May 15, 2005
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PEOPLE WHO KNOCK ME OUT
(See sidebar for others)Florence Wald (1917-present)
A little over 20 years ago I started working at the hospital where I still work part-time today. There were four doctors in my department and all of us were about the same age. Two weeks ago, one of them came into the office on a Friday and announced that his doctor had ordered him to stop working. That weekend he went into the ICU and never came out. It turns out he’d had a rare blood disorder the last 7 years of his life and had kept it so low-key that I was unaware he was sick until this past year. It was quite a shock to me, the first time someone I knew that well and who was close to my age just up and died. It’s been kind of a gloomy few weeks for me since then and I’ve had dying on my mind more than I would have ever wished. So I picked someone to write about today who did something about it.
Standing five feet tall at 88 years old, this is the person who founded the hospice movement in America. Her name is Florence Wald. She was born in New York City and began her nursing career at the Henry Street Settlement there and served in the Signal Corps in World War II. By the late 1950’s, she became aware of an Englishwoman named Cicely Saunders who was writing articles in medical journals about end-of-life care. By 1963, she was Dean of Yale University School of Nursing when Saunders was invited to give her first talk on hospice care in this country. Wald invited her to speak to the nursing students and faculty. Saunders described the core of hospice treatment today: generous control of symptoms; attention to the patient’s psychological and spiritual needs; care and support for the family as well as the patient. Florence Wald was so inspired that she resigned her deanship at Yale and started working with a small group in New Haven toward founding the first hospice program in the United States. Connecticut Hospice would treat its first patients in 1974. Today the Hospice Movement is taken for granted pretty much anywhere you live. Medicare began to cover it in 1982. Medicaid covers it in most states. Most private insurance companies cover it. You can find out pretty much anything about it here. My old friend, the doctor, went fast and in the hospital, but for many the end of life takes longer. Thanks to Florence Wald, families have a resource today to help them all make this journey as peacefully as possible.
Deep Thought: “I wish I had a dollar for every time I spent a dollar, because then, Yahoo!, I’d have all my money back.”
Today I am grateful for: Melodrama
Guess the Movie: “You can put a cat in an oven, but that don’t make it a biscuit.” Answer: White Men Can’t Jump, 1992.
Winner: thenarrator.
400 and Counting: IRAQ’s Grim Death Toll for May
by Trevor Royle, Diplomatic Editor
“WE don’t do body counts,” was the infamous retort by US general Tommy Franks when he was asked about Iraqi civilian deaths. To date nobody knows the exact figure, but one thing is clear: it is being added to with a relentlessness which is enraging Iraqis and worrying coalition commanders. (Rest of article here.)
End of Day: Oops forgot to sign out last night.
Comments (12)
So that’s who began the hospice program. My mother died in 2002 of a brain tumor grade 4. There was nothing that could be done. She had appointed me to make her decisions and I chose our local Hospice Home. My first real experience with any hospice. It was the most remarkable experience I had ever had. Her final days on this earth went as peaceful as they could possibly be thanks to the wonderful doctors and nurses that worked there. I don’t know how those people do that day in and day out. All I can say is God bless Florence Wald.
And Medicare covered 100% of the expenses.
that was a fake xbox 2 i put the real xbox two on i which is called xbox 360
the hospice movement is one of the most critical in both patients and psychology today…
Hospices are great if you can predict the time of your death. Otherwise, a chronically ill person may have to wait 20-30 years in a smelly nursing home to die.
I love this series of posts.
My Gram ran and adult care foster home place for several years until she retired last fall. People loved being there and she often had a waiting list. They had lovely comfy homey roomes, the front and back yards were filled with roses and places for them sit outside and watch hummingbirds. She made home cooked meals. The people were so happy there, but it really got to be too much work for her. I think those places are great alternatives to nursing homes.
Great blog.
One of the most beautiful and best books I have ever read on death & dying was by a hospice worker, Singh’s, “The Grace in Dying.” An extraordinary place to be, working with the dying.
Thanks for another great blog. These pieces are so professional, lionne, you really ought to be writing them for a national newspaper and getting paid for them! xo
Sounds like an amazing woman.
White Men Can’t Jump?
Wow that’s amazing. That was a pretty obscure quote. Yup.
I didn’t know much about hospice programs till my wife Marvis was about to die, back in early 1991. Nobody’s a bigger fan of Hospice than I am. Thanks for letting me know who started it all.
This piece really brought back some warm memories of a difficult time. Hospice enabled my mother to die in her own home surrounded by her children – that was her wish.