We plan for events like births, weddings, careers, holidays, and so on. What if we planned for death the way we do for these other important events in our life?
Palliation
Dying at home
My Dad died at home. This was what we had planned for…and we were going to do everything to keep him from having to go back to hospital after his last admission in July 2017.
Dad’s wishes for end of life care.
Dad didn’t have an Advance Care Planning document. He did have an Enduring Power of Attorney document though, appointing Mum and my sister and I as his substitute health attorneys.
The goal posts moved.
When Dad came home from hospital, after the 3rd stroke and we made the decision to adopt a palliative approach to Dad’s care in the forthcoming weeks, we were presented with a situation we didn’t anticipate.
Courageous conversations.
After Dad came home from hospital I realised our family needed to have some courageous conversations. We needed to discuss how we were going to approach the coming months, supporting and caring for my Dad in a manner that was consistent with his values as well as appropriate for the circumstances of his clinical presentation.
