We were waiting for one of Dad’s doctors to mention hospice care with us, but no one did.  And all this omission did was give us a false sense of hope.  Yet it was clear that, when we finally mentioned it, it was on the minds of some of his doctors.  So what was the deal with the silence?  Our guess is that doctors who don’t mention hospice care fall into one of two camps:  One, they’re reluctant to mention hospice care until the family (in their opinion, of course) seems emotionally ready, or two, they don’t consider hospice care because doctors are trained to cure patients and prolong life, and the hospice option feels like a surrender.  Either way, you may have to be the one to bring up the hospice option with your parent’s doctors.