This subverts the message a bit, but my grandmother was sent to a hospice to die as comfortably as possible. I was out of state during her treatment up until this point, but when she was being moved to hospice care, I was told to expect her passing very soon. In this case, her doctors really seemed to have run out of good options; she just hadn't responded to treatment. But, after she was moved to hospice care, she began to improve. She actually healed and recovered enough to live a few more years at an assisted living home, well enough to walk the halls (slowly) for quite a while every day, and have her kids visiting all the time.
Why did she recover after she was switched to hospice care? The best explanation I have is that in the hospital, her access to opioids had been limited. Letting a patient have too much can be risky. But in the hospice, where death is regarded as impending, those risks don't matter and she could have as much as she needed to actually be comfortable. And not suffering, not being in pain was maybe what allowed her to begin to heal.
I don't think exactly that her doctors were wrong in believing that her death was imminent and that a hospice was the right place for her. But what if we created a healthcare system where clinging to life is so exhausting for the patient that embracing the inevitability of death is the most healing option?
Why did she recover after she was switched to hospice care? The best explanation I have is that in the hospital, her access to opioids had been limited. Letting a patient have too much can be risky. But in the hospice, where death is regarded as impending, those risks don't matter and she could have as much as she needed to actually be comfortable. And not suffering, not being in pain was maybe what allowed her to begin to heal.
I don't think exactly that her doctors were wrong in believing that her death was imminent and that a hospice was the right place for her. But what if we created a healthcare system where clinging to life is so exhausting for the patient that embracing the inevitability of death is the most healing option?