Look at this photo and what do you see?
On the left is an orphan at 17 in the middle is his grandmother 70's, retired RN and on the right her son aged 53.
Both of this young mans parents died of cancer in their 30's mom from breast the dad- not sure. The son on the right died of liver cancer Tuesday Aug 28th 2018. The grandmother in the middle took care of all three victims of cancer herself.
Recently Hospice was used for her son (53) along with multiple sign ups for various cancer drug trials. He was not a candidate for any cancer trials- because his is a male. Most cancer trials are looking for females only.
Hospice provided a hospice nurse, morphine pills and equipment needs for the son's comfort to die at home. He wanted to die at home in his single mothers care. His mom in her late 70's, bathed him, changed him, fed him, clothed him, cleaned his bedding 2x's a day, moved him, dealt with insurance and doctor visits, drove him to appointments, ran the horse farm, went to her own physical therapy 40 min away three times a week and she slept about maybe 3 hours a day.
The hospice nurse failed to notice he was not getting enough fluids. The hospice nurse is also a farmer and her daughter is getting married and her mind was a bit distracted at the last visit of the evenings. Dry mouth and throat means you can't swallow pills. A sponge on a stick is what you give fluids with. We gave him watermelon juice, grape juice and water anything he wanted on a sponge stick. Liquid morphine was provided. He was on an oxygen machine for the last stages. The cancer ate him from the inside. His fat, muscle, brain, ligaments were all gone in short order. He was dry skin and bones but no bed sores, no diaper rash, and no odor. He was very taken care of by his mother. Hospice at least in our area does not have any IV fluids. They do not have any bags nor needles. They have a hands off policy about this part of end care. There are many reasons why they don't but you can google that. In the end the cancer eats the person and takes all it can. The body can't live without food and water and the cancer wins. Hospice at least provides a pain free death. It takes about three days to die after they start to go. On the last day he asked me for french fries. I got in my truck and found hot french fries locally made in our small town. He ate two fries and gave me a thumbs up. The next morning at 1 a.m. I got the call from his mom, he died. He was washed, dressed and tied up in a clean sheet by his mom. She called our local funeral home to come and pick him up when they can. Her house is a log cabin with no air conditioning. He is to be cremated and his ashes spread over the farm. Just like his other brother, her 2nd son, the father of the young man in the photo was 9 years ago. Her sons have never got to live past 54. He did smoke, was a truck driver and drank a lot of coffee and ate truck stop fare. Holistic herbs were attempted but he refused to give up smoking and he refused to change his diet. His mother is angry to have to have a lost both of her sons to cancer. She gave birth to them and then watched them die as adults. But she sucked it up pulled up her panties and got it done. She adopted her grandson and raised him, works as a nurse on weekends, still raises horses and life goes on. She told me when it is her time to go this is how she wants to die in her cabin and in my care. I am to spread her ashes over her Ozark farm.
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