Kelly Clem, RN, MS, vice president of clinical education and patient advocacy at Hospice and AM Buffalo producer Paula D’Amico joined us today to share the impact of Hospice. Paula D’Amico shares her experience with Hospice. Her husband Lou D’Amico recently passed away from pancreatic cancer. Paula shares that Hospice is not the end, for many it is the first step in healing.
Kelly says Hospice is comprehensive and we heard a lot about family and that a significant role they play in the lives of people who are at end of life because they incorporate not just the patient, but the family as well. Hospice looks at the physical needs of the patient and family, the spiritual needs of the patient and the family, the emotional needs, the financial needs, and she says there isn’t any part of a person’s life and the family’s life, that we don’t come in and address in terms of how this life, the death and then the life that’s left to live is cared for.
Paula says they come into your house like these angels and they are just there for you in so many different ways. Paula says, “They were important to our life because my husband’s wishes were to be at home. He just wanted to be at home and Hospice helped to make that happen. They helped to make him as comfortable as possible, to be at home where he wanted to be and every single person from Hospice who came into our home helped us in one way or another whether it was support or care for Lou or care for us because we had counselors come in, social workers come in, speak with me alone, speak with my husband, speak to my son and they gave us a sense of healing and comfort that you need during that time.”
Kelly Clem tells us their full name is Hospice and Palliative Care Buffalo. They have a palliative care that has nothing to do with the dying patient. When you are faced with serious illness, the palliative care team is there to support and guide you and is available to anyone at any age during a serious illness.
