Cost of home care for 88 year old

Dazi

Hi Cepheus, I lost my Dad last December, so I know there are no words to make it better, but just want to send my condolences and best wishes to you x

troubleinparadise

Dear Cepheus,

I'm sorry to hear your sad news about your Mum - but I'm glad she was peaceful.

My condolences to you all x

sheilavw

So sorry Cepheus. Thinking of you all at this sad time x

margaretclare

I am so sorry. This must have all been such a big shock for you, when one looks back to when you were talking about arranging home care for your Mum, only a matter of weeks ago!! My sympathy and condolences. Your poor Mum.

gaynormurray

Bless you, look after yourself now xxx

cepheus

I'm still amazed how quickly Mum went, after they gave her 2 months. I still think the immediate cause may be infection.

Is it permissible to open the medical certificate from the hospital, that is the sealed envelope which is used to obtain the death certificate to be handed in at the registrar (which I have booked tomorrow)

clemmatis

Cepheus, I missed your updates -- illness plus loss of internet connection -- I'm sorry to hear your news. Do take care.

I didn't have a sealed medical certificate, simply the GP's certificate. So I don't know. But I do remember the registrar reading what the GP said to me and explaining one part of it. Surely you have a right to see it.

Savvy_Sue

cepheus wrote: »

Is it permissible to open the medical certificate from the hospital, that is the sealed envelope which is used to obtain the death certificate to be handed in at the registrar (which I have booked tomorrow)

clemmatis wrote: »

I didn't have a sealed medical certificate, simply the GP's certificate. So I don't know. But I do remember the registrar reading what the GP said to me and explaining one part of it. Surely you have a right to see it.

I am not sure we had that certificate at all, it may have gone straight to the Registrar, although we still had to attend with documentation etc to get the 'proper' death certificate.

However, the 'proper' death certificate will give the cause(s) of death, so if you can wait until tomorrow then you will see it then.

If not, phone the ward and see if they can tell you?

Remember to get several copies of the death certificate, because it's cheaper to get them at the time than order them afterwards. We had 10, which was too many really, as in many cases I took the certificate into the bank in person, and it was handed straight back to me. However if you're doing a lot by post, then having several is very helpful.

troubleinparadise

Dear Cepheus,

That sealed certificate in the envelope is simply the official Medical Certificate of Cause of Death, where the doctor has certified that your Mum has died and that he has seen her. It will give the cause of death on it. The Registrar will open it when you are there, and you will be able to see it.

The cause of death will be entered onto the official Certificate of Death that you will be given by the Registrar. This information is also used by the State to keep statistics on the causes of death, and are what are quoted when we read in the newspaper about certain types of illness cases are reducing, or whatever.

The Registrar will also give you a really useful booklet which gives information about what steps to take next, what to do and who to contact. It is a real help if you have never had to deal with this before, and also when your head is in a complete muddle as it tends to be with bereavement.

Good luck today - it is a very unreal time, and whilst you are doing things you never wanted to have to do, it kind of "keeps you busy" at this difficult time.

Best wishes x

margaretclare

Just to add to t_i_p's excellent post, there may be more than one cause of death. For example, pancreatic cancer plus infection plus obstruction of bile duct - these may all be listed as 1, 2, 3, depending on what her doctors thought.

Some types of cancer are very virulent, some more so than others, and when you have a person in a weakened state to begin with, as you described your mum in post # 1 of this thread, they haven't got much of a fighting chance.

Take care of yourself at this difficult time.