The team worked hard to create patient centered care. It was all about Mom.  When she could tell us what she liked we would do our best to make it happen.  When she could no longer tell us we tried to guess and always respected the person she still was.

The team slowed down to a pace that Mom could handle on any given day.  We tried to find activities that would engage her brain and keep her smiling.  It was relatively easy as Mom was always a happy person that believed in finding the silver lining in everything.  She did not love all the care aids but was generally kind and accommodating to their efforts.  She did not love her physical and mental decline but made the best of what she had left to work with.

In her palliative stage she still exuded happiness for the sunshine on her face and the music that was placed near her chair.  We would open the front door and push her chair into the fresh air and she would take a deep breath.  Like a bird coming out of a cage.

Her sense of touch and hearing still seemed to work quite well. And she could see and taste okay.  These were the areas of activity we concentrated on.  A bowl of ice cream, a local guitar player stopped by the house, a massage therapist twice a week, the warmth of sunshine.

Mom loved to read us Winnie the Pooh and I found this quote that sums up what we tried to do.  “How do you spell ‘love’? – Piglet asked. ”You don’t spell it…you feel it” replied Pooh. A.A. Milne