Life's Journeys Sports A message from Dottie Deremo, President/CEO, Hospice of Michigan his year Hospice of Michigan marks its 20th anniversary. Twenty years ago we were pioneers in what was then a new health care industry. T enjoy life, their family and friends, and make contributions to society. It's so important to allow time for this so that people are prepared for the end, instead of in crisis." Hospice care fills a need Preparing for life's end We have come a very long way from our beginnings: a cramped office space in the Southfield Rehabilitation Center and beds for just five patients. Known then as Hospice of Southeastern Michigan, we accepted our first patients in November 1980, following two years of intense study and planning. Today, as Hospice of Michigan, we are a model for hospice programs across the nation. Three staff members from those early days still are employed by Hospice of Michigan. Eileen Walewski oversees patient financial services. Mary Zaremski is a registered nurse at Farmington Hills Hospice Home. Marilyn Brady is a registered nurse working in our quality and compli- ance department. Marilyn joined our organization when it had existed for just 10 months, but she had actually sought this assignment from the very beginning. What brought Marilyn to Hospice? Why has she stayed so long in this demanding environment? Marilyn's message echoes a mes- sage I have stated repeatedly in this column: notify Hospice of Michigan when it becomes clear there will be a final stage to an illness, not just final days. Throughout our 20-year history, we have partnered with many health care organizations in research activities that focus on understanding and treating pain, managing symptoms. and utilizing an interdisciplinary team to meet the needs of mind, body and spirit. It is the spiritual aspect that has led us to establish programs specific to the needs of different cultural groups. Jewish Hospice is an example. Interest in the hospice movement continues to grow. Today there are more than 3,000 across the country, including 100 in Michigan. This progress is particularly mean- ingful to Marilyn Brady who, for 20 years, has spread the good word about the way hospice can mitigate fear and suffering for families con- fronting the end of life. "We're continually learning and evolving," she says. "The real heroes are the families and caregivers. We are a resource and offer support. It is their lives that stop while they walk that last walk wil.h loved ones." For additional information about our Jewish Hospice program, call Bobbie Blitz, our Jewish liaison spe- cialist, at 248-443-5907, or page her at 248-966-8262. A better way Marilyn will tell you that she had lost three loved ones within a 10- month period. Trained as an oncology nurse, she helplessly watched them die in hospitals and in pain, and she vowed there had to be a better way. She became interested in the work of Dame Cicely Saunders in England. Saunders emphasized holistic hospice care: pain management for physical symptoms; acts of kindness for spiri- tual and emotional well-being. Marilyn found her niche with hospice. Marilyn remembers that it was Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Michigan that first organized a Hospice board to begin a three-year demonstration project, bringing together a consor- tium of 21 hospitals in Metro-Detroit. Spiraling costs was a factor in this project, but so was a belief that people could die more comfortably at home, away from a stark, clinical environment. New medical technolo- gies were keeping people alive much longer and physicians, trained to sustain life, often continued treat- ment even when there was virtually no hope. The question, Marilyn asked, is when is enough, enough? "What people gain from Hospice," she says,"is the knowledge that there can be a peaceful exit with dignity and comfort, and it can be for weeks or even months. Our clientS, though terminally ill, still desire to remain as independent as possible and to ADVERTISEMENT The Best Quality & Service or Over 19 Years... ONLY AT THE SHIRT BOX The Shirt Box. Shirts And A Whole Lot More. Always 20%.- 35% Off Retail HOURS: Mon.-Sat. 9:30 - 6 • Thurs. till 7 Courtyard Center • 32500 Northwestern Hwy. • Farmington Hills, MI 48334 • (248) 851-6770 A DAVID ROSENMAN S AND alma PURCHASERS NEW & USED CAR BROKER 5/25 2001 86 Sales • Leasing • Buying (248) 851-CARS (248) 851-2277 Better Safe (1 Sorry! 2 Complete Show Rooms of Floor Safes, . Wall Safes, Gun Safes & Drop Safes. TL 15 & TL 30 Safes in Stock WE CAN PROTECT YOU! 248-858-7100 BTU 1991 ORCHARD LAKE RD SYLVAN LAKE, MI Mon, Toes, Thurs, Fri 9:00 -5:00 Wed 9:00 -2:00 • Sat 2:00 -5:00 Scott Lachman Lachman Earns Scholarship Scott Lachman of Farmington Hills has been awarded the second Jay Robinson Memorial Scholarship. Lachman, a sophomore at North Farmington High School, will use the $1,000 award to help defray the cost of the B'nai B'rith Youth Organization's three-week International Leadership Training Conference in Pennsylvania this sum- mer. Lachman has participated in the last three JCC Maccabi Youth Games in tennis and table tennis. He is a mem- ber of North Farmington's varsity ten- nis team, as well as school choirs and student council. He attends Shaarey Zedek Hebrew High School and has volunteered at Yad Ezra, the Salvation Army, American and Juvenile diabetes foun- dations, the American Cancer Society and the Day of Sharing carnival. Active in Jolson AZA, Lachman served as BBYO Youth Leadership Conclave coordinator. The Robinson Scholarship is award- ed in memory of Jay Robinson, who was active in the Maccabi Youth Games from 1982, when his son was on the Detroit team at the first games in Memphis, until the senior Robinson's death in 1998. Robinson was instrumental in the games being hosted in Detroit in 1984, 1990 and 1998. Robinson's widow, Barbara, chaired the scholarshgip committee. She said Lachman "embodied all the things Jay would have hoped that someone would get from the Maccabi experi- ence. "