I have always been eager to learn, and I truly value how individual and unique the lives of humans are. We are all so complex and so beyond complete understanding of one another, so when I began my Hospice journey in September of 2024, I was most excited to sit down and hear of the lives that my patients once lived. I was fortunate to immediately bond with my first patient, and she will be the focus of my story today.
For the sake of privacy, I will refer to my patient as “Eleanor”. “Eleanor” was 97 years old when we began our visits, and upon my first time going to see her, I was very nervous to try and form a relationship with someone that had no prior knowledge of me. I took a deep breath and walked into her room, introducing myself as I scanned the environment around me, the place that she called home. “Eleanor” was blind and used her wheelchair in order to navigate her space, but I took note of how neat and tidy her room was. Everything had a place, and she knew exactly where to find her favorite shirts and where I could find something as simple as a straw. We connected very deeply, and very quickly, which led to an immediate sense of comfort. I would arrive every week with an overwhelming feeling of excitement to share my life with her and hear her speak of the secrets of true love as she spoke of her husband, and how beautiful her life was being a mother to her children. We lost “Eleanor” in January, and I could not have been more fortunate for the time we shared together, for the stories and laughs we shared over cookies or cans of pop. I was blessed to sit with her in her final days. Her eyes were closed, and she slept for the entirety of our visit, but I somehow feel as though she knew that I was there. I placed my hand on her shoulder, and I prayed for her and her transition, and I felt peace knowing that she was reunited with her husband whom she loved dearly and her son that left this Earth far too soon.
I feel as though my levels of patience have grown drastically because of my journey in Hospice. I am in an employed clinical position, and I viewed patients who loved to talk as people who would come to set the providers behind, but Hospice made me realize that we are truly lucky for every interaction we have and every second we are blessed with in this lifetime. Even the patients that I interact with that are not highly communicative, the way they dress, the photos they have, or the small knickknacks that they keep on their shelves can show us who they are and who they used to be. It is a blessing to form relationships with our patients, especially when their time is coming to an end, because no one deserves to feel alone, no matter what their walk of life looked like.
This program shaped who I am as a healthcare professional and allowed me to find a compassion within myself that I did not originally possess. I would consider myself to have always been a kind and empathetic person, but this program has set a fire in my heart to offer my patients the most welcoming and warm environment for them to feel as though they are truly being cared for in their entirety as a unique individual being.