re: Wuhan Coronavirus is impacting my family apparently

Hate that shite like that is happening. China is afraid that they are going to have appropriate feelings directed their way.

Hospice Nurse Guide:

If I’ve learned anything over the past 5 years as a hospice nurse is that while there are hundreds of signs that tell you the patient’s time is limited, nothing tells you death is happening right now like have these two symptoms together in combination: unresponsiveness (comatose) and apneic breathing pauses (greater than 10 seconds, sustained).

You can be comatose for years with the right care. You can have breathing pauses (like sleep apnea) and it not be a certain death sentence. But if you have those two symptoms at the same time together, you are probably going to heaven in the next 30 minutes, and I’ve never seen it go over 5 hours.

If he moves a finger or an eyebrow or clears his throat or closes his mouth, etc..That’s responsiveness. He is not in the unresponsive stage. None of those movements happen when you are comatose.

If his chest’s rise and fall starts taking 10 seconds between each breath then moves to 15, then to 17, then 22, 49, etc...and he is comatose, I’m usually calling the family to get up to the hospice ASAP.

That’s for 90% of our patients who do a normal decline. 10% have a heart attack or a stroke or a PE, etc and die instantly. But that can happen to any one of us, so you can’t plan around that.

Blood pressures are never a good measure for imminent death. We had a lady go for 3 days with a BP of 30 over 12. You shouldn’t be able to sustain life with a BP that low. But the body is resilient. As long as they are breathing even and still responsive, there’s a 90% chance the patient still has more time left than you think.

Our patients decline usually takes on average 7 to 10 days. But the clock only starts when they are no longer eating and drinking or stopped from having it given to them artificially through tubes or IVs. The longest I saw a patient go without IV fluids or artificial nutrition was 31 days. But she was responsive and breathing even until that last day.

Hopefully this helps. If you know what the signs of imminence are, you don’t have to worry unnecessarily until those signs appear.

That’s pretty awful man....hopefully something can get worked out to where at the least he doesn’t have to die alone. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.

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Let him die in peace at home

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Nothing peaceful about dying of kidney failure. But I agree with you.

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the past 5 years as a hospice nurse

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God bless you. Really.

Prayers to you and your family bud

This is spot on. I lost my grandmother, MIL and dad last year and went exactly as described. Grandmother was 94 and held on the longest

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Man, From what I have read on several hospital restrictions is that there is an exception for elderly people and minors that need someone's assistance. Seems like this could qualify with the right charge nurse.

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It’s gonna vary from facility to facility. Most hospitals are now not letting in visitors unless it’s a minor patient (and then it’s only 1 parent or guardian allowed), laboring woman (only 1 person) or end of life situation. And even then...they are not letting those visitors stay overnight.

If it’s an end of life situation OP needs to kick this up to the unit manager/director.