This was done without informing my dad. They took away her medicine for heartburn (she has a Hiatal Hernia), and for Nausea (Zofran), and her thyroid medicine. I thought pallative care was supposed to make someone comfortable. How is it making her comfortable by making her suffer with heartburn? Now she's complaining of heartburn and nausea. Someone said you can "graduate" from hospice. I don't see how you can graduate if you need thyroid medicine and they take it away. Does anyone have any ideas on what we should do? I really appreciate all the help I got with questions about her broken leg and things....
(Sorry for stealing your thread Karsten)
I'm surprised there's no distinction between palliative and hospice in Ontario. We do have a high population of seniors (they all want to retire here for the climate and scenery!), so maybe they've been more vocal advocates for distinction between the two?
Edit - Gershun, now that I remember it, my grandfather was in VGH's palliative unit too, before he died. He was there for about 3 weeks, and in his case, it was similar (drugs, oxygen) - except that he was in a car accident, rather than having an illness or decline, and went to palliative from the ICU. (Basically because the ICU staff kept pounding on his chest to resuscitate him and the doctor finally told mom it was cruel, since he'd broken his collarbone in the car accident.)
I had the impression that this was not some automatic procedure they had in place but just an independant case by case thing suitable to the individual.
It sounds an awful lot like your mom has been put on hospice care. I might be wrong, as I'm sure it's different everywhere. That said, I think treating things like heartburn or nausea would/should be considered part of comfort care, even under hospice guidelines. I would definitely check with the doctor, and also the hospice or hospital social worker. (Mom's renal social worker has been a lifeline to me in explaining things, helping me set up supports, and in acting as a liaison between me and the health care system.)
I would call the doctor who scripted for the PC, first thing tomorrow, and express your dissatisfaction. You do have the right to change companies providing the PC if you want to. That might a trump card you can play if you don't get satisfaction and the meds aren't returned.
I think that you need to have a detailed discussion about what exactly your understanding of hospice/palliative care is and what your service provider's beliefs are to see if you are on the same page. IMO anything that affects quality of life should be continued.
Talk to the doctor that made this decision.