re: Close relative is in hospice...(update page 5)

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Do you think they perceive time in any linear-type fashion at all, or is it just going by in the blink of an eye?

What do you imagine the richness is of their internal lives in such a condition?

Is there any chance they are living infinite bliss in the form of treasured memories of their earliest years (1st kiss, etc.)?

It's so easy to just be dismissive and pray for a kind end to come...but do we really know?

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My stepdad (for over 50 years) is currently dying with dementia/Alzheimer's. We don't really know if it's Alzheimer's because there's really no need for a diagnosis. Hospice says he has around 2 weeks. At this point, it mostly doesn't seem like he's alert enough to be thinking of much. He is heavily medicated to prevent agitation.

Before he was at the end stage, he would have days where he would be living 20, even 50 years ago. He'd mention the farm like his mom were still alive. One day, he insisted that he needed to go to Ft. Polk. It was so bad that my mom actually called the Army recruiting office and had them talk with him. He often wanted to work in his garden, a major part of his life, but he hadn't had one in 15 years.

I don't think they have any sense of time at all. It certainly doesn't seem like infinite bliss to me as there are times he is agitated. Sometimes he likes to hold your hand and sometimes he acts like a tiny touch is extremely painful.

I'm praying for the time to come soon. It's so hard on my mom, the primary caregiver.