Heart disease is a progressive illness that takes a lot out of your aging family member. At first, heart disease might be something that your family member is able to keep under control with medications and other treatments, but eventually it worsens and proceeds to the end stages. This is when hospice care can help tremendously.

Your Family Member Is Opting to Stop Medical Treatments

Medical treatments seem like something that your senior would want to continue indefinitely. But at some point, she might get tired of them or they may feel to her as if they’re doing more harm than good. In the later stages of heart disease, your elderly family member may simply want to enjoy the time that she has left. Hospice care can help her to do that as comfortably as possible.

She’s Been to the Hospital a Lot More than Usual Recently

Heart disease can sometimes increase your elderly family member’s visits to the emergency room or the hospital and that’s not necessarily fun for her. In fact, those trips may be so trying that she wants to stop going to the hospital at all. Hospice providers can help her to manage symptoms and issues at home so that she doesn’t have to go.

She’s not Bouncing Back Like She Used To

One big reason that people stop seeing hospital trips as useful is that it takes longer to recover from those visits than it used to take. Your elderly family member may tell you that she just doesn’t see why it’s necessary and wants to rest at home.

Normal Daily Activities Wear Her Out

When normal daily activities, like walking from the couch to the bathroom, start to wear your family member out to the point that she’s winded and exhausted, she may be in the later stages of heart disease. Hospice elder care can help you and your senior learn how to manage her fatigue and assist her in those activities.

She’s Struggling to Remain as Alert as She Was

As heart disease progresses, even staying awake can take more energy than your senior has to offer. She may start to withdraw a bit and sleep more. It will also be more difficult for her to pay attention and she might seem to have trouble following simple conversations.

If you’re still in doubt about whether hospice elder care is the right solution for your family member, talk with her medical providers. They can help you to determine where she is in the stages of heart disease and when making the shift to hospice is right.

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