Hospice care keeps family together

16 Nov 2018

16 November 2018

Battling nasopharyngeal carcinoma for 5 years, Stephen (50), his wife Annette and his doctors realised he needed palliative care, and chose St John of God Murdoch Community Hospice where he could be close to his family.

The generosity of St John of God Foundation donors provided funding for the establishment of the St John of God Murdoch Community Hospice and its important services.

His care at the hospice included pain management, occupational therapy, as well as emotional support and counselling, while his wife and three daughters Isabelle (11), Mia (13) and Sophie (17), were also able to visit and stay overnight.

“The girls participated in a range of the Footprint Day Centre therapies including mosaics, painting, beading and butterfly making. This gave them an escape and a creative outlet for their grief,” Annette said.

“The highlight of the day would be when Stephen would come to the sessions and the girls would show him their work. Being artistic himself it brought him real joy to see what they were making.”

Stephen’s daughter Sophie said that without the care at the hospice and the Footprints Day Centre her Father’s end of life battle would have been even harder to deal with.

“Footprints was there for us and without it would have been a very negative environment which wouldn’t have helped Dad,” she said.

While in the hospice, Stephen and Annette shared stories with their daughters and reminisced about a special time in Thailand where Stephen had pushed her on a swing int he moonlight, while she realised he was "my forever love, my soul mate."

At the new day's painting class, volunteers assisted Mia to create an amazing picture of the moment.

“I will treasure that picture forever," Annette said.

Hospice caregivers also helped the Bilic family celebrate Isabelle’s 11th birthday enabling her to stay overnight with her dad and get ready for the party at the hospice together and even enabling the family dog Ollie to attend.

“It was the best birthday I have ever had, I really enjoyed it even though it was a tough time,” Isabelle said.

Annette said while her focus was on Stephen’s wellbeing, the support and comfort she received through the therapy services were essential.

"Having moments for mind and body was invaluable," she said.

"Services like massage and reflexology gave me a chance to recharge when I needed it the most. They would come to the room if I was too anxious to leave."

St John of God Foundation Chief Executive Officer Bianca Pietralla said it was always touching to hear of real impact donors have on families with loved ones in palliative care.

“The Murdoch Community Hospice was built two decades ago when an unmet community need for palliative care services was recognised," she said.

"The WA community raised $5 million for the capital development, which is a significant contribution to ongoing patient care. It’s evident that services at the Hospice go beyond the patient, and have
profoundly positive effects on families.”

Annette said this made a huge different to her family's emotional and psychological wellbeing over the toughest eight weeks of their lives.

“You don’t hear much about end of life care, and there is not much funding in this area. Steve's end of life care affected us all. With the support of St John of God Murdoch Hospice we were afforded the opportunity to enjoy the five of us being together,” she said.