You can believe us when we tell you, “ HOsPicE means HOPE”
My friend and co-worker died today. She was a hospice nurse who believed that HOsPicE means HOPE and proved it by signing herself up when she was diagnosed with an incurable cancer. My friend and I messaged each other for several weeks leading up to her decision to elect hospice and after, as long as her strength allowed. As we went down memory lane, we shared laughs and tears. We also talked extensively about what her choosing to elect hospice meant to her, her family and friends, and the hospice community.
We always came to the same conclusion- HOsPicE means HOPE. Rather than choosing treatments that left her too ill to enjoy each day, she chose to enjoy each day on hospice as a form of treatment. She chose to fill her days with love, laughter, some tears, friends, family, pain management- HOPE. She gave her friends and family nine glorious weeks in which we flooded her email, Facebook page, U.S. mailbox, instant messenger, and home, with our confessions of love and appreciation for what she has meant to our lives. She gave the hospice community the truest example of HOPE that is given through HOsPicE. Thank you, my friend. RIP
