Jenny was my first patient through this program. When I first arrived at the facility, I was surprised to find that she was out of her room and in the common room instead. When I introduced myself, I knew she wouldn’t be too alert to what I was saying, so I tried to let her take the wheels of the conversation. I couldn’t understand most of what she said, so I would simply reply to indicate that I was listening. This exchange typically worked between us. There were moments when I thought she remembered me and visits, and times where she seemed to not know who I was. Regardless, I enjoyed visiting Jenny and I felt we had a good relationship.
Jenny would always try to help other people in the facility. She would bring patients water and use the TV remote to change the volume. I always admired this about her, though it worried me sometimes because she would let other patients use her walker. Jenny could walk, but it was dangerous to do so without her walker. I would follow her around wheeling her walker and trying to get her to take it. The nurses often reminded her to use it as well. Jenny seemed to be in good spirits and physical health compared to other patients, and she always seemed happy to know that I would be coming back the next week. Later, I was upset to learn that I would not be able to continue visiting Jenny, since my driver could no longer drive me on the days I was available and I had to switch my carpool group. I felt bad because I told Jenny that I would see her after winter break, but I never got to return. I wish I could’ve told her I wasn’t coming back, and hope that she got a new volunteer to talk to.
Jenny was always a very positive person. She seemed to be enjoying her life at the hospice and making the most of it. I’m not sure if Jenny’s family visited very often, because I have never seen them and I seldom heard about them. She would mostly mention relatives who died. Jenny’s outlook on life definitely taught me something about death and the process of being in a facility of palliative care. I think Jenny’s quality of life was better than it would’ve been if she were in a hospital where she could not move around as often. She loved talking to people and interacting with them, so I could tell that she enjoyed the existence of a common room as she went there often.
I learned a lot from Jenny’s approach to life in hospice, as I am quite a shy person myself. I think that she helped me learn how to enjoy socialization and other people more, which is very important in the process of dying as it can bring great joy and comfort. However, our sources say that socialization is lacking when patients die in a hospital. I am glad that hospice care is being discussed more in medicine and gaining more popularity. I hope that we will all become great doctors while incorporating our discussions on death into our practices.