My Mom passed away on October 26, 2016.  She went downhill after a trip to the hospital in early 2015 and it was so bad I stopped posting I was so sad and depressed.  I want to recap the last 2 years.  My Mom was in a wheelchair for years now but after the hospital she was so weak she needed 2-3 people at nursing home to lift her into a hoyer lift to transfer her to her wheelchair. The dementia progressed and not only took more of her mind but her body.  She was always irritated and confused from this point on and visiting her was very hard on me. She got to the point where she could not sit up in bed or even raise more than her head a bit and could not lift her arms either.  She was only able to eat pureed foods and had to be fed by staff.  She went into hospice in May of 2015 and was with them for over a year.  You can be in hospice with a “change of condition”, which can be as little as losing weight monthly.  You do not need to be at death’s door to qualify. Hospice was paid by medicaid and a lifesaver for me.  They had a Chaplain, a music girl, cna, nurse, social worker, and all tried to visit with my Mom and give her extra care.  The last 6-8 months of my Mom’s life I believe Alzheimer’s set in and she did not know who I was or my kids.  She would just mutter something about 26th street where she grew up and sometimes called me Mom.  When I received the call about another “change of condition” I knew this was it because she was already in such bad shape.  I went there on Sunday and my Mom could no longer talk and mostly slept.  She developed a fever and the hospice staff worked with nursing home staff to keep her comfortable.  She was given tylenol every 4 hours, within 2 hours her fever was over 102 each time.  She was also given morphine to help her rest.  She hung on from Sunday-early Wednesday and then finally passed.  I sat with her and talked to her about going shopping and decorating the tree for Christmas, once or twice she opened her eyes so I think she liked what I was saying.  This is a horrible disease that not only took my Mom’s mind but her physical body.  I am glad she is finally in peace.