Brenm51
New member
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2015
- Messages
- 3
- Reason
- Loved one DX
- Country
- US
- State
- CA
- City
- Cathedral City
My Dad (80 years old) has advanced ALS. It happened extremely fast. Feb. he passed out, had every test known and came out with a clean bill of health. Swollen ankle a few months later and no Dr. could figure out why. In May he had what we thought was a cold/sinus/flu, then all of a sudden his speech sounded like he suffered a stroke and he started having difficulty swallowing food. Went from a soft diet to a stomach feeding tube in Aug. Now he is bedridden/wheelchair only in skilled nursing. To make matters worse, by brother passed away 7 weeks ago from a heart attack, so it's just me & my Dad.
Hospice has taken over his care, he says he is in no pain, but weeps quite a bit. I know his mind is fine, but I can't understand him anymore and he has a hard time writing or using speech assisted software on a tablet. Just don't know where to go from here...........at what point does hospice give meds for comfort...........he's a Christian and would not want to have the feeding tube removed.............anyone have any similar experience at this point in this horrible disease. I visit daily, but have to work also and feel numb...........
Hospice has taken over his care, he says he is in no pain, but weeps quite a bit. I know his mind is fine, but I can't understand him anymore and he has a hard time writing or using speech assisted software on a tablet. Just don't know where to go from here...........at what point does hospice give meds for comfort...........he's a Christian and would not want to have the feeding tube removed.............anyone have any similar experience at this point in this horrible disease. I visit daily, but have to work also and feel numb...........