Thank you for this video. My mom had a 3.5 year journey with Grade IV Glioblastoma. The last 3 months of her life she was on Hospice in home. When they suggested that it may be time for Morphine our family had a few reserves. Once we understood the phases of dying and the knowledge that was given to us about Morphine we understood better and accepted the need and the reality of the situation. Even though we knew it was the right step, a part of us still felt guilty or just a little strange about it. We made peace with it especially because our mom's comfort was the most important thing at that time- way more important than anything else. As a result she had a beautiful end of life phase full of grace, love and strength.
my mother worked in Hospice as a social worker for 15 years, she always wanted me to go into Palliative care. I wish i had, I was too young to see how amazing that career path is, but I wish I had, cause being able to help people ease into the void without pain, fear or anxiety would be a noble job if there ever was any.
Opiates are the MAIN pain medication for almost any ailment. It's literally a MIRACLE drug, and there is a reason its so easy to get addicted to it. Actually man addicts have huge trauma and pain and opiates are the ONLY thing that makes them feel relief. Obviously those in hospice aren't doing it to feel euphoria, but rather to deal with the intense fear and anxiety. It's such a miracle drug, the entire medical industry would be broke without it.
Thank you for the best and precious information on the validity of giving morphine at the end of life . Yes as a nurse I have met families and staff who are afraid of morphine . 'This is always because they have not been properly informed !!!.
I am allergic to morphine so I hope they have something else to give me. I want the meds! If it should hasten the end I am fine with that. I just do not want to suffer. Please be kind and do not make your loved ones suffer.
Glad I ran across this video as I've always felt some guilt with regards to my mother's hospice. She was in a nursing home and had quit eating and was not concious for most of the final week or two. She was always very scared of death and told me to give her every chance. I've always thought that giving her the morphine may have been akin to putting a dog to sleep. Thanks for the clarification and I now know that's not the case.
When my time comes I want to sleep in the arms of Morpheus. Anxiety is terrible and as a nurse of 40+ years I have been at many bedsides of dying people. Why would you who are so self righteous want to allow a dying person to suffer unnecessarily?
You give whatever might provide even a moment of peaceful relief from the suffering, if nothing else but out of empathy and basic humanity, of which sadly there seems to be less of with each passing day.💔🥼🖤
Pass death with dignity laws all across the world and we wouldn't need morphine. We care more about our suffering pets than we do about humans. Sad stuff. Dr. Kevorkian was a saint.
Morphine can have counter reactions. It's sometimes very unpleasant. Best to give seconal in high doses or heroin. Or potassium to stop the heart. Morphine has drawbacks. Going to sleep peacefully is most humane way.
My Mother was Given Morphine to Make Her Die, Not Help Her Die. I was out voted by Family to Have the Doctors Administer Morphine at Increased Levels until Death. I Support Lethal Injection But Not the way it was Given to My Mother. Screw The Medical Profession.
This idiot is trying to justify giving a patient in extremis,respiratory distress or congestive heart failure in a coma maybe ,basically dying.Any fool knows Morphine or any opiate will depress respiration and in a dying patient,especially one in no pain,it will definitely hasten respiratory arrest and death.
Thank you for this very informative video. My father-in-law had liver cancer and was given a few years to live. He hung on for 14 years, far surpassing what the doctors predicted. He passed away 2 weeks ago and the night that he died, he suddenly asked my husband and I to come see him in the middle of the night. We both knew that he was ready to go so we hurried over. He asked us to take him to the hospital to be euthanized so we knew at this point that he's in a lot of pain. It broke our heart. We called his hospice nurse for what to do and the nurse instructed us to give him the Fentanyl that they had previously prescribed to him. We did as instructed and he fell asleep immediately. 3 hrs later, he was gone. As saddened as we were, we were glad he was no longer in pain. Up until this video, I felt guilty as if we hastened his death with the Fentanyl but now I feel better that this wasn't the case at all.
Well said Dr. Morphine isn’t killing patients but rather soothing the symptoms during the dying process. So many family members feel guilty as if the are killing their loved on….but instead, without it, you are creating a miserable and discomforting end to life.
Have witnessed this a few times now. Give me plenty of morpheme. It works. Watched my sister die at hospice. She had lung cancer with tumors all over her body. VERY PAINFUL. she died peacefully instead of screaming in pain. Yeah. Give me plenty.
Someone who is end of life doctors have started end of life drugs also doctors are continuesly giving him morphine. Family made this person sign property over. Can it be challenged ???
I had to agree to have my brother-in-law placed on hospice the Monday before last. He was incoherent and unable even to get up in his wheelchair by this time as well as unable to eat and barely able to drink. He passed away on his 6'th day of hospice. He slept and was on oxygen for most of that time. I'm unsure if he was given morphine or another drug, but he was not in pain. It was not something I'd ever participated in before, but it was clear that it needed to be done. He would have been in severe pain and was about to lose his right leg which still would not have improved his deteriorating condition.
