Legacy of a Caregiver

In the early days of our local hospice, all six of us nurses were volunteers. When we couldn’t be there, another nurse checked on our patients.

One weekend I took over Patty’s duties with Lil, a young lady with a spinal cord tumor. Lil was paralyzed from the waist down and confined to bed. Her husband, Lex, tried his best to give her everything she needed, but money was tight.

Lil’s urinary catheter was due to be changed. After I secured it, she asked me to rub her back. “Mmm. Nice fragrance!” I said as I massaged the lilac-scented lotion into her aching shoulders.

“Patty brought that by before she left town,” Lil told me. “It smelled so good after she gave me my bath.”

When I went into the kitchen to fix Lil and Lex a cup of herbal tea, I noticed takeout cartons from a popular local restaurant in the trash. “Patty brought us dinner too,” Lex said. “Was it ever good! We’ve never had anything from that fancy place.”

And the newest magazine on Lil’s bedside stand? You guessed it. Patty knew Lil would enjoy looking at it after she rested a bit. In my one-hour house call, I learned everything I needed to know about family-centered hospice care. All it took was following Patty, who’d thought of everything.