I asked the carer when she was washing mom and changing her dressing if I could see the sore and was told 'No' I wasn't allowed to see it. Me and my younger brother have court of protection for mom and we weren't too sure if mom had got this pressure sore or if it was easier for the home to leave her in bed rather than get her up twice a day as she always has bed rest in the afternoon, She already has an air mattress and a profiling bed. This last week we have been told she has a small pressure sore in the lumbar region and needs bed rest and pressure relief. Mom is in last stages dementia, she has until the last week been not too bad and sitting in a recliner chair in the main room in the nursing home. This is a comfort to the person who is dying and a privilege to the loved ones that they can share this final act together. Accompanying them on this final part of their journey of life. Whatever is happening, and irrespective of how long a person might have left to live, there is an opportunity for loved ones to spend time with them. It is as though they needed a loved one to sever the ties that were holding them there. Having done this, it can be just a number of minutes or hours before the person dies. Need to be reassured that their loved ones will be fine and will look after each other. Sometimes however some people need to be given permission to leave. Some people experience difficulty in doing this and you often hear of people lingering on and on, maybe because of worries about leaving a person behind, or they might be waiting for a person to arrive (eg a child who is on their way). It is considered to be a natural thing to happen as someone drifts away and starts to loosen the ties enough for them to leave this world and the people that they know. On a more spiritual/psychological level, the effects of the sleep also creates distance between the person and their loved ones. You notice less and less urinary output for example as the kidneys stop functioning. Eventually the organs start to shut down. This can mean that there is a build up of toxins in the body and this too can cause people to sleep even longer still. As you move towards end of life then the sleeping gets longer and longer and where the body previously tried to conserve energy, it now moves to trying to protect the major organs but often there is not enough to go around. This then leads to a scenario where there is insufficient food and fluids being consumed to be compatible with life, unfortunately. You often find too that because someone is peaceful and sleeping that they are not apt to want to wake them to take more fluids etc onboard. Then you have the "no/little food vs sleep" scenario. This in turn causes the body to react by conserving energy and so the person becomes more immobile and likely to sleep. The person reduces their intake of food and fluids. There is a bit of a vicious circle that develops. This is actually quite common in the late stages of dementia or the last stages of life.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |