Cowichan Hospice Annual Newsletter 2016/2017

Cowichan Hospice Update These are exciting times at Cowichan Hospice. We have new programs, new volunteers, new staff, and new community supporters! Thank you all! The newest project, the development of the Cowichan Hospice House, is moving along too.

Community support for Hospice care is what makes it all happen. . . take a look inside to see how your support makes life better for more than 800 people each year, right here in Cowichan.

Shelley, Palliative Services Coordinator, writes about Pat, a woman who felt alone but for her cat, and how she is finding connection and healing as she faces a life threatening diagnosis.

A new grief support group is providing another opportunity for connection and affirmation for people struggling with terrible losses. We are privileged to witness beautiful transformations in people’s lives, even in the face of inalterable change.

Look for the photo of our newest volunteers!

This year we have said thank you and good bye to two long term staff members, Kathy Skovgaard and Dee Pope. We have welcomed Zoe Lauckner, Development Administrative Assistant, Cornelia Wicki, Volunteer Program Coordinator, and Lisa de Lusignan, Bereavement Services Coordinator, to the Hospice staff team. If you haven’t met these wonderful people please drop in for a cup of tea.

Finally, the Hospice House Task Force is continuing to work quietly and diligently on this important project. In the coming months we will have lots to share about the development of Cowichan’s own center for living at the end of life.

We are working hard to improve our communications with you. Please check out www.cowichanhospice.org, for a fresh look at our webpage. We would love to hear from you: click on the Contact link and you’ll see a place to share your story and sign up for our newsletters. You can also follow Cowichan Hospice on Facebook, at Facebook.com/ CowichanValleyHospice Your ongoing support for Hospice care makes a difference. Thank you.

Gretchen Hartley Executive Director

Read how your donation makes an impact

Pat describes herself with a chuckle, as a crabby and immature 63 year old lady. When I met her in August of this year, I found myself meeting with an incredibly brave, realistic, and frightened woman who had received a diagnosis of throat cancer just two weeks before. She lives alone, has one good friend in Ontario but no family, and loves her cat Max most of all in this world. She said she had lived with alcoholism, anxiety and depression for most of her life.

“I have been an alcoholic for over fifty years, sober for the past two and the first thing that hits me is that I’m diagnosed with cancer?”

It was really hard for Pat to come through our doors; she had to make herself do it. She says she’s a very independent person, not open, and someone who doesn’t like asking for help. But she also said, “I was desperate, I had no one to talk to. Maybe someone could help me.”

In our initial meeting we talked about her current supports, what she might be needing in future, and how to start setting that all up. We also talked about her fears, her concerns, her worries. She worried about Max, she didn’t want any treatment, and she was adamant about wanting to die at home. When I asked her if she remembered how she felt leaving our office after that first meeting, she said, “I left feeling hopeful, there was some help out there, and there was understanding. Somebody got it.”

Hospice for her was the “. . . first step in getting that community support. The community support is over the top. I didn’t expect that. I didn’t know it was available at all. I don’t think a lot of people know it’s available.”

Pat now has regular home support, is followed by Home Care Nursing and has found support with legal issues. She had the Island Health social worker help with setting up better financial systems that she can manage and has even had help finding a home for Max when she can no longer care for her. (Yes, Max the cat is a ‘she’. . .).

When I checked in with her last week, Pat sounded strong and calm. When I reflected that it sounded like she was feeling well supported in her illness, her voice broke up a bit and she said “I really am. . . my life has been blessed. . .” and when I asked more about that she answered, “it’s a feeling – when you have so many years of hopelessness. . . now I have peace. Because I know I’m supported.” It struck me as amazing that this woman who had kept herself so independent and isolated had allowed this terminal diagnosis to break open the life she had been living and accept help and support from people she didn’t even know, and even more poignantly, to feel gratitude for this change in her life. It still makes my heart overflow when I think of it.

She ended our conversation in her strong and clear voice, with these inspirational words from Joyce Meyer. . .

