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Our Stories
Mary Hovsepian understands hospice from both sides. Thirteen years ago her mom was a hospice patient, when Clara, the hospice nurse who volunteered her own time to check on her mom daily, made a significant impact on Mary. For ten years, Mary kept the phone number for Memorial Hospice volunteer program handy, always intending to get involved. Three years ago, Mary's niece called and they decided to participate in hospice volunteer training together. In addition to her work as a full-time teacher and librarian at Yakima's Washington Middle School, she carves out time twice a week to visit her current hospice patient, and phones on days she cannot stop by. "I look forward to Mary's visits and our time together. She's a special gift at a time I need her friendship the most," says Marie Kollmeyer, Mary's hospice patient who turns 66 this month, and has been diagnosed with terminal COPD, a progressive disease that damages the lungs and gets worse over time if not treated. While Mary's role is to assist Marie, the two women who are close in age and share many life experiences, provide joy, laughter and understanding to each other. "Volunteers like Mary are an integral part of patient support," says Julie Frazier, volunteer coordinator for Memorial Hospice. "Her tenderness results in patients sleeping better, expressing less anxiety, and from a quantitative standpoint decreases on-call nursing hours, freeing up hospice nurses to respond to patients with immediate medical needs," Frazier says. Mary also understands the power of "being there" both for the patient and for the patient's caregivers. When Mary served as her mother's caregiver, she wanted to be there for her mom, but there were times she also needed to get away. As a hospice volunteer, Mary empathizes with caregivers who may just need to get out and run errands or enjoy a soda or a coffee to unwind. "It's the little things that matter most in the final chapter of life. It's having someone there to talk to, having someone who can adjust a pillow or share a milkshake," Mary softly says. |