My mom is 88 and has been on hospice for 2 years already, she has been declining slowly, she is in a very nice home where they take great care of her. She is very thin lost weight slowly, bed ridden, she doesn't have the strength to talk, we now noticed that her blood pressure is very low, and her body is always constricted, she eats a little bit, but they have to thicken her food and drinks, she coughs when her throat fills up with mucus, is this a sign that the time is near for her to go?
I placed my mom in Hospice twice. The first time was when she had to go to a NH post hip surgery and we thought she was never going to improve but she did, & Hospice told us they would discharge her and they did.
I opted to readmit her about 12 months later when she suffered a stroke. Then I knew her condition had changed and was terminal.
I developed a relationship with the hospice staff (we were both RN's) and I lived 200 miles from my mom. I asked the hospice nurse to call me if she thought death was eminent. She did-called me at 8:30am as she saw "mottling" a sign of impending death & thanks to the hospice nurse (Holly) I made it up to my mother's bedside by 3pm & she passed at 3am the following morning and I was with her.
Hospice staff do recognize the signs of death. Thank heaven for Holly, actually for Hospice as well.
For my late Mom, the Hospice Nurse had told me Mom will probably pass within 48 hours, and she was right. Apparently the Nurse knows what signs to look for on a person's body, such as the color of the feet, and the legs, and other physical changes.
The Hospice group that I used had given me a notebook with all sorts of information, also a section on the final days and what to look for. It also suggested to make the final arrangements with the funeral home now then waiting until a love one had passed with emotions being so high.