Stage 2: Living With Decline — Adjusting Daily Life and Striving to Maintain Dignity

As the illness progresses, families often work tirelessly to maintain everyday routines while adapting to increasing physical needs, emotional shifts, and medical complexities. This stage may include ongoing treatments, new medications, medical equipment in the home, and increased dependence on caregivers. Families may experience fear, uncertainty, and anticipatory grief as they watch their loved one decline.

During this period, Silverado Hospice provides information and support to help families understand how to manage symptoms such as pain, shortness of breath, fatigue, confusion, anxiety, and loss of mobility. We explain what palliative support looks like before hospice begins and why a quality-of-life focus becomes essential as the disease advances. Families learn how to preserve dignity for their loved one while protecting their own emotional and physical health.This stage emphasizes planning, education, and hopeful adaptation—ensuring families feel supported and empowered, not alone.