Articles & Real-Life Stories: Hospice

Title: An Unimaginable Experience

Preview: _As a Hospice of the Chesapeake Vigil Volunteer, Dick Wheeler has received additional training and serves patients in the process of actively dying. In the following, he shares his experience in learning just how unimaginable saying goodbye can be._ I have been a patient care volunteer since ...

Title: The Importance of Finding Hospice Care Early

Preview: “Without hospice, I never could have kept my husband at home for the last months of his life,” insists Heidi Troxell. “I wanted him to die at home, in a peaceful, familiar environment, and hospice made it possible.” A resident of Fairhaven, a Continuing Care Retirement Community in Sykesville,...

Title: A Family Gets the Answers They Needed

Preview: Rose Marie and George Nalley had been married for almost 56 years and had raised two children before he became a Hospice of the Chesapeake patient last year. It was during that time when the nonprofit organization, based in Annapolis with another office in Prince George’s County, changed their li...

Title: Out to the Ballgame

Preview: Robert and Silvia Charity had never heard of hospice or palliative care before he got sick with prostate cancer in 2007. Since then, Robert has learned firsthand how expert pain and symptom management can so impact quality of life that he has been able to fulfill a dream despite the pain and cha...

Title: Hospice Helps A 17 Year Battle With Alzheimer's

Preview: In his younger years, John Brooks was handiest husband on the block. When he met his wife, Irene, he was a Captain with the Army Corps of Engineers. He made his living as an electrical engineer, and he was always very adept at fix-it projects around their home in Silver Spring, Md. Suddenly, n...

Title: Hospice Leads to Recovery

Preview: During John Settlemyer's career in the restaurant industry, he had to know the all ingredients in every dish, holding his chefs to the highest standards for a superior level of excellence. When it came to his retirement, he used the same research and quality control skills to ensure that he r...

Title: Hospice Provided Care and Comfort

Preview: Like most of us, the Gaegers never gave hospice much thought. Marsha Gaeger recalls, "I knew that hospice had something to do with illness, but I had no idea what they really did." She continues, "Now, I know there is nothing that they don't do." Marsha's husband, Jere, was in the hospital ...

Title: Coping with Alzheimer's

Preview: As an engineer, Jose-Luis Montiel dedicated most of his professional life to improving public works and the highway system in his native Nicaragua. After graduating from the University of Notre Dame with a degree in civil engineering, Mr. Montiel returned to Nicaragua. His experience developing ...

Title: Watching the Azaleas Bloom

Preview: Vesta Brown and her husband built their home in Kensington, MD "paycheck to paycheck and board by board," says their daughter, Sonnie Sussillo. The couple moved to the area in the late 40s, and raised their two children in the house they built. The family has been here ever since. Shortly afte...

Title: Keeping the Spark Alive

Preview: 93-year old Margaret Miskovich endured a terrible fall that broke both her legs and left her extremely frightened. Margaret was also suffering from dementia with varying degrees of lucidity. She was residing in a long-term care facility in northern Virginia. Despite the best efforts of the comm...

Title: Geriatric Care Managers Can Help!

By: Guide to Retirement Living Staff

Preview: Ann and Stefan Hoffer were both working full-time at the Federal Aviation Administration and raising two teenage boys when Stefan's father passed away and his mother moved in to their home. Mrs. Hoffer had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's, but Ann and Stefan did not realize how far the disease ha...

Title: Hospice: It's About Living

By: Sherri Meredith

Preview: Everyone can identify a defining moment in their life. Mine came the day my mother was diagnosed with cancer. Although she had battled multiple sclerosis for many years, my mother was committed to having a family. Against all odds, she was able to conceive her only child, something that the med...

Title: Finding Comfort and Support

Preview: "I have been living everyday since the cancer spread to my spine and back like it is the last day of my life. I want all of you to remember that life is short; you do not know what is going to happen to you tomorrow. Keep a positive outlook and enjoy the little things that make you happy." -Lett...

Title: An Expert Finds the Help She Needs

Preview: A nurse practitioner and a nursing instructor at Northern Virginia Community College, Regina Missett knew what she wanted from an in-home caregiver. Mrs. Missett has been teaching nursing for over 30 years and always looks forward to the student contact. Of teaching in the Northern Virgin...

Title: Hospice Pulls the Community Together

By: Lynn Schneider

Preview: She called the Hospice Caring office in tears. Her doctor said three to six months. This was the beginning of an almost year-long relationship with Diane (not her real name), a young mother of two and wife to a man who had just recently found work again after having lost his job six months earl...

Title: The Importance of Individualized Care

Preview: As a bookkeeper for the Children's Aid Society in New York and a mother, Harriet Wital was always a detail oriented and focused individual. After retirement, she continued to use her multiple talents while volunteering for a hearing impaired group, attending classes, tutoring low income first gr...

Title: Casey House Helps Family Say Goodbye

Preview: Richard and Ann Philbin celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with their family and friends on June, 16th 2001. They have both led busy but productive private and public lives. Richard received his J.D. from Boston College Law School and practiced law in Massachusetts before joining the Ken...