Dying with Hospice Near By

The purpose of the Spirit of Hospice Blog is to educate folks about Hospice as a philosophy and a medical approach to the end of life that has the opportunity to be a positive spiritual experience made up of choices available to each of us.

Dying with hospice near by was the best possible death for Ray. The team of volunteers, social worker, case manager, medical director surrounded us with support, choices, strategies to extend the quality of his life and mine. They were part of every breath we both took from the moment we called them to the day he died, four months after we called and asked for advise and help.

Each death is unique just the way each life is uniquely shaped by our actions, thoughts, dreams, fears and expectations. It has been my experience that death is exactly what we expect. If we see the life as something that can be taken away at any moment we probably value each day, each hour, every minute. If we think of death as something that is to be feared and hidden it is probable that we live our lives in fear and secrecy. What I know is that I want to die the way I live, fully present, in a state of gratitude and grace, accepting all that is and holding no regrets.

That is what I witnessed with my husband who lived up until the moment death began to take his breath away, and then and only then did he have several hours of what turned out to be a gentle passing, like a soft wave climbing closer and closer to my toes on a warm beach I watched his body release an amazing stream of bright light.

Ray died the way he lived; bravely facing life on life’s terms, cleaning up any mistakes, making promises he kept, loving jazz, his kids, his life and me. He left to early for me but it was right on time for him.

We had Hospice staff helping us prepare for death while we extended the quality of his life. I am glad we called them in early to provide coaching, wisdom, compassion, and love to everyone they met when they came into our life.

I don’t want to keep Hospice care a secret for just those who know me. I want to shout it from the mountain top “ you don’t have to do this alone ‘ there are folks who know about life threatening illnesses and how best to maneuver around the symptoms so pain free moments could become quality hours and days that would have been missed had we not asked for the help of hospice workers and volunteers.

I am inspired and engaged in the movement for quality of life through incorporating the reality of death as a subject I talk about, think about, write about… OK, I don’t sing about it yet, but I do all this while my spirit thrives as I live each day fully, knowing it may be my last but it will not be wasted.

By the way, do you know about the 5 Wishes and have you written yours out? My wish for you is as always; wishes for lots of love, laughter and light to come your way.

 Dr. Noe