Return to the hospice

Brother has not gone back to the hospice ward since mum checked out almost three weeks ago. I did return, last week, with my ex, and showed him around a bit. I teared somewhat walking down the same corridors and feeling the memories come back. A nurse I met, the one who was mum's main nurse during her stay, said most do not return ever again, because it is too painful. But return brother and I did, because we wanted to thank the staff for their dedication and wonderful care in mum's final days and moments.

We ordered a  flower arrangement to be delivered at 10 in the morning, and sure enough when we got there, we saw the beautiful pot of orchids sitting on the counter at the nurses' station. The head nurse were surprised (and happy) to see us again, and moments later the nurse who was there and who helped mum in those final moments walked in.

They asked us how we are feeling, and how the "arrangements" have been. Tiring, but everything was well organised, dignified and beautiful, just as mum would have wanted it. We thanked them for their hard work and commitment, and I could see brother was not only a little speechless, but also moved close to tears again reminiscing those days.

The corridor looked the same as before. The same long corridor, with more or less the same decor on the walls. And in the air was soft classical music playing. We did not venture to the entrance of mum's room (Room 20), like I did a few days earlier, but we did walk into the common room, and I put some more donations into a box. Donations that would go to the hospice ward, and help keep it going.

 To our surprise, one of the nurses told us that this department is probably the most "loss making" and underfunded, for there are many more nurses to each patient and a lot of the equipment that are used are much better than the wards on the lower floors. I wanted to already, and I will do it soon, but I intend to write to the director of the hospital commending the staff at the hospice for their exemplary work and efforts, and hopefully motivate the hospital to dedicate more funding and resources to the crucial the end-of-life health care system.

We also met the doctor who was responsible for monitoring mum's day-to-day condition at the hospice. Gratefully, I bowed and thanked him again and again for making mum's final journey a peaceful and relatively easy one. He and the nurse told us that we have been wonderful with our mothers, and that they learned a lot from us and our dedication to mum as well.