Hospice month promotes community awareness

"Why fear death? It is the most beautiful adventure in life." — Peter Pan

November is National Hospice Month. Some of you, like me at the beginning of this article, may know a little bit about what hospice does, but not much. Hospice provides care and comfort to the terminally ill and their families.

Hospice, I've learned, is one of the oldest forms of medical care in the world. Not so long ago, people generally went about the business of dying in their own homes, surrounded by their families.

Hospices, usually run by monks or nuns, cared for those who had no families, or who were away from their home when they were struck down by illness. Hospices also offered a safe haven for birthing mothers or weary travelers who were not sick, but perhaps hungry and in need of shelter.

Until recently, modern medicine has circumvented hospice care, with the emphasis placed on treating the patient, rather than caring for him or her. Now, however, people are realizing the comforting power of personal contact and hospitals like Bonner General emphasize personal care in addition to medical technology and treatment.

In cases where the prognosis is likely death, hospice care may be recommended by a physician. Hospice workers and volunteers are trained in issues such as palliative or comfort-related care, as well as grief counseling and spirituality.

According to Debra Kellerman, director of Bonner Community Hospice at Bonner General Hospital, comfort-related care means much more than prescribing the right pain medication. She told me a story in which Hospice was able to fulfill the dying wish of a patient, so that her daughter could go on an educational trip to Washington, D.C. She told me of another daughter who was able to stay at home and care for her dying mother because Hospice paid her rent for a few months. She told me stories about people who were able to see their relatives one last time because Hospice arranged their travel.

Some of us may know of someone who has benefited from hospice care either directly as a patient, or indirectly as a family member or friend. Bonner Community Hospice, supported by BGH, helps more than 100 patients each year. In addition to caring for the dying, they conduct support groups and educational programs that benefit our community.

When people think of hospice, they most likely think of the two hospice rooms upstairs at Bonner General Hospital. Many hospice clients are treated in the comfort of their own homes with their families around them, just as people have been doing for hundreds of years. This is a big step for our society.

In our culture, death is often stigmatized. On the whole we perceive it as a bad and frightening thing. The idea of our loved one dying in our home is a disconcerting notion. Movies and TV shows rarely portray this type of experience. Instead, they show the grieving family crowded around a hospital bed until the dramatic moment where the flat line appears on the screen. This scenario might be more palatable for TV, but real life is thankfully much less predictable than television.

What hospice workers do is an amazingly difficult job. Not only do they help ease the pain of those who die, but also those who live. In some cases, death is a welcome relief from pain and suffering. But that doesn't mean that we do not feel grief and loss when those we love pass. Pain from the loss of a loved one is not something that just goes away, nor is it something that affects everyone the same way. Hospice helps us through life's most misunderstood and final transition — death.

Hospice care is one of the most important services offered in our community. If you'd like to contribute, the Hospice rose event fund-raiser is still under way. Roses will be available through Friday, Nov. 4 for $20 per dozen. To purchase yours, you may contact the hospital at 263-1441 or call Leonard "The Rose Man" Scott at 265-4402. Roses will be available for pick up on Veteran's Day, Nov. 11 at Bonner General Hospital. I've bought my dozen, have you?