Forbes Hospice helped our family beyond measure

Regarding nurse Rachel Walton’s Feb. 4 Forum piece, “Thank You, Forbes Hospice, For Being There,” I could not agree more. The Forbes Hospice at West Penn Hospital was there a year ago for our family when two of my wife’s grandmothers, Marion Thomassey and Stella Seman, died within three days of each other.

As a University of Pittsburgh medical student, I was very lucky to have learned from Dr. Bob Arnold, a palliative medicine specialist who emphasized to his students the importance of being able to comfortably talk with patients about death and dying. Fast forward 15 years when a massive stroke and acute deterioration struck our family all at once. Because we had the tough conversations with Stella and Marion about death and dying when they were healthy, we knew what sort of care they would want.

The choice was easy: Forbes Hospice. In medicine and in life, we often say less is more. Easier said than done. Extra MRIs or CT scans would not have improved the quality of life for Marion or Stella. But with Forbes Hospice, the love and care they got from the staff was what they and our family needed. It is sometimes simple things and human contact that make all the difference. The amount of love and care that the hospice staff provided cannot be described in words. Stella and Marion led dignified lives and were around loves ones when they passed away. They were not hooked up to tubes or wires. There were no loud alarms going off. One family member said that the hospice workers were like angels.

That is how I will remember Forbes Hospice. Thank you for everything you did for our family. MATTHEW HARTMAN,

M.D. Squirrel Hill