Don Barnett's Hospice Care
Donation protected
Hello everyone I'm Don's son, Kyle. As some of you may know, My Father, Don Barnett has been battling dementia for a few years.
This week, we received the heartbreaking news that he requires in-home hospice care due to Stage 4 Colon Cancer. The financial strain from the events listed below prevents us from hiring professional sitters/attendants to provide much-needed relief for my mom, his devoted wife, who also shoulders daily life tasks.
We're reaching out for support to ensure he receives constant monitoring + care during moments when she can't be there or simply needs a break.
In the advanced stages of dementia, he's prone to attempting to remove his colonoscopy bag, a complication from his recent stage 4 colon cancer surgery. This behavior makes it unsafe to leave him unattended.
My mother has been stressed more than I ever care to see her stressed and its already landed her in the ER once. This funding will only go towards professional sitters/attendants, additional supplies that hospice doesn’t cover, and if things decrease quicker than expected, funeral arrangements. This will provide a great relief to the financial + emotional stress.
⏰ Here is a timeline of how things have progressed: (will update as things progress)
January 2023:
He seemed to be forgetting more and more. After reading about how music can help I decided he needed another guitar. Upon him picking one up he seemed to be back to his old self which seemed to work for a little bit.
October 06, 2023:
while getting out of the car headed to dinner he took a nasty spill face first into the ground. He broke one tooth and lost another one entirely. It seems he was luckily wearing some larger sunglasses and they took most of the damage so he only had a few small scuffs on his face.
October 20, 2023:
ER visit, UTI
December 15, 2023:
another ER visit. This time he was confused and did not know who any of his family was. Upon visiting the ER it was determined he had a severe UTI and had become septic, his potassium was very low as well as other things. after a trip to St. Francis East Side for the weekend he was sent home and seemed about as well as he could.
Christmas:
he seemed relatively okay but a bit easily irritated. He didn't seem to have mobility issues or anything.
during a checkup at the his regular doctor he was down to 129lbs.
February 2024:
he was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. Part of that diagnoses required the removal of a substantial amount of his colon and he now has a colostomy bag. and was down to 116lbs post surgery.
March 15, 2024:
He left the post-acute facility and was admitted to the ER at which point they discovered an infection and he was admitted to the cancer care ward.
March 20, 2024:
he was informed of his options for treatment by the oncologist. It was advised he goes on to Hospice. However, he does not yet qualify for the hospice house under Medicare so he will be released to go in-home hospice to just my mothers care on 3/22/24.
March 22, 2024
Released to our mother’s care at in-home hospice. Things were obviously chaotic but okay.
March 23, 2024
Things are as good as they can be.
March 29th, 2024
In home hospice nurse came by and believes he is in transitioning. He’s not eating as often and not drinking as often.
March 30th, 2024
He was put on transdermal fentanyl patches with a lesser oral morphine as needed for his base pain therapy.
March 31, 2024 - Easter Sunday
At 6:30am He got out of bed and made it to the door of the bathroom. Upon being found there he was guided back to his bed and fell just short of being back in bed. Luckily there was no injury when that happened. After that he started repeating the same made up words over and over for the next few hours while usually clutching the bed rail. We called the on call nurse and she got here shortly after he broke free from that episode and she proceeded to check for a stroke. He seemed to pass that test but shortly after she left he went back into speaking jibberish. Fake Spanish for a while followed by fake Russian followed by fake German. All while appearing to conduct a class. In between each language he would somewhat come to and ask odd questions in English and then go right back to his “class”. All through this, he is making 3-5 attempts per hour to get out of bed. This kept up through the day. Dosage of medicines were changed and he was swapped to Haldol to help with his agitation. It seemed to be a huge help. While changing his clothes we noticed his fentanyl patch was no longer on him. We have no idea where it went after searching all bedding, clothing , trash cans, cabinets, etc. now there is an extra large bandaid covering it.
April 1, 2024
Today started off fairly rough. Continued multiple attempts per hour to get out of bed. He was very agitated and emotional when the CNA came to check up on him. Shortly after she left I arrived to help and try to calm him. A hour or so later once he had leveled out a bit the Chaplin and social worker came by to see how he was doing. After the sun went down he has become much more agitated and become combative. Spitting his medicine out at multiple people who attempted to give it to him. The second wonderful hospice nurse gave us some new instructions on dosage and how to go about giving it to him. As of right now we are up giving him medicine every two hours to keep him sedated until he is likely transported to hospice where people with fresh minds can keep an eye on him and know what to do when new wild things happen.
April 2, 2024
We continued to give him the medicine as directed until trapper arrived. Everyone involved has been incredibly helpful with the whole situation. At 1pm his transport picked him up and he was taken to McCalls Hospice House for General Inpatient Care.
April 3, 2024
My mom went to see him and was informed that he had a rough night and they recommended against visitors for the day. She took their advice and went home to rest and take care of herself for the day. Some old coworkers of his seemed to make a quick stop at the hospice house and see him but he was asleep.
April 7, 2024
It’s been 10 days since he has last eaten. Yesterday his medicines were adjusted and changed in an effort to ease his pain. Visits are asked to be limited to 5 minutes or less and they urge that we do not interact with him as risking he wake up he will be extremely agitated. Considering the extreme confusion and pain he would be enduring we have agreed and have been told he has been peaceful when allowed to be. We have all said our goodbyes and It could be any minute now.
April 9th,
He is visibly declining but seems to be peaceful. There is movement and he seems to respond to music. I do not believe he has the strength to try and get out of bed.
April 11, 2024
12:22am - I struggle to type this out but his suffering has stopped. Don Barnett has passed.
❤️ Again, Anything donated helps cover any unexpected medical costs that they incur. My mother has been stressed more than I ever care to see her stressed and its already landed her in the ER once. I'd like to help make sure paying for a random medical bill doesn't add to that stress. ❤️
Co-organizers (3)
Kyle Barnett
Organizer
Fountain Inn, SC
Debra Barnett
Beneficiary
Krysten Barnett
Co-organizer