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08-15-2011, 06:05 PM | #1 |
No Longer a Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Kansas City, MO
Posts: 5,748
| Doing Hospice Work Will be Harder than I thought! I did a three hour training for hospice volunteers and didn't realize that I never really knew the meaning of hospice. I thought it was just in home care. It's dying people I was very sad about this and I'm not sure I can emotionally be strong enough. I know it would be so good for these people to be with Bentley. Pray that I make a good choice and can be tough and help these people have some happy last memories with Bentley and me. |
Welcome Guest! | |
08-15-2011, 07:01 PM | #2 |
Ringo (1) and Lucy too! Donating Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: On the Edge of Glory
Posts: 3,447
| I have such admiration for hospice workers and hospice volunteers. I hope to be a hospice volunteer myself one day; but with a full time job and being a full-time Mom, I could not make the committment required at that time. My Mom had hospice; truly they taught me so much about life and death. For a dying person to allow you in their world - is a great honor. Please keep us posted how it is going. And congratulations!
__________________ Mommy to Lucy, Ringo, and Matthew |
08-15-2011, 07:21 PM | #3 |
Donating YT 500 Club Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Atlanta, GA
Posts: 1,926
| I will pray for you that you make the right decision. I can only imagine how rewarding that would be. My father in law just passed away and my DH and I were lucky enough to spend an entire week in the hospice house. I loved every minuet with my farther in law. We learned so much about the last phases of life and the journey into death. It is truely a journey and to be able to take that journey with someone was amazing. My favorite part was in the early mornings while everyone was still asleep. I would go in and sit with papa. He would share what the night was like and how he had been feeling and sometimes we'd just sit and hold hands. He was the cutest thing ever. When the nurses came in to give him his sponge bath, we would leave the room but we could still see him on the monitors. He would be just be grinning while they rubbed his head and arms with lotion. That was his favorite part. My DH and I feel very fortunate to have been able to spend the last days with him. We realize not everyone gets to say goodbye to their loved ones. Sorry about the long post but this subject is so close to my heart.
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08-15-2011, 08:21 PM | #4 |
Donating Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Central MA
Posts: 185
| Hospice is life changing! Hi, I havent posted many things in the past year, but have kept up reading! I felt so compelled to write to you about hospice though! I was a Hospice Volunteer Coordinator at a home health agency for two years, before that I had worked as an RN there for 11 years. Those two years were the most rewarding and remarkable years of my career as a caregiver! Yes hospice is about death and dying, but is is also so much about living! Living out the final days or months with as much dignity and peace and love that there is. To be on hospice you have a six month prognosis BUT, that doesnt mean that your patient WILL die within that six months. Many hospice patients are on for longer and yes many are on for only days. Since I had to retire, because of fibromyalgia, I found out how much love my little yorkies give to me. (I never had yorkies until I got RU three years ago, now I have three ) and the thought of bringing that kind of love to hospice patients would be so incredible for them. It takes a special kind of person to be a hospice volunteer, and from what I've read on your posts you are the kind of person who whould be wonderful! I suggest you get the book Final Gifts: Understanding the Special Awareness, Needs, and Communications of the Dying by Maggie Callanan , Patricia Kelley (two hospice nurses) there are wonderful stories in there .....I could go on and on (sorry to be so long) but please PM me if you want to talk more....I pray you'll make the right decision for you, but do you know what ALL my volunteers used to tell me? They felt guilty because they felt that their patients gave them so much more than they gave their patients! God Bless!
__________________ DebRUBonnieand Tinkerbelle Maggie and Bella: |
08-15-2011, 08:37 PM | #5 |
Donating YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Maui, Hawaii
Posts: 7,740
| Rachel, if you ever really want to make a difference in someone's life, this might be the place. Of course only you can decide, but what an honor it would be to be in a position to bring a smile to someone at such a vulnerable time.
