Terminal Agitation can be a common symptom of the dying process.
It can start a couple of weeks before death and can be characterised as being behaviours that are restless, unsettled and anxious in nature. Some patients are fidgety, others distressed, sometimes angry, sometimes confused. And the causes can be complicated and multifaceted.
Often patients are hypoxic, or have deranged blood work.
Their primary disease may be affecting their bodies adversely with pain, and sepsis, infection and organ failure being other important factors.
Hospice care is often all about managing these conditions.
Medication has its role and is a big factor
Communication and the simple but practical dealing with issues such as dehydration, constipation and retention of urine are others .
It’s a complicated issue.
This morning, in the wee small hours when nothing feels right
Medications and communication and pain relief and positioning all had a role to play in the quietening of terminal agitation.
But the final straw that helped the most, at 5.30 am when the patient was most forlorn ?
A cool, almost cold pillow against a cheek
A pillow that had been left next to a slightly open window
A pillow smelling “ Vaguely of the Irish sea”
from Going Gently https://ift.tt/9cSXuoC
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