It is very satisfying for me to be able to focus on the psychosocial needs of my patients and their families. Many times, one major concern and stressor is finances. Our youngest patient so far was a forty-three year old man who lived with his wife and 4 children. The children were 13, 12 and twin 9-year olds. The patient died 3-weeks before Christmas. Because of his illness, he had been unable to work for months.
He had been diagnosed with a brain tumor a year earlier, and he began experiencing numbness in his legs after 8-months. It turned out that he had multiple tumors on his spine that left him paralyzed from the waist down. He was the insurance carrier for the family and COBRA insurance would cost his wife $850 per month on a salary of $1,200 - $1,400 per month, depending on how much time she would need to stay home to care for her husband.
The family had the strain of old medical bills, housing, utilities and of course food for the children. The Foundation made payments for the mortgage. Yes, we wanted to do more, but even this assistance relieved an extreme amount of stress for the wife and allowed her to focus on her husband and children.
Many of our other families have similarly benefited from the Foundation with multiple things like gift cards to the local grocery store and pharmacy payments. We've paid utility bills and we rescued at least one family from eminent eviction. We were so pleased to be able to keep that patient in his home and allow him and his family to spend their last few days together, not worrying about being kicked out of their home. Our hospice patients are so very special! They welcome us into their homes because we offer them hope--not hope for a cure, but hope for comfort, peace, friendship and understanding.