“It’s not as important how we start… but how we finish.”

- Shelley Kuecks, Palliative Services Coordinator

“My sons and doctor insisted. It became my lifeline. I met wonderful people that helped me so much. I would definitely recommend Cowichan Hospice – I cried, I laughed, and it gave me hope.”

Cowichan Hospice’s confidential grief support groups provide participants a safe environment where thoughts and feelings can be shared that otherwise may sit in the mind, keeping people feeling stuck and overwhelmed. For many, this is where the healing begins, in the quiet contemplation between shared experiences.

Regardless of what brings people to this place, collaboratively they create and share a wealth of compassion and understanding. Strong connections are formed and so much laughter shared – a camaraderie of healing and a depth of understanding of self and other. The paradox of reaching out for support is that it empowers people to care for themselves in new ways: emotionally, spiritually, and physically.

One participant said, during the year after her loss, she’d felt like she was standing at a train station, desperate to get back on the train. One year later, she’s comfortable to pause on the platform and be present in the moment. “Because, you know, there might be some good things there… some things I could never have imagined.”

- Lisa de Lusignan, Bereavement Services Coordinator

“As a 20+ year Hospice volunteer, I have worn many hats; yet I have to say I feel the most selfsatisfaction when I leave a Care Clinic afternoon. Clients come into the clinic so stressed, often at the end of their rope, but most leave centered, more balanced and at peace… even for only a short time. Their appreciation is expressed as ‘holy, I didn’t think I could relax anymore,’ ‘how did you do that, it felt like magic,’ and on it goes. It’s so rewarding!”

Cowichan Hospice is blessed by more than 120 volunteers who offer palliative and grief support to the Cowichan Valley community. Your donation ensures that all clients receive skilled care. Our client volunteers complete the following training: Orientation to Hospice, Deep Listening Training, and Advanced Training. Your gift enabled our volunteers to donate more than 11,000 hours of care for clients last year (equivalent to a $215,500 contribution).

“Hospice is a safe, warm place for me and for clients to share from the heart”

Support Cowichan

Community Events 2016/17 2016-2017 Events

 I would like to make a difference today with a donation of:

December 7: Light Up in Memory at the Cowichan District Hospital. Ceremony begins at 6:00 pm.

$ __________________________________

December 23: Office closed at noon

 I would like to sustain Hospice Care with a monthly donation of:

January 2, 2017: Office reopens at 9 am

$__________________________________

April 16: National Advance Care Planning Day

Please send my tax receipt (tax receipts will be issued for donations of $20 or more) to: Name ______________________________ Address ____________________________ City __________________

PC_________

Phone______________________________ Email ______________________________ Payment Method By cheque (please make payable to) Cowichan Valley Hospice Society

To make a Credit Card donation please call 250-701-4242 or visit our website at: cowichanhospice.org

May 7: Hike for Hospice 9th Annual Walk/ Run/Hike for Cowichan Hospice May 1-7: National Hospice Palliative Care Week June 23: Golf for Cowichan Hospice 10th Annual Golf Tournament at Cowichan Golf & Country Club.

2017 ADVANCE CARE PLANNING PUBLIC EDUCATION SESSIONS: January 26, June 22, September 28, and November 23. Please call to register.

COMMUNITY ORGANIZED EVENTS: July 22 & 23: Cycle of Life Tour

A bequest can make a lasting gift…  I would like to make this donation in memory of: ___________________________________ Please send card to: __________________ Address ____________________________ City _________________ PC__________ Charitable Registration No: 11887 8388 RR0001

Yes! I would like to receive updates about Cowichan Hospice including event announcements and newsletters

If you’d like to unsubscribe from this direct mail list, please call us at (250) 701 4242

(Circle one or both) Email

Mail

Connect with Cowichan Hospice Talk to us: 250-701-4242 or 1-888-701-4242 Write: 3122 Gibbins Road, Duncan BC V9L 1G2 Donate: cowichanhospice.org Email: cvhospice@shaw.ca