“Jill” will celebrate her 89th birthday in two weeks. She called our office asking if someone could come out to her home and educate her about hospice and palliative care. Jill has suffered from hip and leg pain for quite a while. She feels that her primary physician isn’t doing what needs to be done to help with her pain.
Jill knew
that hospice was all about comfort care and pain control. Physicians refer patients with a
guesstimation of a life span of six months or less. Jill has minimal health
problems and does not quality for hospice at all. She does qualify for Palliative Care. We need her doctor to make a referral to our
office. Jill was agreeable to e-mail her
doctor requesting that referral along with a referral to the Pain Clinic for
relief of her hip and leg pain.
SO DO I
She has
suffered with hip and leg pain for a while.
Her doctor
talks about the pain clinic, but doesn’t refer.
She knows very
little about hospice and palliative care;
so, I went
out to educate her on both.
I asked
about her beautiful painting on the wall.
She said it
was Paris; I said, “I’ve never been.”
She then asked,
“Where has been your favorite vacation?”
I answered, “On
safari in Kenya and Tanzania.”
“I’ve been
there too and it also is my favorite.”
She said she
initially studied chemistry in college, as did I.
Both of us
were then drawn to Social Work; earning our LCSW.
She walked
me to her garden as that so helped her cope.
She loved
taking photos as it so captured the garden’s beauty.
I too, love
photography, remembering my first camera at age eight.
As I was
leaving, she said that she wrote poetry;
while
handing me one of her poems to read.
I got
goosebumps while responding back to her,
“You won’t
be surprised at all by my answer as,
So do I.”
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