What would you give to spend more time with someone you love?

Hospice

We all know there are things that money can’t buy, like love…and time.

But, what if I told you that the gift you give today could actually give the precious gift of time to a person facing the end of their life? 

Because, this is exactly what your past support has given our Hospice patient Stacy and her mother Marianne—cherished moments to be together.

Everything was going great for Stacy, a mom of two grown children, grandmother of one, and a social worker with the Department of Mental Health.  She had just been assigned to an exciting new program at work—helping adults with mental illness—and she’d bought a new car, too!

Then a client pointed out that Stacy seemed to be losing her balance…a lot.  She made an appointment to see her doctor, who immediately ordered a series of tests.  In route to her follow-up appointment, she got a call from her doctor telling her to head straight to the hospital.

They’d found four tumors on her brain.

Stacy was admitted that day and underwent surgery a few days later.  Coming out of surgery, Stacy was given the bad news that her surgeon had only been able to remove two of the four cancerous tumors and she would have to undergo whole brain radiation followed by a round of chemotherapy.

Then things got even worse… none of the treatments had worked and there was no hope of a cure.  At age 57, Stacy would now be facing the end of her life.  Exhausted, and in unbearable pain, Stacy made the extremely difficult decision to forgo another round of chemotherapy.  That’s also when she decided to become a patient of Collabria Hospice. 

For Stacy, choosing Hospice meant she would spend her final time, no matter how many days that might be, content at home with her family.

“When Stacy told me she’d made this decision, I was just numb,” says Marianne.  “The mother in me wanted to encourage her to continue to keep fighting! But, then I asked myself, ‘What would I do?’ Anything they did might prolong her life for maybe weeks or months, but she’d still be in so much pain and in the end it wouldn’t make her better.”

For Marianne, My prayer was and is, that Stacy not be in excruciating pain, and she hasn’t been.  With Hospice onboard, we’ve been able to control the pain with a minimum amount of medication, and we’ve been able to enjoy our time together. 

I can’t imagine trying to do this—even if you have your family around you—without Hospice’s support.  I can call anytime of the day with questions and they always welcome my calls.  I’ve been so surprised by the number of things they help with: not only Stacy’s medication, but her medical equipment and supplies, emotional support for both Stacy and me, and it’s all done in a kind, respectful way. 

For me personally, I don’t think I could have done it without the support Collabria Hospice has given me.  Stacy has now been on Hospice for 18 months and I’m so grateful for every day.

Donate Now to help more families make cherished memories together.

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