Could this be a sign he is going to die?

[Mamacherie]

I know this might sound silly to many but my grandpa is in Australia and has a really nasty fall. He has broken his eye socket and is in hospital. Since it has happened my Aunty has told me he keeps "seeing" people that aren't there.
He apparently was complaining about a boy coming into the room and putting a dog on his bed and insisting there were people in the room with them when there weren't. My family laugh and think he is hallucinating but a part of me wonders if maybe he is really seeing something and it is a sign he is going to cross over soon.
AIBU to think this? Does anyone have similar stories?
It is making me a little upset as I haven't seen him in awhile and he hasn't met my youngest son yet. I wouldn't be able to go due to COVID as well so really hoping it doesn't mean anything but can't help feeling this is a sign.

He's probably on a load of painkillers. They can really mess with your head.

Hope he's okay.

If he's broken his eye socket, that must have been quite a bump to his head. Much more likely due to that than anything else!

Is he on pain medication? Friend of mine had really serious hallucinations after an emergency appendectomy from the pain medication.

I don't believe in anything like that. I would put it down to meds. Wishing your grandpa well soon

certain drugs esp. pain killers can make the patient see things that aren't there, esp combine with head trauma. dgp will be well looked after and hopefully soon be up and about again doing his own thing.

Hello Op - have a look at this. There are quite a few recognised conditions and circumstances that can cause hallucinations in elderly patients, it's by no means a sign that he's about to die.
When you say your family are laughing - do you mean family that you live with are laughing at your concern for him, or something else?
I hope you're ok. It must be very hard to be so far away if you're fond of him.
www.newhealthadvisor.org/hallucinations-in-the-elderly.html

People who are very ill experience delirium more than people who aren’t, and are also more likely to die.

Anecdotes about people who experienced delirium before they died will be ten-a-penny but do not indicate anything predictive.

He could be. But it's more likely to be the bump to the head, the pain medication, or even something like a UTI.

Thank you everyone for your replies. Makes me feel a little more hopeful. Hopefully it is just the meds and he will make a full recovery.

No they were laughing at the stories he was telling such as getting annoyed that there was a dog on his bed. Really light hearted and he has a good sense of humor too.

It could be one or more of a number of things:
Hallucinations from powerful pain-killing medication,
Hallucinations from concussion/head injury,
Dementia,
Imagination,
Dreaming,
Seeing spirits of relatives and friends who have died.

Do you happen to know whether he used to have a dog of the type put on his bed at some point during his life?
Can anyone relate to someone in your grandad's life who died around the age of the boy he saw?

It’ll be the bang on the head and the drugs. And his sight could have been affected.

Hope he’s up and about soon :)

Very common in the elderly when unwell, as detailed above. MIL had the most terrible hallucinations whenever she had a UTI. Really grim stuff.

A nasty enough head injury to break his eye socket! Combined with a whole bunch of painkillers and other medications. Hallucinations would be expected to be honest.

Hallucinations from vision loss are also a thing, though usually if both eyes are affected.
www.nhs.uk/conditions/charles-bonnet-syndrome/

My stepfather was on strong medication and had similarly realisic hallucinations of animals. This was a couple of years ago, they didn't last long and he's been fine since.

I hallucinated when I was on oramorph after a C-section, I refused all subsequent doses, it was better to be in pain than see spikes growing out of baby DS's face!

This happened to my Father, but the Dr assured me it was the antibiotics he was taking that caused it. He survived many years after that infection.

He’s hallucinating for whatever reason - meds, concussion an infection...

You don’t not need to worry about ghosts as they don’t exist 😬

Delirium after accidents like this is common. + after surgery. + with painkillers.

I hope he has a straightforward recovery and is discharged back home soon.

Firstly sorry to hear this.

I don't believe in signs that people are going to "cross over" or anything like that.

But I wouldn't assume the fact that he is hallucinating means he is going to die. He's probably on quite a lot of strong painkillers for one and he may be mildly concussed.

My dad (who's now in his 80s) was very ill with a hospital-acquired infection about 10 years ago and was completely delirious for about two weeks, hallucinating etc. I was convinced he was dying and he's still here and very healthy for his age now.

Hope he's OK.

As others have said there are many reasons for hallucinations especially if on pain killers.

Although my grandfather was 94 when he died in his chair, fell asleep and didnt wake up. For a few weeks before he died he kept seeing his two brothers appear in his room asking him to come with them. All odd

Dehydration causes this too and is quite common in elderly people in hospital. Tell your family to make sure he is drinking enough. My DM thought she was in the CIA, the light switches were secret microphones, the shower led to an underground base ... and then she stole the shoes from the patient in the next bed as part of her mission She returned to her usual self in a few days.

My nan hallucinated in hospital. Very tall tales and some that must have been very scary for her. It was a UTI. Luckily we were able to advocate for her and say she had no memory issues or signs of dementia before her fall as that’s what they seemed to put it down to because of her age.

Could be a water infection, it may have been the reason he fell in the first place. I wouldn’t say it was a sign.

When my husband was in hospital a few years ago, he was on ketamine, morphine and fentanyl. I used to love hearing his stories from what had been going on in the night when I went in to visit. All of it was hallucinations but he would tell me about the fire that happened and all the nurses put it out with me helping them, all the staff brought their children in and they were running around all over the place - it was hilarious! He doesn't remember much about it now.

I hope your grandpa makes a good recovery x

My grandfather was on some pain meds after surgery that make him hallucinate. We visited him in the hospital and he told us they were keeping horses in the room next door, and on another visit his hands were strapped to the bed because he'd tried to punch one of the nurses! The doctor switched the medication after that incident.