moment—when theyhaveunderstood thatthey havea
fatalillnessbutnot necessarilyacknowledgedthatthey
aredying.“I’d sayonly aboutaquarterhaveaccepted
their fate when they come into hospice,” Creed said.
Whenshe first encountersher patients, many feelthat
theirdoctorshavesimplyabandonedthem.“Ninety-nine
percent understand they’re dying, but one hundred
percenthopethey’renot,”shetoldme.“Theystillwant
tobeattheirdisease.”Theinitialvisitisalwaystricky,
butshehasfoundwaystosmooththingsover.“Anurse
hasfivesecondstomakeapatientlikeyouandtrustyou.
It’sinthewholewayyoupresentyourself.Idonotcome
insaying,‘I’msosorry.’Instead,it’s:‘I’mthehospice
nurse,andhere’swhatIhavetoofferyoutomakeyour
lifebetter.AndIknowwedon’thavea lotoftime to
waste.’”
ThatwashowshestartedwithDaveGalloway,whomwe
visitedafterleavingLeeCox’shome.Hewasforty-two
years old. Heand his wife, Sharon,were both Boston
firefighters.Theyhadathree-year-olddaughter.Hehad
pancreaticcancer,whichhadspread;hisupperabdomen
wasnowsolidwithtumor.Duringthepastfewmonths,
the pain had often become unbearable, and he was
admittedtothehospitalseveraltimesforpaincrises.At
hismostrecentadmission,aboutaweekearlier,itwas
foundthatthetumorhadperforatedhisintestine.There
wasn’t even a temporary fix for this problem. The
medical team started himon intravenous nutrition and
offeredhimachoicebetweengoingtotheintensivecare
unit and going home with hospice. He chose to go home.