I’m sorry if this is gross, but I want to be prepared for what’s coming. Basically he had a leg amputated and it’s not healing, so he’s on hospice.
He’s 80, and after being very sedentary the last couple of years he had what we think was a stroke three weeks ago and ended up in the ER; they found several bad blood clots in his legs/groin, and had to amputate one leg mid-thigh (while also opening up the other leg to get another clot.)
He’s a fighter, an old cowboy, but after a superhuman effort by the surgical team and several more surgeries, his leg just won’t heal. They’ve done all they can do, and he’s made peace with it.
He’s gone into hospice now- they just took him to a nursing home this evening. He started out very alert and with it up until today (after the surgery when the surgeon asked how he was feeling, he said “a little unbalanced.” Then asked “tell me straight- will I ever run track again?” He’s a character.) They just stopped all medical intervention yesterday, minus an IV for pain meds.
But the social worker said he was out of it today and talking to himself…so we guess this means the end is near?
What should we be ready for from here on out? I’m assuming he’s technically going to die of sepsis? Is it going to get brutal, or more of a quiet passing in his sleep kind of thing? What can we do to make him more comfortable? It’s killing us, because up until the last few days you’d think he was going to jump out of bed and go fight a bear or something. It’s killing me.