Is my understanding of hospice care all wrong?

Asked by gimmedat (3951) January 18th, 2009 from iPhone

As I understand hospice care, it entails employing only measures that keep a person comfortable and pain-free as he/she comes closer to death. My 91-year-old grandmother is supposed to be receiving hospice care at the nursing home where she stays, but I’m not understanding where the hospice care has come into play. She is a diabetic, suffers dementia, continuously suffers chest infections, and just recently suffered a fall that resulted in her needing seven stitches above her eye, and two below. I understand treating the injuries, but I guess I’m not clear on the chest infections and diabetes. Medicinal interventions are the only ways she’s able to fight the symptoms of these illnesses/infections, and I thought hospice meant the removal of extraordinary medical interventions in favor of using sedation and/or pain killers to make the patient comfortable. What am I missing? I knownthat I could speak with her caregivers, but I am looking for real-world experiences and understanding .