Man ‘Kicked Out’ of Hospice for Dying Too Slowly

A man who entered hospice expecting he might have only weeks to live stunned his family and caregivers by getting stronger instead — and eventually surviving long enough to be discharged.

Mike Salmon, then 73, was placed in hospice care in January 2026 after enduring a devastating series of medical emergencies, including aortic aneurysms, sepsis and temporary delirium.

Salmon had already undergone three operations in a matter of months when he suffered another near-fatal aortic aneurysm.

Doctors told him that two additional surgeries would be extremely risky. Faced with an uncertain future, Salmon chose hospice care, which is generally intended for patients doctors believe may have six months or less to live.

Without further treatment, his prognosis appeared grim.

“I’m astonished I’ve made it this far,” his wife, Kim Clark, recalled him saying in an essay for KFF Health News.

But Salmon kept hanging on.

And then something nobody expected happened.

Instead of rapidly declining, he began getting stronger.

Clark said the couple switched hospice providers early in the process and credits staff at their second hospice with helping Salmon regain some of the strength he had lost.

“The hospice nurse gave him medicine to help him sleep through the night. He soon started regaining weight and strength,” Clark wrote.

Being back home also made a major difference.

Salmon could get up and walk without waiting for hospital workers to disconnect him from monitors, and he was once again able to enjoy regular meals.

Slowly, his strength returned.

His sepsis stayed away. His aneurysm did not immediately worsen. And the man who had entered hospice expecting his final days suddenly appeared to have more time.

After roughly six months, Salmon was discharged because he no longer met the medical requirements for hospice care.

While being released from hospice may sound unusual, it does happen. Patients generally must continue to meet eligibility requirements showing they are likely approaching the end of life.

Salmon had simply survived longer — and improved more — than expected.

Now he is making the most of what his wife calls their “unexpected bonus days.”

Salmon has returned to gardening, playing bridge and even picking blueberries with Clark.

He has also gotten back into the kitchen, where he is once again baking his signature lattice-topped blueberry cinnamon pies.

“For now, Mike and I are enjoying these unexpected bonus days,” Clark wrote.

The couple also said the experience changed the way they look at hospice care.

Whenever Salmon’s health eventually begins declining again, he said he takes comfort knowing the hospice staff will be there to help.

“They’ll try to improve the quality of what time I have left,” Salmon said.

For now, however, there are blueberries to pick, pies to bake — and days neither of them expected to have.