At some point, your senior may decide that managing her the way that she has is not working for her anymore. She may be more open to hospice care and all that it can do for her. But why is she feeling that way?

Her Normal Coping Tools Aren’t Helping as Much

Throughout the time that your senior has been managing her COPD she’s likely learned a lot of different tricks, tips, and “hacks” for managing each day. Lots of these tools allow her to conserve energy and to get as much done as she can without wearing herself out. The problem is that because COPD is progressive, those tips may not work as well as they once did. This can be a problem for her.

Fatigue Is More and More Common

As her coping mechanisms don’t work as well, your senior is probably starting to notice that she’s exhausted a lot more than she used to be. Even with conserving her energy, sometimes even small activities that weren’t a problem before are exhausting now. Even getting out of bed might feel like too much on some days.

So Are Trips to the Hospital

You might have already been to the hospital a few times with your senior during her battle with COPD. She’s more susceptible to lung infections and to other illnesses and that can mean that at-home treatments haven’t been the right path for her. But going to the hospital comes with its own trials and problems. And at some point, your senior might decide that curative treatments in the hospital are not something she wants to deal with anymore.

She Heads Back to the Hospital Really Fast

It might not just be the hospital trips that are getting to your senior, though. A bigger problem might be that she’s not just going to the hospital, but then the times between hospital visits are getting shorter and shorter. Your senior may be getting home just in time to head right back into the hospital. This gets exhausting fast and it can leave her feeling like there’s a better way to handle the time that she has left.

There are so many different reasons for your senior to decide to move to hospice care services. Keeping her as comfortable as possible may be the major variable that you both use to make this decision. Living with COPD gets more and more difficult over time and that can be so exhausting for you and for your senior.

If you or an aging parent is considering hospice care in Easton, PA, please contact the caring staff at Serenity Hospice today. Call (215) 867-5405.