Hammocks for end of life care

[Kroma]

I know the title sounds bad, but I believe my mom would see the humor in the statement. She's on home hospice right now dying of metastatic cancer to lungs. She's bed bound in a lot of pain. It's hard to get her in comfortable positions at times. She may only have a few weeks left but I think there's time to work a solution to hanging a hammock in her room. I have very little diy experience and very little energy of my own to contribute.

Just looking for ideas that could help my mom try hammocks out before she dies. I'm certain she would find it comfortable. It's a basic square bedroom that has a hospital bed, dresser and chairs.

[chapinb]

Does SHE want to die in a hammock? Sounds like she haven't been in one before.
Getting in and out of one is difficult. Changing bed pads or using the toilet/bed pan would be a huge ordeal. Moving positions, elevating feet, and even sipping water would be harder. God forbid it broke or fell?

If your goal is to keep mom comfortable, now probably isn't the time to try hammocks.

Sorry for what your going through. Been there with a parent. Iv no doubt your wishes are in the right place. Her priorities, what treatment she is receiving and overall comfort need to come first. You have a wonderful resource available to you that knows end of life better then anyone: the hospice nurse. Bounce it off them as well.

[cmoulder]

Does SHE want to die in a hammock? Sounds like she haven't been in one before.
Getting in and out of one is difficult. Changing bed pads or using the toilet/bed pan would be a huge ordeal. Moving positions, elevating feet, and even sipping water would be harder. God forbid it broke or fell?

If your goal is to keep mom comfortable, now probably isn't the time to try hammocks.

Sorry for what your going through. Been there with a parent. Iv no doubt your wishes are in the right place. Her priorities, what treatment she is receiving and overall comfort need to come first. You have a wonderful resource available to you that knows end of life better then anyone: the hospice nurse. Bounce it off them as well.

Good advice.

Kroma, having gone thru a very similar situation with a parent, I know that you have the utmost of good intentions but the complications involved in transitioning to hammock are going to be very difficult if not impossible to overcome.

Best wishes for strength in this most challenging phase of life.

[Otter1]

Krona I'm so sorry that your mom, you, and the rest of your family are in this situation. God bless you all.

[rhjanes]

Sorry for your mom's condition. Cherish the little time you have left with her.

My sister died, suddenly, from undetected lung cancer. From diagnosis to her passing was barely a month. I'll echo all of the above comments and advise to make NO attempt at a hammock. Also, if she is in that amount of pain, my advice is to move to the next step and hospice in a hospital/nursing home, soon. They can much better handle the pain in a controlled environment. We've had to deal with three deaths in 2 years. My sister, hospice in a nursing home, kept out of pain and passed quietly. My father in law, hospice for less than 48 hours in a hospital hospice wing, no pain, no suffering. My father, hospice in ICU, no pain. The Hospice doctors can do wonders, in a nursing home/hospital setting.

[Phantom Grappler]

Same here, NO
But you might want to photoshop a pix of your Mom into a hammock. She might like it, as it’s the thought that counts and lasts in y’all’s memories.

[Latherdome]

Kroma, I hope I have some decades left before I'm in your mom's situation or similar, and I also hope to die in a hammock if I can't die suddenly doing something adventurous that I'm too old for. Very uncomfortable in beds: by then I hope to have spent half my lifetime sleeping in hammocks only. My loved ones know this, and I hope they can help hospice figure something out, or if I see it coming and am able to prepare, I'll be my own advocate. I don't really buy the alleged difficulties getting in and out. Can't hurt to ask hospice, and of course your mom: it's her business most of all.

Driving anchors securely into the studs is fairly simple. On a diagonal spanning a corner is often good. Pre-flight the hang so the bottom of the hammock will be at chair height with a generous sag, allowing for head end to be lower than foot.

There are hospitals in the Yucatan with hammocks installed for patients, often Maya who sleep this way at home. Better rest, better outcomes. Also more hygienic since western bedding is harder to deep clean.

Amerigo Vespucci reported that the people he met along the South American jungle coast, when one of their own got deeply sick, they'd move them to a hammock alone away from the others, perform dances, sing and pray to their gods, lay flowers, set food and water beside the hammock, then leave. If the stricken returned to the village, all was good. If not, that was their passage. I'd take that any day over what I've seen of modern deaths.

[Halfed]

I'm sorry for your mom. I have lost mine at the same condition. I will pray for you and your family/relatives.
I don't think it is a good idea for now. I'm sorry, mate.

[SilvrSurfr]

Well, it's not like you're going to kill her from trying this. However, if you have little in the form of DIY skills, that makes it difficult. If she is in great pain, I doubt the hammock will make much of a difference. Also, I agree with others that the logistics of caring for a terminally ill person makes a hammock a dubious choice.

When my mom was dying of the same thing, the cancer had gone to her brain, affecting her balance, vision and thinking. We were living in Tucson, and I took her to the Tucson Mountains to watch the sunset. The trail was steep and rocky and my mother said, "I can't do this." I reminded her she was dying, so she couldn't really accuse me of killing her. She saw the wisdom in that, and we saw a beautiful sunset together.

A couple of weeks later, the cancer caused her brain to malfunction and my mother no longer had bowel control. After two years of caring for her at home, we had to move her to a hospice. Luckily, she died within two weeks so she didn't have to suffer that much.

Best of luck whatever you do.