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End stage liver failure: Mother-in-law wants to keep fighting
Caregivers | Last Active: Jun 4, 2021 | Replies (6)Comment receiving replies
It's been a long road and she was stable a few months ago and then got covid which took out the remainder of her liver that was working. She's been in and out of hospitals locally and due to visitor restrictions it was very difficult for her to not see her family and she was not getting the proper care she needed. She just wanted to be home with her family which is where hospice came in. Now that she's had a week with her family she's questioning if she's ready to give up or not. We have an appt with mayo that we scheduled a month ago while things were still ok but it's a 5 hour drive that we aren't sure she can handle but also want her to have a fighting chance. It is very difficult to navigate
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Hi @dallains I am glad you found this community on Mayo Connect. I am Scott and I was my wife's caregiver during her 14+ year war with brain cancer. The last 14 months of which was spent in home hospice.
Your post brought back many memories of those times. I just wanted to add my perspective from what I learned with my wife during those times.
First, she never, ever gave up. She continued to fight for the best quality of life she could have every day. When her doctor prescribed hospice he told us it might be 2 weeks, but she received that great level of care for 14 months -- and hospice gave her a much improved quality of life and medical services over her prior healthcare. Having her care in home was a real benefit to her. Travel, even to a doctor's appointment, was extremely difficult and those ended. Her management of her pain, concerns, fears, etc. were also much improved during her months in hospice.
Also in my wife's case, she always made choices of quality of life over quantity and was certain she did not want to be in hospitals any longer, but preferred her home and and our bedroom.
I'm happy to answer any questions you might have.
Strength, courage, and peace