Every person’s uniqueness reflects the way they bid goodbye to this world. No two endings are the same. Some gradually pass on, while others quickly close their eyes. In the advancing years of your loved one, especially when they’re already receiving serious medical attention and home health care in San Antonio, Texas, it might help to orient your heart to be ready for the inevitable.
When their ending is closely approaching, your presence can bring them great comfort and reassurance that they can transition peacefully. In some instances, getting hospice care becomes necessary when the patient’s prognosis is already six months or less. Providers of hospice care in San Antonio, Texas will give you a better opportunity to focus on enjoying being with them while professional care providers will administer to their medical needs.
While nobody can really prepare us for grief, we may be able to accept the happening in a fair amount of time when we’re able to anticipate the coming end. Let us share with you the often signs manifested by patients when their days are closing.
In about three months before their passing, you may observe the following in your loved one:
- Sleeping frequently within the day
- Losing their appetite for food and water
- Losing interest in meeting people and doing their hobbies
- Talking less and less, although when the loved one is a child, they may talk more
In about two weeks before their passing, you can perceive these:
- Frequent changes in their patterns of waking and sleeping
- No more appetite for food and water
- Lesser bower and urine movements
- Pains are getting more frequent
- Drastic changes in breathing, blood pressure, and heart rate
- Fluctuation of body temperature resulting in pale complexion
- Breathing difficulty due to build-up in their throat
- Episodes of confusion or hallucinations (such as seeing a family member who already passed away)
In a few hours before their passing, these are the common expectations:
- Refuses food or water
- No longer releases urine or bowels
- Extreme pain manifested in grimacing facial expressions
- Difficult to hear heartbeats
- Skin turns into Bluish-purple color, particularly at the feet, hands, and knees
- Breathing patterns become a combination of gasping and slow breathing, until the eventual last breath
- Can be unconscious, but can still hear and feel their surroundings
At about this time, the healthcare team will encourage you to stay around your loved one to assure them of your love and bid your goodbyes for a peaceful passing. This will be one of the hardest moments in hospice care but you will be glad to know that most patients become clear-headed in their final hour.
Our team at Four Seasons Healthcare of Texas will be here with you and your family as you journey in this darkness. There is always an unexplainable comfort when our grief is shared with others.
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