Hospice Awareness Week dispels myth
When doctors suggested Meleni Phillips hook in with the hospice a few years back, she didn’t want a bar of it.
At that time she believed the hospice was a place where people went to die.
Hospice Awareness Week 2017, May 15 - 21, is aimed at addressing this common misconception.
Now, the 47-year-old wants to help dispel that myth too.
‘‘At first I thought I’m not ready for that. It was just that thought, I’m not ready to die yet I don’t want to go there,’’ she said.
Meleni was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008 and then bone cancer six years later.
She endured years of treatment; chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery to remove one of her breasts. By her side through it all was her husband and ‘‘number one rock’’ Tony Phillips.
The mother-of-two kept her cheeky smile - on the good days, but the long term outlook wasn’t good.
Meleni finally gave in a few years back and rang Hospice Taranaki because she was in so much pain - a decision she wished she had made sooner.
‘‘It’s a whole new family now, you get to know them and you start talking and you get smart, and they love it.’’
They provide Meleni with comprehensive in-home care, when times get too tough she stays at the local in-patient unit Te Rangimarie.
‘‘It’s not a morbid place to be, well not when I’m there.’’
‘‘It's not a morbid place to be, well not when I'm there’’
Meleni Phillips
‘‘It may sound weird to some people but when I’m in there I feel alive,’’ she said.
Meleni takes comfort in knowing the hospice is a support for Tony and her tight-knit extended family too.
A massive range of services are offered free and everyone works together to meet the patient and whanau needs. ‘‘They can’t really do much for me now, just keep me as comfortable as they can.
Last year Taranaki Hospice provided care for 600 patients with community nurses making 9000 home visits. The in-home service was available to patients 24/7 and nurses made 300 after hours visits, said Hospice Taranaki chief executive Kevin Nielson.
Taranaki Hospice needed to raise 1.7m annually for the care to remain free of charge, he said. Community support for the nonfor profit organisation is critical and raising funds is vital to ensuring the services remain free.