“Caring, Peaceful, Loving” This is how we describe my husband’s end of life at a hospice. We don’t have any comparisons but as a family we agree that everyone should have access to what we experienced. To help realize this for others facing a loved one’s death, we were committed to sharing our experience and helping financially in the new building of a new hospice in Alliston. A recent donation in memory of a good friend to the Townsend Smith Hospice Foundation sparked a request to share our family’s experiences when our beloved poppa died at Mathews House Hospice in Alliston. We truly experienced their motto “A life lived fully and a death with dignity”.
At the time of Richard’s sudden terminal cancer diagnosis, we had not known about both what was in store and how impactful the hospice staff and services would be. They ensured his well-being up until the end as well as our family’s ability to cope during and afterwards. Right after the diagnosis, the staff provided us support while we absorbed and processed our situation and plans. Over the next six months, the hospice would become our go-to for information and counselling with the decisions we were making.
A wonderful and enduring memory was the family conferencing evening mediated by one of the staff. It was a time of frank discussion with everyone having a chance to ask questions and build a shared understanding about what laid ahead. The meeting helped us move forward with the case management, preparation of advanced care direction, decision for DNR and professional assistance to navigate the health care system. When the time came, I was able to sleep and be with him and family could come to visit at the hospice. The nurses, volunteers and palliative care doctors were wonderful, kind and caring. Follow up care for me was available and appreciated.
The impact of our financial contribution which included buying one of the beds was recently highlighted when a dear friend mentioned having seen our family’s donation acknowledgement on the bed that their loved one was occupying. It brought home how our donation was continuing to give to others in ways that we could not have imagined. I encourage others to make donations to support the Townsend-Smith Hospice being built for the North Halton community. One never knows when it might be needed and everyone deserves to experience a peaceful end of life.
Joyce Poth and family