Quote: As far as her father goes, I don’t believe that someone should die alone. My wife is an RN and I’m a Firefighter/paramedic. Between the two of us, we can take care of him until it becomes too much. Lou, I think at that time we would use hospice.
Hospice comes to your house and provides in-house care for dieing people, or you can go to their office and talk to the hospice folks for advice or support. I never suggested you send of your FIL to die away from home.
Maybe your area doesn't have a Hospice outreach program like my area. Here, they along with government support, pay for some nursing care, meds, offer grief counseling, and help with some other things.
Quote: fear that this will put yet another wedge between us. My wife says it will not and that we will have that side of our relationship back again. I just don’t know when……
We went through my W's mother's illness and death and about a year later an uncles illness and death. It takes time to recover from caring for ill relatives. Don't be surprised if you still feel drained for several months after your FIL dies.
Side note; Hospice for pets???? My sister lives in an area where they even have hospice for pets through a volunteer animal organization. I think someone from the animal hospice came to my sisters house 3X a day to help her care for her dog that recently died from cancer.
Just to show you how broad the concept of hospice can be.
