subject: Hospice of the Valley supports Wickenburg families [print this page] Hospice of the Valley supports Wickenburg families
"It sure was fun being Bucky."
That's what Joe "Bucky" Walters envisioned on his tombstone.
Wickenburg's fire chief and constable for 25 years 40 years with the fire department in all husband to Lois for 48 years, father and grandfather to an extended family, friend and neighbor to hundreds if not thousands, Bucky was a popular guy with a reputation for "telling it like it is."
"Everybody knew Bucky," said Lois. "We had a lot of laughs. He liked to kid people. If he didn't like you, he didn't kid you."
When this giant of a man became ill with prostate cancer that spread to his bones, Lois didn't know what to do. She saw him going downhill quickly. It was getting harder and harder for her to take care of him.
"Finally I asked the doctor about hospice," Lois said. "I always thought of hospice as something you got in the last week or two of somebody's life. I didn't know you could have it for six months or longer. And I have to admit, my first thought was that hospice would be so morbid, so sad, so awful.
"But it turned out to be just the opposite. From Day One, when Kathleen Kemper came from Hospice of the Valley. Bucky was in a lot of pain. Within 20 minutes she had a doctor on the phone about pain control and the medicine was delivered that night. That was my first knock-out thought: Wow! Hospice is here to help. Every day after that, there was just one angel after another coming through our door. They were all take-charge people who knew what I needed and what he needed. And they were so upbeat about everything."
Hospice of the Valley, a not-for-profit agency founded in 1977 in Maricopa County, began serving Wickenburg in late 2006. Kathleen Kemper, a registered nurse who has lived in Wickenburg 15 years, started working then as a home care nurse and as a liaison to the health-care, business and general community. A toll-free line was established: 1-866-468-7070.
The full range of hospice services is now in place for residents of Wickenburg and surrounding communities.
People with life-limiting illnesses and their families are supported by hospice teams, which consist of a physician, nurse, nurse's aide, social worker, chaplain (if requested) and a volunteer. Most staff members are residents of the area.
Community members have given generously of themselves to become hospice volunteers. After completing a 24-hour training course, they serve patients in their homes or wherever patients are living. Some have received additional training to become 11th Hour Companion volunteers, offering a compassionate presence at the bedside of patients nearing life's end.
Inpatient hospice care also is available through a partnership with Wickenburg Community Hospital. The positive relationship was celebrated this spring when the hospital gave the Community Service Award to Hospice of the Valley and the Wickenburg hospice team.
Workshops and talks on grief and other subjects are given by hospice staff members to community groups. Free blood pressure clinics are hosted on alternating weeks at The Wise Owl in Wickenburg and Saguaro Jane's in Wittman.
Hospice of the Valley also offers home health care for patients with chronic and serious illnesses. People with moderate dementia and their caregivers can participate in the H.O.M.E. program, which offers medication management, behavior techniques and other therapies.
Lois Walters said she is forever grateful to her Hospice of the Valley team that served Bucky for seven weeks until he died March 19. The team included Barbara Meeks, RN team leader; Roger Wilder, RN; Mary Boyd, RN; Kathleen Kemper, RN; Diana Biehl, LPN; Rose Cannon, nurse's aide; Ken Schepel, chaplain; Lori Duchaine, social worker; and Virginia Edwards, volunteer.
Sometimes it's the simple things that pose the biggest challenges, Lois said. For Bucky, it was bathing. When he couldn't do it himself anymore, he was too proud to let his wife do it and kept putting her off, she said.
Then Rose Cannon, nurse's aide, came to call. "She walked right in, made herself at home, talked to him like she'd known him forever," Lois said. "She said: I'm here to give you a bath.' He had a bath before he knew what happened and he enjoyed it! The people who work at hospice really are angels. They know their jobs and do it well."
