Boquete Health and Hospice November Newsletter

[Boquete Health and Hospice]

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Hundreds Benefit from the 2018 Boquete Health Fair  Stormy skies couldn’t stop the flow of Panamanians and Expats alike into the 2018 Boquete Health Fair, October 14, hosted by Boquete Health and Hospice. 25 vendors promoted their medical services to the crowd in an impressive array of videos, displays and signage.  Looking around you could see lines of families at the laboratory tables, hospitals and at MINSA getting their fingers poked to test glucose; getting blood pressure tests; and receiving free vaccinations for flu, pneumonia and tetanus.   What a day it was to visit doctors, clinics, hospitals, specialists, pharmacies and laboratories, without being sick - just like trick or treating - getting special offers and valuable information. Our sincere thanks extend to all who volunteered, all our vendors, and all who came to experience our second annual Boquete Health Fair. We learned a lot and look forward to start planning for our third annual event next year. To see more photos from the Health Fair go to our website: http://www.boquetehealth.org November is National Hospice and Palliative Care Month   Our Palliative Care Program Boquete Health and Hospice started out as Boquete Hospice.  Supporting people in the final phase of their lives was what we were about.  Although we have expanded greatly since then hospice work is still the first love of many of our volunteers.  We feel very privileged to be in your life at this most special time.   The final stage of life is precious and natural.  It can be beautiful and graceful.  It is our goal to support individuals facing this final stage so that they and their loved ones can experience it with peace and dignity. We organize, teach and provide information and equipment.   We do everything we can do to make the experience better.  We work with the family (whoever is close to and supporting the person) in many ways. There are tasks we perform such as loaning equipment as needed e.g. hospital bed, bedside commode, wheel chair or oxygen concentrator.  We can provide meals for the patient and caregiver, provide information about nursing staff for hire and/or teach the family to provide care.  Our goal is the comfort of the client to support them in having the best quality care possible in the time remaining.  We might be the ones the patient chooses to talk to about what they are experiencing. We are good listeners and will be there for patient, family and whoever needs us. Here in Panama there are many obstacles to the family experiencing their loved one’s death as a calm transition.  Our goal is to smooth the way.  We know about the system in Panama for final arrangements, the paper work and the various offices.  We know who to call and what information is needed.  We have Spanish speaking volunteers who can help navigate the system.  At Boquete Health and Hospice we know that death is a normal part of living and we treat it as such.  We know what support other people in this position have needed and what was helpful. The support we give is logistical, practical and straight from the heart.      Book Corner A Year to Live by Stephen Levine How to Live This Year as If It Were Your Last What would YOU do if you knew you only had one year to live?  Move to Tahiti? Quit any commitments? Have that 2nd piece of pie? During his years of hospice work, Stephen Levine has witnessed many on their deathbeds who have regrets of unresolved relationship issues, unfulfilled bucket lists, and words they wish they had said.  Stephen challenged himself in a year-long experiment resulting in this practical and spiritual approach to life and death that will wake you up and make you think.  “Most of us go to extraordinary lengths to ignore, laugh off, or deny the fact that we are going to die, but preparing for death is one of the most rational and rewarding acts of a lifetime.” This book is definitely worth your time to read.  It takes us into the emotional side of our familiar “Being Prepared.”  My major lessons learned are: The time is NOW to do your personal healing and healing with others. Take care of unfinished business before it’s too late. Pay attention to every moment – smell the roses – avoid distractions that don’t serve your Highest, Best Self. Examine your priorities and live a life fulfilled NOW. Stephen Levine is suggesting living a year with this intense, merciful awareness.  He says that preparing for death allows us to enter into a new and vibrant relationship with life.  This book offers a healing process with clarity, insight and closure. To Make a Donation  BHHF functions with donations provided by the community. If you are interested in supporting the work we do, please make a donation. To make a financial contribution by check or cash contact Merl Will-Wallace, our treasurer, at [e-mail] to arrange a time and place to pick up your donation. Our Mission Our mission is to provide palliative care for the terminally ill in order that they may experience death with dignity; to inform and promote community health; and, to support people with health and wellness needs by providing information, equipment and volunteer services. For more information visit our website: http://www.boquetehealth.org We also have a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/boqueteheartshandsandhelp/?ref=bookmarks  Please Like our page and Share the contents with your family and friends. Confidentiality All patient information shared with any Boquete Health and Hospice volunteer is kept in the strictest confidence. To Contact Us Hospice/Health:  (507) 6781-9250 Blood Donor Program:  (507)-6590-2000 Email:  [e-mail] Email:  [e-mail]

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