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Hello. I'm Allison McNair. |
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Welcome to New Hampshire Outlook, we hope your Thanksgiving has been a good one. For many of you, this is a time spent with family. While together with your loved ones, it may also be a good opportunity to discuss important family issues like end of life care. A recent report by the Foundation For Healthy Communities finds that end of life care in New Hampshire has improved over the past four years, yet most people in the state who die never experience optimal care. We'll discuss the issue in a moment, but first we want you to meet a couple in Londonderry, Ric and Diane Blake. |
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Shots of Annie Narr 1 - Annie is family. She sneaked into the Blake's life twenty years ago, through an open screen door. She's frail but loveable. Ric believes she might be in pain, Diane doesn't. Shots of putting Annie in cage Ric clip - "We're going to have Annie looked at by the vet. She has melanoma and it could be spreading. If it is I want to have her put to sleep. Diane doesn't want to. We're on the horns of a dilemma." Shots of taking Annie to the car. Narr 2 - It's a dilemma with some irony. You see, Ric also has cancer - thyroid cancer. He was told seven years ago. Ric clip - Phil - "What did you think at the time? I thought this was a problem that would go away with some radiation, maybe surgery. It didn't work out that way." Narr 3 - Despite years of aggressive treatment, the cancer is not going away. Ric clip - "When you have cancer for a lifetime, I had it for 5 years you are on a path to treatment. Then when you find out that the magic bullet is not going to work, you end up on another path and life stops." Dissolve to ext of vets Narr 4 - During that pause Ric and Diane began to talk about and prepare for end of life. Ric - "Cancer teaches you to live for the moment, now. It's learning to live. I have a great sandbox I have learned to play well and we do. I have not given up nor do I worry about tomorrow, what new tumors will develop. Today is what's important." "I have time to nurture relationships, say things that I want to say and listen to things that I want to hear. That is the gift, that is what hospice is all about." Shot at hospice MaryAnne - "Hospice is a philosophy, not a place." Narr 5 - MaryAnne Mercier is the manager of the Community Hospice House in Merrimack, NH. This is where Ric hopes to be -- someday. MaryAnne - "It really is about self determination. It's about providing people with good education, informed decisions for what's right for them in their care. This is the place and support to do that and a venue for families to thinks about those things." Diane - "And that's one of the reasons that Ric wants to go to a hospice, where you are protected from pain and suffering and will be comfortable. What needs to be done will be done." Shots and sound of Lynn with Priscilla Narr 6 - Priscilla Gilbert has cancer and is prepared to die here. Lynn Randall would like to make her time here, meaningful. Lynn - "This process is a whole person experience so it's not just medically driven that's why we have pet therapy and art therapy - different things that resonate inside person so we have the whole team finding different ways to connect with patient and family." Sound of music Narr 7 - This is how Priscilla's family is connecting with her. Shots of sons performing music in her room David clip - "Family is family. It doesn't matter what's going on, you'll always be family. When someone else is doing the care giving, it's much better because it allows you to spend time on a personal basis rather than a professional one. It's less painful to let the professionals do it rather than trying to figure it out and deal with it on your own." Shots and sound of music Lynn - "I think there's a shift that happens near the end of life when focus moves away from quality of life to what's meaningful - whether its hearing music, smelling coffee, life can still be meaningful up to the time of death." Shot of Cheryl taking photograph Narr 8 - Cheryl Senter is a friend of Ric and Diane. She's a newspaper photographer who has spent the past two years documenting their journey. Cheryl - "They have given me a different perspective about my own life. I now cherish things much more because I have seen a lot of sickness, because Ric tends to be around sick people. I'm very thankful - I love my husband and my family more." Shot of Cheryl with Ric and Diane at vets Sound of vet telling Ric and Diane that Annie's cancer is spreading Ric/Diane - "The vet says she has cancer and it's spreading. We need to talk about it and decide what to do. We have a month until we bring her back." Ric - "Today is what's important, cancer has taught me that. It's a gift. We don't think about the future all the time - it would drive us crazy. We laugh a lot and play a lot, we would be mad if we didn't. We're lucky, life is good." |
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Joining me to discuss the state of end of life care in New Hampshire, Dr. Donald McDonah the medical director for Palliative Care Services at St. Joseph's Hospital in Nashua, Gail Spera the Director of the Merrimack Valley Hospice and Mickey McDargh who cared for his wife Patricia before she passed away last March of Cancer. Thank you all for joining us. |
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POINTS OF DISCUSSION DON - You are Ric's doctor, he seems to be comfortable with his situation? Is that a process? GAIL - When we talk about "end of life care," what's involved? MICKEY - When Patricia got sick what did you know/how prepared were you? MICKEY - Who did you turn to for help? DON - What about from teh physicians perspective - having to tell someone that they may be here for just a while longer - how do that? Should docs be trained in that? DON/GAIL - Personally, what effect do you see end of life care having for patient/loved ones? What about caring for the caregiver? MICKEY - Why was home care important for you and family? GAIL/DON - How prepared are we as a community to deal with end of life care? GAIL/DON - How accessable is care? ALL - Why are we so hesitant to talk about end of life care? |
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If you'd like more information about end of life care you can visit the Foundation for Healthy Communities at healthy-n-h-dot-org. |
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That's it for this edition of our program. For all of us here at New Hampshire Public Television, I'm Ally McNair. Thanks for joining us. We'll see you next time on New Hampshire Outlook. |
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Thanks to our founding sponsors who have provided major funding for the production of New Hampshire Outlook: New Hampshire Charitable Foundation Public Service of New Hampshire Alice J. Reen Charitable Trust Putnam Foundation Stratford Foundation |
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NEW HAMPSHIRE OUTLOOK Air Date/Time: 11/29/02 22:00 HOST: Allison McNair Length: 26:46 minutes In this edition of New Hampshire Outlook, NHPTV's nightly news magazine, While together with your loved ones, it may also be a good opportunity to discuss important family issues like end of life care. A recent report by the Foundation For Healthy Communities finds that end of life care in New Hampshire has improved over the past four years, yet most people in the state who die never experience optimal care. We'll discuss the issue in a moment, but first we want you to meet a couple in Londonderry. This package was followed by a studio discussion on the state of end of life care in New Hampshire with Dr. Donald McDonah the medical director for Palliative Care Services at St. Joseph's Hospital in Nashua, Gail Spera the Director of the Merrimack Valley Hospice and Mickey McDargh who cared for his wife Patricia before she passed away last March of Cancer. PRODUCER/REPORTER: Phil Vaughn NAME OF PARTICIPANTS: Ric Blake and Diane Blake\Londonderry MaryAnne Mercier\Community Hospice House Lynn Randall\Medical Social Worker David Gilbert\Priscilla's Son Cheryl Senter\The Eagle-Tribune Dr. Donald McDonah \Med Dir, Palliative Care Srvcs - St. Joseph's Hospital Gail Spera \Dir, Merrimack Valley Hospice Mickey McDargh\Care Giver |
| Tonight 10:00 Return to index of stories... |
Tonight on New Hampshire Outlook. Join us tonight at 10:00 only on New Hampshire Outlook. |
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Tonight on New Hampshire Outlook. . Tonight at 10pm on New Hampshire Public Television. |