During my time as a volunteer in the West Penn Hospital, I have learned and gained a lot of insight about people’s daily suffering and this common and omnipresent process that we begin the moment we are born: Death. Death is a natural occurrence that everyone experiences in different ways because we are all different, yet very alike. Dead should not be fear. It’s is a certainty of life. The weeks, days, and seconds before some of the patients I was able to assist in the hospital passed away, allowed me to realize these ideas. This program made me value life; even more, it made me understand better the pain any family member experiences when a loved one is dying, and the needs of a human being in their last days on the planet.
My experience with death came from an early age when many of my grandparents died and I was left with only one until I was about 10 years old. I do not remember much about my other grandparents, but my last grandparent and his care for people throughout his life taught me a valuable lesson that allowed to wake up every morning and be happy that I am alive. In addition, I can make any decision in my power to change another person’s life, no matter how small I am. During the hospice program, I was able to meet with an elderly woman in her late 70’s that I will call Mrs. B. She was in the hospital due to an edema, and despite her medical condition, I was able to have an impactful talk with her during the time I was in the hospital. The first time I was with her, she asked me for the daily paper and I found that Saturday’s edition for her from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Something that at first it seems not too meaningful, but later I learned that she loved doing the puzzles and reading the sports column in the newspaper. The greatest impact this sick patient had on me was to teach me a sense of gratification by keeping her company and making her feel valued. This was something she needed because none of her family was there. This made me understand how lonely an old person can be and how life fulfilling it is to make them smile. She always wanted to learn more about where I came from and what my educational goals were; yet I found a lot of meaning in learning about her and the struggles she faced every day.
With other patients, I was able to assist the nurses at the hospital. I had a good perspective on the toll family members of the deceased have both emotionally and physically by the departure of their loved ones. The Pre-Med Hospice Program has opened my eyes even more, and it has reinforced my desire of becoming an allopathic physician in the USA. I have gained and become even more passionate about taking care of terminally ill patients with interest in their symptoms, and I am in the process of joining another program called “No One Dies Alone”. This program will allow me to be at the very last hours, minutes, or seconds in another person’s life and provide them with reading, praying or just my presence. I want to thank everyone in the program from the chaplain to the other volunteers that worked along my side. I want to thank everyone for their support in making this program a reality.
During the time I have been in hospice, I have gotten a more in-depth perspective on the cycle of life and the passage from life to death that happens daily in all corners of the world. I have learned that no matter from where you are from, what is the color of your skin, what nationality you have, or where is your family originally from, we all share death. I was privileged to see this first hand; first in my home country very often, and now as a volunteer at a US hospital that offers care for the critically ill in their final days.