mother in hospistal, has congestive heart...

[arron b]

...failure, and chronic kidney failure? My 63 year old mother is in the hospital, she has both the conditions above, and many others, this is the 3rd time in a month that she has been to the hospital. She seems to get worse at the hospital than she is at home. i guess my question is: Has anyone out there been though this situation before? How long does she have? Is she just putting on a good show at home so that we think everything is ok?

[Phil Connors]

Age is certainly on her side. CHF and chronic kidney failure is a difficult combination to treat because medications to correct one condition and worsen the other. My advice, try to be up-beat when you visit her and try to keep her hopes up so she stays positive minded. That will help her recovery too.

[Bekka]

My mother went through the same thing... for about four months... in and out of the hospital. The reason your mom seems to do worse in the hospital is that she is immobile and the fluids are collecting in her system... Make sure you stay on top of the doctors. Talk to them. Find out what they are doing and where the treatment is going. Find out what meds she needs and is taking and what they do. You can ask the hospital to provide you with a cot so you can stay with her during the night... make sure the nurse gives her the meds on time. BE INFORMED. They may try to send you home... but you have the right to be there.I wish I had done that with my mother. Unfortunately, I trusted the hospital system of care and she died of something that could have been prevented if I had paid attention to what was going on.

[ºoº Ericka ºoº]

no one can truly answer how long she has left. she's not putting on a show, she is deathly ill, she has ups and downs like the rest of us. i seriously hope you have her on a DNR or do not resuscitate. i was in a hospital setting and the worst thing is watching the reactions of one's family not how bad you actually feel yourself. the right thing to do is when time gets close, tell her, give her the permission to go "home". she needs to know she didn't let you down. i think she is worse at the hospital because her morale is down. it's not a fake job, she is truly sick. plus with CHF, she doesn't have the energy to do normal things, at the hospital, they probably want her up in a chair at certain times and do Physical therapy to an extent.