painful for their body as the systems shut down in a particular order and digestion is the first.  Next is usually sleep, not just someone sleeping a lot but a coma-like state where the person doesn't wake up.  If the person has a catheter, the change in urine to a darker color and less urine is one of the markers I looked for when asked.

That being said, I had a patient who was sitting in a chair watching TV with his son.  When his father didn't respond to a question, he looked over and saw his father had died.  Our hospice did not have an in-patient facility so our patients were at home.  When one man went into the active dying phase, his wife became scared that he would die and her be alone with him so we had him transferred to the hospital where his wife would have accommodations to stay in the room with him.  At the time of his transfer, his hospice team believed he would imminently die. He only had oxygen at the hospital ie. nothing else to support life, and iirc, he was there another two weeks or so.

Being bedridden and sleeping a lot is not, in itself, an indication, although it can be the beginning.  Three years ago my mother was in bed the majority of the time, thus not eating and her weight plummeted.  When she was awake she was paranoid and accusatory which was one of the first indications that she might have dementia.  It was and it wasn't - it was because short term memory loss caused her to forget to take her thyroid meds, thus her sleeping/fatigue/not eating was due to her thyroid, thus her entire body, not functioning properly, including the paranoia. Severe thyroid deficiency can mimic dementia. When we FINALLY got her to the Dr. and got her back on the thyroid meds, she went back to herself.  We were breathing a sigh of relief that it wasn't dementia.  Except it was and a few months later she was in the same shape.  That was when we realized we had to giver her medications to her.