Review Staff Writer  

November is national Hospice month and the Sanford Luverne Hospice organization has been providing quality palliative care for the area for more than a decade.  Hospice care allows people to die with dignity, surrounded by loved ones, and in a natural setting.  The Hospice approach is that of treating the family and not the disease.  By definition, Hospice is a type of care and a philosophy of care which focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient’s symptoms.  The United States saw the advancement the Hospice concept by the end of the 1980s, with hundreds of programs being created by the 1990s.  Hospice in Luverne began in 1998.

  Melissa Burger,RN - Director, has been working for Luverne Hospice for two years.  Burger is enthusiastic about the program and encourages people to contact Hospice with questions and concerns, or to sign up for Hospice services.  “Anyone that has received a notice from a doctor, diagnosing their condition as being terminal [estimating a six months-or-less to live before dying a natural death], can sign up for Hospice services,” explains Burger. “Medicare regulations include Hospice care.  Even if it lasts beyond the six months, [Hospice care] is still covered by Medicare.”

  There are three elements that go into determining the use of Hospice services, as a patient and his/her family looks at the end-of-natural life process after a prolonged illness or condition:  1) Terminal Diagnosis [six months or less to live]; 2) Comfort Care [when all avenues of curative care is exhausted and there are no treatment options left, or treatment fails]; 3) Quality of Life focus [no more measures to hasten or prolong life]. 

  For an at-home patient, one who wishes to die in the home, Hospice provides equipment, such as a hospital bed, wheel chair, commode, bedside tables, etc.  Home health aides can come into the home to help with personal care, change bedding, and more.  Trained and certified professionals, including nurses, can administer medications and help family members in caring for their ill loved one.  Hospice has a program in which volunteers visit shut-ins  -- volunteers can spend time with the ill person, help with correspondences, or watching over an ill person while the in-home care giver [oftentimes a spouse or an adult child] has a chance to go out, run errands, or take a break.  “The home setting is an unique and special one,” says Burger, “people prefer being at home.” 

  While in-home care is considered one of the best options for those needing Hospice care, it is not the only option.  Another service offered by Hospice is the Cottage setting, where those unable to stay at home can still have many comforts of home, as well as privacy.  Hospice care is also available to people who are residents in Nursing Homes.  A rarely used or needed option, which is available under special circumstances, is in-hospital Hospice care.  Burger points out that using Hospice care while in a hospital is rare.  People utilizing Hospice care receive tender and quality care, no matter the setting.  

Most people equate Hospice with cancer treatment, but people diagnosed with cancer make up only 40% of all Hospice patients, says Burger.  “Hospice is for anyone who has been diagnosed with a life-ending disease,” she explains.  Hospice is often under utilized, or people do not contact Hospice early enough, thus losing out on many benefits of the program.  “We prefer to see patients [for the first time] when they are still well enough to be at home,” explains Burger, noting that by visiting early on with patients, a plan can be put into place to help with care, before a patient is in dire health.  “We can bring medication to the house, and help make a patient comfortable, help the patient and family in dealing with the final stages, and provide support as a patient’s health declines.”  Too often, when given a terminal diagnosis, when treatment is no longer an option, patients and their families continue to wait to contact Hospice, losing out on beneficial care and information.  This care and information can be very useful for the terminal ill patient as well as his/her family. 

  Another misconception about Hospice care is that it is solely for the dying patient.  “We not only treat the person – rather than the disease – we also help the family,” says Burger.  That help comes not only during the final weeks or months of a patient’s life, but also after the patient has died.  “We have bereavement services,” Burger explains, “this follows the family for a full year after the death of their loved one.  We send out mailings each month, and during the Christmas season.  The reading materials we send to families allow them privacy to read about grief.  We offer grief support groups.  Each spring there is a tree planting ceremony, in memory of each person who died during the previous twelve months, as well as a Tree of Lights memorial ford the deceased. 

  Donna Essman, whose husband, Donnell, died in February of this year, has nothing but praise for the Hospice program.  The Essmans were able to benefit from in-home Hospice care as well as utilizing The Cottage in Luverne.  “Don was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2007 and went through treatment, including chemotherapy,” says Donna, “and in January of 2009 he was told that there was nothing more that could be done.”  At the end of January, the Essmans had their first contact with Hospice, which visited Don in his home on February 3.  “Hospice brought everything Don needed -  his meds, Ensure [for nutrition] – everything he needed,” Donna says. Don was able to stay home with the benefit of Hospice care from February 3 through February 22. 

  Donna continues to tell of everything that Hospice did to make Don comfortable and to provide much needed support to her:  “They instructed me on many things.  It gave such a relief [to me] to have someone I could call when I had questions or needed help.  I called in the middle of the night more than once, with questions,   They were MARVELOUS!”  On February 22, Don had to be transported to the hospital, “even then, the nurses kept encouraging Don.”  After a brief hospital stay, Don was taken to the The Cottage in Luverne on February 24.  “I was unable to take care of him at home, so Don was settled in at The Cottage,” says Donna, “they took real good care of him and of us, too.  It was good for me and for the family, including my sister and brother-in-law and my daughter, who were there during the final days.  We were able to stay there, sleep there, and the staff made us all feel at home.”  Donnell died on February 27, surrounded by his loving family.

  Donna continues to benefit from the caring staff at Hospice, mentioning the follow-up contact from the staff, the encouraging letters and visits.  “You can’t describe it.  I’ve heard of Hospice, but you never know until you experience it!”  There is so much that Hospice did for the Essman family – for Donnell and Donna, and the rest of the family.  Donna sums it up by saying, “I can’t praise them enough!  They were all so nice – both at home and then at The Cottage, where they make you feel at home!”  The Essmans were so pleased and touched by the treatment they received from Hospice that they directed all memorials to be sent to Hospice in Luverne.  “Hospice was wonderful!” says Donna.  “They were absolutely great!”