I was introduced to hospice care when my husband Ray Whitfield was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in 2005.  Together we came up with the phrase "Gentle Journey' when people would ask us how they could help. We said "Just pray for a gentle journey. We knew we could not stop the cancer, but we could travel the road from diagnosis to death as a "Journey With Love". We were introduced to the spirit of hospice care; quality of life being more important than length of life --- and it all made sense to us. The spirit of hospice is to bring compassion and excellent medical care to terminal patients. A terminal diagnosis is not good news, but for us there was enough time for Ray as the patient and many friends and family members to celebrate his life. I will be sharing stories about how Ray and I traveled the 16 months from first getting the news up until his death. The Spirit of Hospice Blog is a place where I will share my experiences so it may help other walk through the very intense journey from diagnosis to death.

Since I work at Hospice Partners of Southern California and I often speak to groups about the value of hospice as an underutilized resource for patients and caregivers, I was able to share the power of the phrase "Journey With Love" . I had wanted a bracelet to give to Ray's grown children and friends so that they could help us stay focused on the goal: for him to face these difficult times knowing he was surrounded by love and support. I met the CEO of NOVICA on an chance encounter in our building where both our headquarters are, and what started as a 'hello' became a partnership for the artisans of NOVICA to work with HPSC to design three styles of our JOURNEY WITH LOVE bracelets as a fundraising project for our not for profit organization .  100% of the proceeds on all the bracelets goes to support programs that are not funded by Federal or State reimbursement.  Please check out the link and buy the bracelets for yourself and your loved ones facing any difficult challenge. Hospice workers have begun to wear the bracelet as a proud reminder that the work done by volunteers, nurses, home health aides, social workers, music therapists, and doctors are all on a  professional journey where love leads the way.