Response to Alla’s posting

Thanks, Liz
Well, husband is home now, but pain is not under control. Took a whole day to get him home, lots of waiting – for doctor’s orders, for home health nurse to bring pain pump, for hospital bed to be delivered and set and so on… A lot of coordination between different agencies. Glad that part is over. Pain wasn’t quite under control in the hospital either. Hospice nurse said his settings on a pain pump are way too low and was going to talk to his doctor tomorrow about trying out morphine 2 times a day (just what you said, Lainy!) + prn meds and/or getting pump settings up – increase the doze. She also said that patches usually work less efficiently on skinny people, as it needs fat tissue to get absorbed, and my husband as skinny as can be right now. So she thought it’d be better to switch him from pump/patches to morphine…We’ll see what the doctor says. She also wants to try dulcolax suppositories for him to relieve stomach pressure (if doctor approves). She seems efficient and pro-active. Not sure if she’d be his main nurse or not – it was after hours visit, therefore it was on call nurse; will find out tomorrow. Not quite used to whole hospice idea, time will tell. Thanks for listening!

Thank you, Marion. I think we found a hospice that would allow TPN. Now checking if insurance would pay for it. That is what he wants as well. Basically he does want to prolong it, but we also discussed that if it gets unbearable, as in vomiting non stop – then we will make different decision. We decided its worth a try. And for my piece of mind, I’ll know we tried it all. Otherwise if he decides to go without tpn, you can’t change your mind later. If it doesn’t work out with insurance, then we’ll continue with home health. In either case, he will be home. There is no hospices here that have in-patient facilities. For now, they removed NG tube completely and we are waiting to see if he can manage pain and nausea. Thanks again!