One Patient’s View of Coping with End of Life I was told by my cardiologist that I have end-stage heart failure. It was a devastating blow, and I admit I was very down and confused. I had six months to a year to live — maybe two years. Medical specialists offered several procedures that would increase my quality of life, but would not prolong it. I rejected the procedures because of anxiety in anticipating them, they would be invasive, they may not work in my case, and — most importantly — they would not extend my life. I started hospice care in July of this year. Being confronted with facing the end of life, I prepared some keywords to help me cope with the situation. I have posted them in my kitchen. Laughter – Keep your sense of humor, including the ability to laugh at yourself. The act of laughing helps your body fight end-of-life stress in a number of ways, and its benefits are well documented. Watch a funny movie, or remember a humorous event in your life. I like the old monologues by comedians Foster Brooks and Stephen Wright.
Stress reduction – If the evening news makes you anxious, turn the TV off. If you get upset over religion or politics, cross them off your conversation list. If a situation is stressful, ask yourself how important will it be in the long run. Will it matter in a month or a year? It is really worth getting upset over? If the answer is no, focus your time and energy elsewhere.
The Honor of Being a Family Hospice Nurse
2015 FALL NEWSLETTER
Family Hospice and Palliative Care Marks 35 Years of Service
Attitude – The remarkable thing about attitude is that we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace. It is how we react to the end of life that is important. I am working toward an attitude that everything I do is interesting, like making a game of maximizing the number of dishes I can fit into one dishwashing cycle. Trust your body, emotions and mind – The human body is a remarkable and adaptive system. To some degree, it will heal itself. So, let nature take its course.
Projects – Create projects where you are fully Exercise – Get involved in an exercise program, focused on the situation or task at hand. Time however modest. Exercise will make you feel better by flies. Make time for leisure activities that bring you improving your health, lifting your spirits, and boosting joy, whether it be playing the harmonica or putting your confidence. At a minimum, I walk around the first together a puzzle. My most recent projects were floor of my home several times a day and do simple setting up a model train layout and writing my balancing exercises. memoirs. Gratitude – Being thankful for what you have has been linked to sounder sleep, less anxiety and depression, higher satisfaction with life, and kinder behavior toward others. More than any other emotion, gratitude is the emotion of friendship. I am particularly grateful that there is little pain with my condition.
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In our end-of-life journey, think of the positive things people have said to you in your past, and how you make a difference in the world. And never forget – YOU MATTER TO OTHERS! Jim Gatto September, 2015
Hardly a day goes by that I am not asked by someone how I can work as a hospice nurse. I view hospice care as a calling. It is a privilege to enter peoples’ lives at their most vulnerable time. I become part of a patient’s journey, advocating for the patient to receive relief from symptoms and to have a death with dignity, respect and pride. Respect is so important – respect for a patient’s culture, their background, their religious beliefs, and their short- and long-term goals. While patients and their families may feel that we are a gift to them, those of us who have chosen to provide hospice care know better. I realize every day the gifts I have received from getting to know my patients and their loved ones. I am honored to take this journey with them and can’t imagine my life without each and every patient I have met along the way. — Ann Yaros, RN, Family Hospice and Palliative Care
Simple Pleasures Add to Quality of Life There is nothing William “Uncle Bill” Anderson of Hermitage enjoyed more than spending time outdoors. At 97 years of age, he served nearly half a century as a school bus driver and worked on a local farm for many years. Bill hadn’t been outside since returning home after a hospitalization in July and being admitted as a patient of Family Hospice and Palliative Care. One of his last wishes was to go outside one more time to see his tractor and experience the outdoors. The Family Hospice Hermitage team of Jennifer Trone, clinical supervisor, Denise Armstrong, social worker, and RN case manager Anya Pupekuvich took action to make Bill’s wish become a reality. The layout of the Anderson home created significant navigational challenges for Bill, so the Family Hospice team contacted the Hermitage Fire Department for help. Chief John Flynn responded quickly and was eager to coordinate volunteers and secure a specialty chair to fulfill Bill’s wish.
On a recent blustery afternoon Family Hospice staff, along with Hermitage volunteer firefighters and Bill’s daughter, Sherry Iverson, gathered at the home for a special outing. Dressed in a winter coat to ward off the chill, Bill could not have been more pleased to get out into the fall air. “Bill grinned from ear to ear,” Jennifer shared. “I don’t even think he said anything. He was so excited and grateful to be outside! The firefighters displayed such genuine kindness and compassion. I think Bill sensed that too. He made a point to shake hands with each of them.” Honoring Bill’s wish to once again enjoy the fresh air outside his home is in keeping with hospice’s goal of supporting quality of life, which is not restricted to medical care alone. Being cared for at home enables Bill to enjoy a nightcap with his son David each evening. “Bill shared that his secret to longevity is a shot and a beer every night” Jennifer said. Married for 65 years to Hazel before becoming a widower, Bill also shared his key to a successful marriage. “We never went to bed mad.” The Family Hospice team extends special thanks to the Hermitage firefighters who responded swiftly and with great kindness in making Bill’s wish come true.
“H
ospice is people. It always has been, and it always will be,” says Family Hospice and Palliative Care volunteer Carol Sayers Vockel. Leave it to Carol, a volunteer and hospice advocate of 35 years and unofficial Family Hospice historian, to get to the heart of the matter. As the organization marks its 35th anniversary this year, it is important to recognize and remember that Family Hospice has its roots in the volunteer movement that gave birth to hospice in so many places across the country in the 1970s and 80s, even before Medicare provided funding for supportive services to patients and caregivers navigating serious illness. Truly home-grown, Family Hospice was founded by a group of individuals from South Hills Interfaith Ministries, the home care division of Jefferson Hospital, St. Clair Hospital and what was then Mercy Hospital. The coalition’s interest was to improve the options for their loved ones and for their community at end of life. Carol recalls “a little office by the elevator” at St. Clair Hospital that served as home to the organization’s humble beginnings. “The staff was small, the space was small, but I was greeted with such warmth,” says Carol when she responded in person to a newspaper ad requesting volunteers. As it turns out, Family Hospice would place many such ads in the ensuing years, largely because generous, open-hearted people like Carol continued to present themselves. Carol remembers her early years as a patient volunteer with fondness. She explains, “I had a great teacher in Sr. Alma,”
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Mission Statement The Mission of Family Hospice and Palliative Care is to provide compassionate, quality comfort care that enhances the lives of people with life-limiting illness and their families.
Board of Directors Robert E. Butter, Chair Deborah Brodine, Vice Chair Bruce Austin, Secretary Paul Winkler, Immediate Past Chair Kathi R. Boyle Kimberly Ward Burns
David Friedland, MD Barbara Ivanko, President and CEO Barry C. Lembersky, MD Lisa Turbeville Markowski Sandra Tomlinson G. Alan Yeasted, MD
Institutional Advancement Committee Lisa Turbeville Markowski, Chair Robert E. Butter Nanci Case Ruth G. Foltz
Nancy F. Gannon Marthé Groves Jane D. Johnson
FamilyHospicePA.org