Before cremation services in the area of Blaine, WA, you may be caregiving for a loved one who has dementia and who is nearing the end of their life. Caregiving for your loved one with dementia has its own unique challenges, but end of life care can make caregiving even more difficult.

Quite often, people who develop dementia have other existing health problems, including high blood pressure, heart disease, and diabetes, to name a few. Because of the limitations that dementia imposes on your loved one to be able to fully and actively participate in their health care, you will likely find that you’re having to determine whether they are in pain or they are experiencing acute symptoms simply by observation.

Additionally, as your loved one’s dementia progresses, so will their other health problems, and you will reach a time when you have to make the decision as to whether to continue to treat their health problems or simply make sure your loved one is comfortable through the rest of their life.

You may be fortunate enough that your loved one can communicate enough to say that they don’t want any more treatment for their health issues and you can make the decision with them to transition to hospice care for them.

However, you may be like most caregivers who will have to decide for your loved one whether treatment for non-dementia health problems should continue or not.

One of the overriding considerations of continued treatment for non-dementia health issues is the impact it has on your loved one because they have dementia. Therefore, you need a framework to work within as you make complicated health care decisions for your loved one.

First, consider what your loved one’s health care goals are. If your loved one is communicative, then you can discuss these together. However, in many cases, with severe dementia, your loved one will not be able to tell you what their health care goals are.

However, you can – and should – always step back to the time before your loved one developed dementia. What medical wishes did they express they wanted when they got old or before they died? What did quality of life look like to them? Was it more important to them to stay alive at any cost or to be comfortable when they died?

If your loved one has a living will, you will have a legal document that can help guide you in making the right medical decisions for your loved one, even if they are unable to participate in the process.

Next, when medical professionals propose a new medication, test, or treatment, ask them questions that are related to your loved one’s health goals to determine whether they meet or don’t meet them.

Ask if the test or treatment will improve or diminish your loved one’s overall functioning. Hospitalizing or doing surgery that requires anesthesia will have a detrimental effect on your loved one’s dementia.

If your loved one has, for example, severe cardiac problems, going under anesthesia could mean cardiac arrest and death. These are the things you need to consider as you make decisions for your loved one.

In most cases, alternate non-surgical interventions or hospice care are the best of end of life choices you can make for your loved one with dementia. Be sure, however, that you are a strong advocate for what is best for your loved one, no matter what medical professionals may propose.

If you’d like to learn about cremation services serving the area of Blaine, WA, our empathetic and knowledgeable staff at Moles Farewell Tributes & Crematory – Bayview Chapel can help.