Print
E-mail
Care and support
 |
| News-Times/Kate Burke When Dee Bolte’s husband, Myron, was diagnosed with terminal esophagal cancer, they chose to use the hospice services of AseraCare in York while he lived at Fairview Manor in Fairmont. “Myron was shown so much love and care by everyone that his final days were very special for him and for me,” Dee says. The “Safely Home” throw was a gift for her upon Myron’s death. |
Hospice works for local families
By Kate Burke
YORK — “I don’t know if I can come up with enough adjectives to make people understand how wonderful those people are,” Cheryl Gassman says.
Cheryl’s father, Lawrence Gassman, was living in a retirement home in Lincoln when hospice care was recommended to Cheryl. She contacted AseraCare, and was impressed by the level of care he received — and she, as well.
People who were working with her father called Cheryl frequently, “just to touch base,” she says. If there was anything she needed to know, they called.
As her father’s condition deteriorated, Cheryl brought him to be closer to her, to the Hearthstone in York. AseraCare’s hospice service made the switch with Lawrence and, says Cheryl, “They were just as wonderful.”
Lawrence was on hospice care for three and a half years. During that whole time, Cheryl says, “I almost felt like my dad was the only person they took care of.”
Dee Bolte, of York, was hit hard by the diagnosis given her husband, Myron, in March: terminal esophageal cancer.
In the past year, Dee had battled cancer herself. The couple knew firsthand how difficult chemotherapy could be. Treatment would only delay the inevitable, and rob them both of quality time together.
They chose to forego treatment.
Myron entered Fairview Manor in Fairmont, where, Dee says, “It was a very caring, loving and supportive atmosphere. It was just like a family down there.”
They enlisted the services of AseraCare to help maintain a high quality of life for them both during Myron’s last days.
AseraCare staff kept Dee informed of how their visits with Myron went. Manor staff, Dee says, called AseraCare if Dee was having a rough time during visits with Myron.
All of them, she says, “were very understanding, caring, compassionate and supportive.”
The hospice staff and volunteers helped in ways the couple did not expect. Major decisions, such as those regarding Myron’s feeding tube, were made easier for Dee based on the experienced input of AseraCare staff.
“I just felt like they completely covered what I needed to know,” she says.
Myron’s days were made easier with social visits, and he and Dee both felt uplifted by sharing hymns with Paul Moses, formerly the bereavement coordinator at AseraCare, and spiritual care coordinator Lila Barker.
Lila, Dee says, “always shared her faith so openly. I had strong faith but I needed somebody to boost me.”
Myron died on May 6. He and Dee had been married for 37 years.
Dee has returned playing the bells at Emmanuel Lutheran Church, and to her job as a school paraprofessional. She works with challenged kids at York High School. Her colleagues there have been immensely supportive, she says, through all of her difficulties of the past couple of years.
And, she says, she still gets calls from Lila to see how she’s doing.
Weeks after her father’s death in October, Cheryl is also still getting calls from AseraCare staff.
“They follow through to make sure you’re OK,” she says. “If I ever need care...hospice is what I tell my kids I’m going on.”
Cheryl’s father, Lawrence Gassman, was living in a retirement home in Lincoln when hospice care was recommended to Cheryl. She contacted AseraCare, and was impressed by the level of care he received — and she, as well.
People who were working with her father called Cheryl frequently, “just to touch base,” she says. If there was anything she needed to know, they called.
As her father’s condition deteriorated, Cheryl brought him to be closer to her, to the Hearthstone in York. AseraCare’s hospice service made the switch with Lawrence and, says Cheryl, “They were just as wonderful.”
Lawrence was on hospice care for three and a half years. During that whole time, Cheryl says, “I almost felt like my dad was the only person they took care of.”
Dee Bolte, of York, was hit hard by the diagnosis given her husband, Myron, in March: terminal esophageal cancer.
In the past year, Dee had battled cancer herself. The couple knew firsthand how difficult chemotherapy could be. Treatment would only delay the inevitable, and rob them both of quality time together.
They chose to forego treatment.
Myron entered Fairview Manor in Fairmont, where, Dee says, “It was a very caring, loving and supportive atmosphere. It was just like a family down there.”
They enlisted the services of AseraCare to help maintain a high quality of life for them both during Myron’s last days.
AseraCare staff kept Dee informed of how their visits with Myron went. Manor staff, Dee says, called AseraCare if Dee was having a rough time during visits with Myron.
All of them, she says, “were very understanding, caring, compassionate and supportive.”
The hospice staff and volunteers helped in ways the couple did not expect. Major decisions, such as those regarding Myron’s feeding tube, were made easier for Dee based on the experienced input of AseraCare staff.
“I just felt like they completely covered what I needed to know,” she says.
Myron’s days were made easier with social visits, and he and Dee both felt uplifted by sharing hymns with Paul Moses, formerly the bereavement coordinator at AseraCare, and spiritual care coordinator Lila Barker.
Lila, Dee says, “always shared her faith so openly. I had strong faith but I needed somebody to boost me.”
Myron died on May 6. He and Dee had been married for 37 years.
Dee has returned playing the bells at Emmanuel Lutheran Church, and to her job as a school paraprofessional. She works with challenged kids at York High School. Her colleagues there have been immensely supportive, she says, through all of her difficulties of the past couple of years.
And, she says, she still gets calls from Lila to see how she’s doing.
Weeks after her father’s death in October, Cheryl is also still getting calls from AseraCare staff.
“They follow through to make sure you’re OK,” she says. “If I ever need care...hospice is what I tell my kids I’m going on.”
 |
 |
|
| November is Hospice Month | Lucas says YPS is tops |
Latest Videos:
Recent Photo Galleries: