Gateway Hospice

When a person is diagnosed with a serious illness, the whole family feels the impact. Roles change. Everyday life is altered as tasks shift toward caregiving and navigating the course of illness. Family caregivers often report uncertainty, fear and fatigue. Some describe feeling at sea in their experience.Understanding this, hospice views a patient and family as a unit of care, providing support throughout the caregiving journey. Hospice starts with a plan co-created by the patient, family caregiver(s) and hospice team, made up of a physician, registered nurse (RN), certified nurses aide (CNA), social worker and chaplain.The top priority for the physician and RN is helping patients feel as comfortable as possible, as quickly as possible, through skilled symptom management. Hospice CNAs visit on a regular basis, providing a special kind of hands-on care. Social workers help families understand and access resources and provide support through listening, counseling and compassionate guidance.Chaplains can facilitate communication between the family and their faith community, provide resources and help families with spiritual concerns. In addition, specially trained hospice volunteers lend friendship and support to the entire family, including respite care that may allow a caregiver to have time free from the day-to-day responsibilities.People living their last season of life deserve the encompassing support of hospice. So do families. If the time is right for hospice care, dont hesitate. You can talk with your doctor, or get in touch with a hospice provider. The initial step of choosing hospice can feel difficult, but what we hear so often from caregivers is, We wish wed found you sooner.Editors Note: This article was submitted by Shelly Marusko, Executive Director for Gateway Hospice. She can be reached at 412-536-2020 or at smarusko@gatewayhospice.com.

At the age of 6, Don received a diagnosis that would change the course of his entire life. A rare lung disease required him to undergo a radical surgery and would cause him to spend the rest of his life in and out of hospitals. But, despite the fact he was never fully healthy, Don still had big dreams to live fully and fought to experience all he could before ultimately receiving a double-lung transplant at the age of 48.Living fully has unique meaning for each of us. We all come into this world as a blank slate, but leave it with a range of experiences and stories that attest to who we are, what we care about, and what we believe in. These stories are within us and our individual experiences shape the meaning of our life from how we spent childhood growing up in our families, to having one of our own; from finding purpose through a career, or simply experiencing adventure in the day-to-day along the way. Whether its major life events like Dons experience or the everyday small things that make our heart smile, what do we want to share with those we care about? What lessons have we learned, or advice would we like to give?Gateway Hospices Life Story Project, led by our volunteers passion, compassion, empathy, and listening spirit, afford hospice patients the opportunity to record their Life Story. Gateway Hospice volunteers are trained and equipped to guide the patient (and their family) through the journey of sharing their experiences and what is most important to them.Recording their Life Story using a voice recorder, video recorder, and/or putting their stories together in a scrapbook with pictures are the ways in which volunteers can help give a voice to their story. The captured story lives on film, record and in the hearts of their loved ones forever.To learn more about Gateway Hospices services and programs, or the Life Story Project, please visit our website at GatewayHospice.com or contact us today at 412-536-2020. Storytelling is just one of the many ways the value of relationships and love are reflected in all that we do!Editors Note: This article was written by Amylyn Verrone, Community Development/Volunteer Coordinator with Gateway Hospice. She may be reached at 412-536-2020 or averrone@gatewayhospice.com. See Ad on page 157.