H A R B O R
H O S P I C E
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P A L L I A T I V E
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Palliative and Hospice Care Give Deb and Rick Time to
Love, Hope and Live By Susan Newhof
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She knew they needed help managing Rick’s condition, but making the call to ask about hospice or palliative care seemed too great a leap. A conversation with Gerald Harriman, DO, the trusted physician who had taken care of Deb and her family for many years, changed her mind. She knew Dr. Harriman had left private practice to become
ick Anderson was a talented drummer playing in a
medical director for Harbor Hospice and Harbor Palliative
band the night he first set eyes on a pretty girl in
Care, and on the strength of her long-time faith in him,
the crowd named Debbie. He was 24, she was 18.
she asked if he would evaluate Rick for palliative care.
“He told me later he said a prayer to God that I would
“Dr. Harriman came to see us,” remembers Deb,
be his girlfriend,” recalls Deb of that life-changing evening.
“and that visit helped give us a life again. He prescribed
The two fell in love and spent the next 49 years together
a combination of medications and a flexible plan for using
sharing everything – their love of music, raising their
them to keep Rick comfortable and mobile. The meds also
children, running a family dry cleaning business, and
helped with side effects like nausea and lack of appetite.
eventually walking an unexpected path after Rick was
And Dr. Harriman continued to check in when Rick went
diagnosed with prostate cancer.
to the hospital to have surgery.”
On a late summer afternoon, she is remembering it all, from their sweet beginnings to Rick’s peaceful passing. “We were trying to live a normal life,” Deb says, of the
“Palliative care was incredible,” she adds. “It took a load off my shoulders. Rick continued treatment and we worked as a team with Rick’s specialists, Dr. Harriman, and the staff
months that followed Rick’s diagnosis. He began taking a
of Harbor Palliative Care. We had everything we needed.”
pill form of chemotherapy. He retired from the family
After Rick had been on chemotherapy treatments for about
business, and he happily continued playing in three bands.
20 months, the drugs stopped working. His doctor tried
But sometimes he was in pain. Bad pain.
another drug, but it did not help.
“I knew he could take pain pills every four hours,”
“I didn’t want Rick to go on hospice care because of
Deb recalls, “and I was constantly checking to be sure
what it meant…that Rick was going to die,” says Deb.
we had enough.”
“But Dr. Harriman explained that hospice care is about a
HarborHospiceMI.org
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