Hi, Needs Clarification,   I agree with Carol. You didn't mention whether your loved one has another serious medical issue. In  my mom's case, she had Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and had lost 80 percent of her lung function. I had one instance when I insisted that she go to the emergency room and get treatment when she suffered a lung infection; in hindsight, I maybe should have let her go. The silver lining in this is that my father was able to move to where I live (and Mom's nursing home was) and was able to somewhat come to terms with Mom's disease. (The years prior to Mom's diagnosis had been verbal warfare between the two about Mom's increasing memory loss and a negative impact on my father.) However, by the time that she suffered another lung infection, both Dad and I had pretty much come to terms with what could happen especially since she was having difficulty swallowing. She did go into the hospital for the lunch infection but upon returning to the nursing home, had a pretty steady decline for the last week of her life.   Therefore, I'd suggest that you analyze your loved one's complete health situation because there could be another health issue that will ultimately be the cause of death. Knowing that, you can better prepare for the potential issues and your responses.   Take care! Dorian