Question: Does Choosing Hospice Care Mean I'm Giving Up Hope?
Many people wonder whether choosing hospice care means that they are giving up hope. They may be concerned that choosing comfort care means choosing death. What's the truth?
Answer: People who choose hospice are not giving up hope, they are in fact redefining it. Though there may no longer be a possibility of curing their illness, they redirect their hope into mending and restoring relationships, spending quality time with those they love, and finding peace and comfort.
Choosing hospice doesn't mean choosing death, it means choosing to live life to the fullest. Usually once someone has chosen hospice, they have been through a lot already. Multiple hospital admissions, chemotherapy and radiation, and invasive tests and treatments can leave patients feeling sick and tired. By choosing hospice, they have decided to focus on the quality of their lives rather than on the quantity.
I've seen many patients who have chosen hospice use their time, once consumed by doctors appointments and hospital stays, to take family vacations, travel to places they've always wanted to see, and enjoy the company of loved ones at home. These aren't patients who have given up hope or given up on life. These are patients who are living life to the fullest.
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