Man, 74, turns to hospice to accept death and finds life

A little over a year ago, Smith, 74, endured multiple surgeries to connect three leads to a biventricular device in an attempt to stabilize his improperly beating heart.

Within four months, his world consisted of a large chair in a converted Florida room and his bed.

"I had a urinal, cane and oxygen," he said. "I had no quality of life."

He credits the focused individual care from the social, medical and volunteer staff of Hospice of Marion County for the turnaround that gave him back his life.

Earl and Veronica "Ronnie" Smith, his wife of 52 years, recently shared a crab cake dinner in Huntingtown, Md., with their "overjoyed" daughter, Linda Turner, 46.

The family was celebrating Earl's recovery as well as Turner's college graduation.

The trip to Maryland, and a recent trip to Daytona Beach allowing Earl to fly his beloved specialty kites, seemed unimaginable just months ago, when he and his family considered his death "imminent."

The hospital had discharged Earl with what the family said was end stage congestive heart failure.

"The cardiologist said to 'get his affairs in order,' " Ronnie Smith said.

"My heart function was less than 20 percent," Earl said.

He lost the desire to eat. His weight dropped from 300 to 164 pounds. He suffered a 30-pound fluid build-up in his body.

"He couldn't brush his teeth," Ronnie said, as she described her husband as an active man, Army veteran and antique car and kite buff.

Ronnie called Linda and asked her to come home; then she called the family priest.

"I made my peace with myself and Ronnie," Earl said.

The Rev. Bob Greaves, a neighbor and chaplain with Hospice of Marion County, suggested hospice care for Earl.

"I was angry and in denial, saying 'Why me?' " Earl said as he recalled warding off efforts to bring hospice caregivers to his home under the Transitions program.

And it wouldn't be his first encounter with hospice. He and Ronnie had hospice care in 1997 when their adopted son, Glenn, then 29, died of Ewing's carcinoma.

"I saw an ad about hospice and have volunteered (in Maryland and Florida) since 1980," Ronnie said, explaining that Earl also was a hospice volunteer in both states.

"Glenn said, 'No hospice, Mom, because then I'm sick,' " Ronnie said.

"I told Glenn, 'I need hospice,' " she said.

The visits allowed them more time with their son, a veteran of Navy intelligence operations, without concern for outside details.

"Earl didn't believe hospice care could help in his state," Greaves said as he described explaining to Earl that "the intense care of hospice is what he really needed."

Greaves described that care as a team effort involving physicians, chaplains, social workers and nurses.

"The hospice doctor came out and said, 'No wonder you can't live; you have too much medicine,' " Earl said. "He treated me like an old friend."

"Earl's healing is also attributed to the couple's faith," Greaves said.

Lila Ivey, Community Outreach Director with Hospice of Marion County, calls a case of great improvement such as Earl's a "revocation."

She recounted another revocation story of "terminal emphysema" patient Joey Weisbaum, 54, who "after a year on the program got so much stronger she qualified for surgery and now will probably outlive all of us."

Ivey stressed "the number one fact" is that anyone call make a referral to hospice, although most people wait for the doctor.

"Just make the phone call" and a nurse will visit and make an assessment, Ivey explained.

Transitions is a free community service available to anyone with a life-limiting illness, providing assistance with tasks like running errands, light food preparation and companionship before and after medical treatment, according to Lisa Varner of Hospice of Marion County.

Atwua Middleton, an 11-year employee, works with terminally ill patients.

"Sometimes I am the last word, the last prayer," Middleton said. "It's a ministry."

"Hospice is not really an end of life program," Turner said. "They are caretakers; they are angels."

via ocala.com

Posted via web from The Hospice VC