“Call you.”
“Where’s the number?”
Shepointedtothetwenty-four-hourhospicecallnumber
that was taped beside her phone.
Outside,IconfessedthatIwasconfusedbywhatCreed
was doing. A lot of it seemed to be about extending
Cox’slife.Wasn’tthegoalofhospicetoletnaturetake
its course?
“That’snotthegoal,”Creedsaid.Thedifferencebetween
standardmedicalcareandhospiceisnotthedifference
betweentreatinganddoing nothing,sheexplained.The
differencewasinthepriorities.Inordinarymedicine,the
goalistoextendlife.We’llsacrificethequalityofyour
existence now—by performing surgery, providing
chemotherapy, putting you in intensive care—for the
chance of gaining time later. Hospice deploys nurses,
doctors,chaplains,andsocialworkerstohelppeoplewith
a fatal illness have the fullest possible lives right
now—much asnursinghomereformersdeploystaff to
helppeople with severedisabilities.In terminalillness
thatmeansfocusingonobjectiveslikefreedomfrompain
anddiscomfort,ormaintainingmentalawarenessforas
long as feasible, or getting out with family once in a
while—not on whether Cox’slife would be longer or
shorter.Nonetheless,whenshewastransferredtohospice
care, her doctors thought that shewouldn’t livemuch
longerthan a fewweeks. With thesupportivehospice
therapy she received, she had already lived for a year.
Hospiceisnotan easychoiceforapersonto make.A
hospice nurse enters people’s lives at a strange