VNA Today November 2021 – Enews

Aging Well with VNA Education Series

The educational series, Aging Well With VNA, launches two new podcasts and a webinar in honor of Hospice and Palliative Care Month with another scheduled to post in two weeks. Whether you are in the midst of caring for an aging loved one or planning for the future, this podcast and webinar series offers patients, families, caregivers and medical professionals tools and advice on how to age with dignity and properly plan for serious illness before there is a crisis. Tune in and share with friends and family.

VNA Hospice Volunteers Deliver Joy to Patients!

As a loving mom to three young children and one on the way, Lauren Parkhurst wears many hats as that of a caregiver. As a VNA hospice volunteer, her hat may change, but her role remains the same.

Caregiving comes naturally to Lauren, a registered nurse. After seven years of working with orthopedic patients, she’s now “retired” and stays home to raise her children. It was her intense longing for patient care that brought her to VNA Hospice. “I missed interacting with patients,” she says. “As a volunteer, I’m able to spend time with and honor people as they finish their wonderful journey on this earth.” Lauren began volunteering when she found out VNA was still utilizing volunteers throughout the pandemic.

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Click here to become a hospice volunteer

Light Up a Life this Holiday Season

To help honor our loved ones’ memories or those who have made a positive impact, VNA offers a way to pay tribute on the Light Up a Life Holiday Tree.

With a suggested gift of $10 or more, a personalized dove with the name of each life you wish to honor or remember will be placed on one of the community trees. For a donation of $100 or more, you may choose to have an engraved crystal dove ornament mailed to your home.

Your gift to the annual Light Up a Life program for VNA Hospice Care will ensure VNA can continue to provide compassionate end-of-life care for patients, caregivers and loved ones no matter their ability to pay.

Click here to purchase a dove.

Serve Up Some Love this Thanksgiving

Any way you slice it, it’s time to order your pumpkin and pecan pies and pumpkin bread for your friends and family. You’ll be serving up the most delicious dessert while helping North Texas Seniors in need. These holiday favorites are going fast, order your pie today!

Order Here

A Message From Katherine Krause – Grateful Beyond Words

“I think he looks like a hospice patient, don’t you,” said my mother, a retired RN. Dad smiled at mom’s humor. After 65 years of marriage, this type of humor was expected. The comment preceded our family conversation regarding the decision to choose hospice care at home for my dad. My parents had recently relocated to Dallas to be closer to family as their health declined. Dad, a retired Air Force Colonel and proud Navy and Air Force Veteran having served in both the Korean and Vietnam wars, looked at life practically.

He loved life, but when he realized his liver disease was gaining the upper hand, he knew he needed to be closer to family for mom to be cared for by daughters living in Dallas. In addition to liver disease, he was diagnosed with cancer after moving to Dallas.

With the support of VNA Hospice and Palliative Care, my father had what the nurses would call a good death. For this to happen, the Visiting Nurse Association (VNA) provided the right support at the right time in the months leading up to his death. Dad was admitted to VNA Palliative Care and transitioned to VNA Hospice four months prior to his passing. I was also fortunate to be able to speak with my father about his priorities months before his actual death allowing our family to focus on my dad’s medical and emotional needs in his final weeks of life. A good reference as to how to have these conversations is provided by theconversationproject.org

As experts on dying well, Hospice helps loved ones understand and process the experience that everyone goes through at some point. Everyone has a different and unique experience, but there are chords of similarities that occur with every passing. Many Hospice clinicians and support staff see Hospice as a calling and as experts they work side by side with the patient and their loved ones, educating and supporting in what is probably one of the most difficult times of life.

The journey at the end of life is one we will all face, but sadly, many choose to avoid even having a conversation about what makes a “good death.” Because of my profession and my parents’ openness to discussion of their end-of-life wishes, we were able to prepare and make the most of our time remaining together. Because of the support of the VNA staff, my father left this world peacefully. I didn’t have to face my fears alone and for that I am grateful beyond words.

Kindly,
Katherine