blue2148

Hey, hospice/palliative care social worker here. I have so many families struggling with the same thing. With COVID it limits our “closure” in having a formal goodbye. I have been working with families to find ways to do this with social distancing. I had a patient die who loved the outdoors- so the family picked a Saturday and they all went hiking near the city they lived in. Everyone started at the same time and sent pictures and each scattered ashes (that had been mailed). I had another family that all agreed to one night where they sat down and watched the same movie (patient favorite) and ate pizza- a lot of them in the same zoom room laughing together. See if there is something meaningful you can all do on the same day if there’s something that makes sense to your family. Sorry, rambling ha.

Other young widow here. It’s been a few years and I feel like I’m ready to date almost. But wtf is this online dating stuff!? It’s awful. I don’t know how to meet people outside of it though. But lord I don’t wanna.

My dog had surgery on her spine when she was 4. They found scar tissue from a ruptured disc that was pinching her spinal cord. She spent about 10 days in the hospital high on fentanyl and then came home and was back to her normal self pretty quickly. She is still taking medications that ward off any pain but most of them are because she was diagnosed with cauda equina neuritis a year after surgery. But honestly you would never know it. She runs, she jumps, she plays fetch, she hikes. She got bumped down to yearly checks by her neurologist because she’s doing just fine. Though I will mention that I have dog insurance that has covered the cost of most of this. It was a very pricey journey...

Look for a company that does in home euthanasia. It will cost a bit more but it’s worth every penny. All of my dogs I’ve put down we did toward the end of the evening. Spent the day cuddling and loving on them and cooking up steak if they would eat a couple bites. The vet shows up and it’s easy and peaceful. And that way my other dogs can be there and know what’s going on. Seriously, highly recommend this route.

Thank you! I love my job. It’s hard somedays but my patients are wonderful. COVID has really changed it though, not for the better. I am pretty fried right now but I’m taking some time off after Christmas to get a small break. I’m glad your family had a good experience with hospice.