Hospice

I would like to express my sincere thanks to the "Green Team" for their wonderful care and support of my husband Frederick Burmaster who passed away on February 20,2005.

Fred had been diagnosed with cancer in September,2004. He started chemo treatment but after a short while and two trips to the hospital we made the joint decision to stop chemo and go for quality of life for the time left.

We had discussed Hospice with many people including nurses and some of the negative things we heard scared us more than anyone could know. We were left with the thought that if we chose to go with help from Hospice Fred's time would be very short.

We held off for a while, but realized that we could not handle this alone with only seeing his primary doctor every 4-6 weeks.

The decision to call Hospice was made jointly by the two of us. We called the doctor and asked him to contact Hospice for us.

From the very first visit we knew we had been mislead and that now Fred would have the care and quality of life for the short time left.

He was never over medicated as we had been told he would be and nothing was done without our consent. All of the nurses, social workers and volunteers could not have done more.

Do to the wonderful care of Hospice Fred was able to go "home" peacefully.

As for myself, they again could not have done more in trying to help me over this very difficult time and I will always be grateful to all of them.

If you want Hospice Care worry not they're friendly there.

Caring is their main aim, helping you and your loved one manage the pain.

Essentially you need a friendly face someone who never invades your space.

The staff all down to a man do all they possibly can.

So when the day dawns that the time has come for you to say goodbye to your loved one you do not face it unprepared nor go along the road alone.

Someone is always with you when you're loved one goes home.

Thank you is such a simple word yet means so very much for Hospice Care is essential and Caring means so much.

So those of you beginning on this road please, listen to my plea.

Do not worry, do not struggle do the same as me.

Hospice Care is the right Care for all the family.

Hospice doors open wide like arms outstretched with nothing to hide.

The staff all become dear friends upon whom you can always depend.

Honest, reliable and they listen to the worries not only of their patient but also of you.

How could we have coped - we were in a maze a cycle of worry and pain filled days.

We worried about the unknown until the staff at the hospice eased our worry and filled the last three and a half months or so with a better quality of life.

Angels of Mercy Angels of Light into our home on a 24/7 day flight.

No words can say adequately what you have all done.

You took over our worries before they had begun!

Thank You a million times over is due.

These pages are dedicated just to you.

It is my express desire that this page may be of some interest and help to those facing the same decisions that many are being forced to make with a loved one or for a loved one as my husband and I were. Do not wait until time has almost run out to ask for help from Hospice as some people do.

As you have read above, my husband was diagnosed terminal in September,2004 and we made the decision in November to ask Hospice for help.

He was still doing good but needed some help with pain management to enable him to have "some quality of life". We started out with an evaluation and was assigned a primary nurse and social worker. The program that they put him on worked great. He was able to putter around the house, do dishes and other things around the house take care of his personal needs and feel useful again. All of this because his pain was being managed but only enough so he was comfortable.

When they got him stable in this "quality of life" his primary nurse cut back to coming once a week but was always on call if needed. In the first part of January, the pain started to increase a bit and his medication was increased just a little bit. He was still on one of the smallest doses possible and still remained active. The nurse went back to two days a week to monitor him. We actually looked forward to those visits, she made us laugh and we in turn made her laugh. He never lost his sense of humor. He sleep in his recliner as it was easier on his breathing but still was able to come to the table for meals and get to the bathroom etc on his own.

Toward the end of January his primary nurse decided he should have continuous care both to give me a break and to help him get to the bathroom and around so he would not fall. His primary nurse than started coming every day also.

We made it into the middle of February and it was then determined that it was getting too dangerous for him to get up and move around. He loved all his nurses and they all loved him. He even had pet names for all of them. He had one special nurse that had the 8:00-4:00 shift and she fussed over him and spoiled him rotten always combing his hair etc. She persuaded him to go in the hospital bed that was set up in the family room.

At this point we knew time was slowly running out and his heart was giving a real problem. He was still alert and knew everything that was going on and never lost his sense of humor.

He started to just sleep more and more. On Sunday morning February 20th he told us that he was ready to go. That night he quietly passed away.

Hospice gave him the quality of life for his last days that he would not have had without them.