__________________ SANDY, MOM TO TIKI , KAYLA , KARLEE , R.I.P. MEIKA |
08-15-2011, 08:48 PM | #6 |
Resident Yorkie Nut Donating YT 20K Club Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Texas
Posts: 27,448
| I worked in oncology/hematology for a few years and it was the best experience of my life. The people I worked with were awesome...and the patients and their families are people I loved to be with. It was hands down the best experience for me as a nurse. I still remember so many of them .. such wonderful memories. Sure, it is depressing....but it is wonderful at the same time. It is not about us...it is about them. The dying have a lot to share. I highly recommend reading Kubler Ross book On Death and Dying. Understanding the grieving process is important when working with terminally ill people...and it also is good for us in our daily lives. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross Foundation
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08-15-2011, 10:58 PM | #7 |
No Longer a Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Kansas City, MO
Posts: 5,748
| thanks everyone. that makes me toughen up a lot. it's not about my emotions. it's about giving my heart and time to someone that only needs a companion to be with them and care about them as they take the journey into their last days. I believe Bentley can provide those loving moments and bring some back to happy memories by just loving him and petting him. He is so cuddly and sweet. he needs people and people need him. i hope we can bring smiles to our new friends and learn lots about gracefully bowing out of life and into what's next. this may make me so much more understanding and less afraid of things. i do have a peace in me knowing what happens when i die. that peace of Christ is what makes me live my life without fear of doing big things. i know my time is already determined so why bother worrying about it for today. i hope and pray that I can do this and be strong and caring to others. |
08-17-2011, 07:38 AM | #8 |
Ringo (1) and Lucy too! Donating Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: On the Edge of Glory
Posts: 3,447
| I think you will be wonderful. I also highly suggest the book 'Final Gifts' written by two hospice nurses. It helps you to understanding what a dying person may be thinking or feeling or trying to communicate. It also helps you to see what gifts they may have for YOU and not just you for them. I so wish I would have read this book before my Mother died; I would have done so many things differently. But this thread is not about that - it's about how you will be enriching the life of others and hopefully they will enrich yours as well! I really hope you keep us updated because I am so excited to see how things go!
__________________ Mommy to Lucy, Ringo, and Matthew |
08-17-2011, 05:00 PM | #9 |
Therapy Yorkies Work Donating Member Join Date: May 2011 Location: Central, Florida
Posts: 3,863
| Therapy dogs give a lot of joy. The visits are short and rewarding. Pray about it. We all have gifts, if this is yours you will know. |
08-18-2011, 01:20 PM | #10 |
Donating YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Satellite Beach, FL
Posts: 838
| Hospice/Pet Therapy Both JB and I are Hospice Volunteers and our little DJ was a PT. The little guy was slipping away due to kidney disease but he was a trooper and went on his visits. The most rewarding thing is watching the patients eyes and faces light up when you and your pup come to visit them. One very moving experience was with an elder lady who had a stroke. Even with all the tubes in her arms and monitor cords she tried and did pet DJ. Her daughter was in the room and said that's the first time her mom moved her arm since the stroke. We also visited the nursing home residents and the joy and conversations were beyond description. Our older yorkie, Harley D, although not certified, we slipped him in for visits too. At 13 and wobbly he too was a hit with many of the men residents. Zack and Zoey are PT cert. Zeke failed, he was too curious, loud and too much energy. It's a rewarding experience. JB's retired but I still am working rotating shifts but it does not stop me from the volunteer work. Bob
__________________ Zack, Zeke, Zoey, Zipp RIP 6/28/12 Last edited by ltret0294; 08-18-2011 at 01:24 PM. |
08-25-2011, 07:00 PM | #11 | |
No Longer a Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Kansas City, MO
Posts: 5,748
| Quote:
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08-26-2011, 06:48 AM | #12 |
Donating Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: East Tn
Posts: 402
| I work for Hospice part time. If you catch the clients in the beginning of the process, they can recieve some enjoyment, but most are within weeks of dying and have already withdrawn due to pain or other medical issues. This therapy could possibly work for some patients but not all. It's a wonderful idea though. |
08-26-2011, 07:11 AM | #13 |
Owned by Bella & Tibbs Donating Member | When I was going through nursing school I had to do a rotation in Hospice I worked with a group that does Danial's Care ...So in short I worked with kids that were terminal. I though it was going to be the worse 6 weeks of my life but I fell in love with it!!! It is emotionally hard and hard not to bring it home with you! But I swear if you stick with it you will be very rewarded!! It mad me take a hard look at my life and get on my knees every night and thank God for what I have.
__________________ XOXO Valenie LOVING Mommy to Tibbers Bella and my son Adam! |
08-26-2011, 09:02 AM | #14 |
Donating YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Toluca Lake, CA
Posts: 5,491
| Bless you and all hospice volunteers skin and fur who give of your time and love to comfort those who are transitioning. It is a special gift to be so compassionate and to bring love and joy to someone.
__________________ CarolynBuster Brown "The happiest people don't have the best of everything, they just make the best of everything." |
08-26-2011, 10:18 AM | #15 | |
Donating YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: At Home
Posts: 8,386
| Quote:
After I myself finished with my cancer treatment and my hair grew back, I did Volunteer work for Hospice. It is very emotional. I did this for a year and finally decided I needed a change. So now, I volunteer at the Cancer Center and help with people who have no one with them.
__________________ [SIZE="3"VICKI & ALLIE[/SIZE] | |
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