HEALTH & FITNESS
are giving
Ending Passages
Follow The Breath
Seminar emphasizes the role
and challenges of the caregiver.
Ruthan Brodsky
Left: Linda Kovan
Special to the Jewish News
W
of West Bloomfield,
Gentle Transitions,
e have more life transi-
tions in our 50s and 60s
and Diane
Ackerman of West
than most of us ever
Bloomfield, Regent
expected, explained cul-
tural observer and best-selling author
Gail Sheehy, the afternoon keynote
Street America
Below: Cindy Lucido
speaker at the 2010 Caring Coalition
Conference.
of St. Clair Shores
and Rose Fenster of
There was a standing-room-only in
Congregation Shaarey Zedek's main
sanctuary in Southfield March 11 as
Huntington Woods,
both with St. John
Hospice
Sheehy described her 17-year care-
giving journey with her husband and
their battle with his cancer.
Presented by the West
Bloomfield—based Jewish Hospice
& Chaplaincy Network and the
Caring Coalition, those attending the
conference listened while Sheehy
described her entrance into what
she calls the labyrinth of caregiving.
She was in her early 50s and her
husband, Clay Felker, founder of
Dr. Robert Levine, Ph.D., direc-
tor of the Southfield-based
Henry Ford Center for Integra-
tive Wellness, was very clear in
his morning presentation about
the importance of taking care of
yourself so you can take better
care of your patients. He empha-
sized the power of the mind and
how it can lead to limiting good
health or enhancing wellness by
increasing or reducing stress.
He then led the audience in two
breathing exercises to demon-
strate there
are ways to
release ten-
sion in the
body that can
take place at
your desk in
the office or
sitting in a
Dr. Robert Levine
waiting room
with Henry
with a patient.
Ford Center
Levine em-
for Integrative
phasized the
Wellness
importance
for each of us
to recognize our signals of stress
so we can make changes in our
thinking and know how to relax
our muscles.
New York magazine, was in his 60s
when they were
told he had can-
cer. Like most new
caregivers, she
thought the crisis
would resolve
itself in six months
or a year and their
life would go back to
Gail Sheehy
normal. As much as
,2-11
Florine Mark of Weight Watchers Group
occasional joy that accompany this
journey. As part of her mission to help
a generation navigate the emotional
and practical sides of the caregiver role,
Sheehy was recently appointed care-
she was with Jewish Hospice because
of its continued support as a resource
and for spiritual guidance with her
patients.
want it bad enough," was the mantra
of Florine Mark during her morning pre-
Chaplaincy Network. "There is more
that can be done. Hospice may not
have a cure, but it can create comfort
sentation at the 2010 Caring Coalition
Conference. President and board chair
of the Farmington Hills-based Weight
by bringing together an entire network
of people who are caring and compas-
Watchers Group, Mark centered her
remarks on caregivers and what they
need to do to take care of themselves.
giving ambassador for the American
Association of Retired People (AARP).
Her book, Passages in Caregiving:
them on unpredictable paths that were
very different for the couple, who were
be on shelves by May 1.
so accustomed to being in control.
Sheehy's Impact
sionate to patients and their families.
There is never a time to not make life
better."
"A labyrinth is unpredictable," says
Sheehy, just like the journey of the
Rita Winer of Oak Park, a nurse at Troy-
based Beaumont Hospice, was very
Freedman explained that Medicare
does cover hospice when there is a
caregiver. "Walking a labyrinth, just like
moved by Sheehy's presentation.
moving through the twists and turns of
long-term care for a loved one, requires
patience and faith."
"I am grateful that Ms. Sheehy spoke
about the burden of the in-between
generation of women who are working
medical diagnosis that a patient has six
months or less to live.
Just as she wrote in her history-
making books, Sheehy's introspective
commentary addressed the funda-
mental questions that apply to care-
giving and the emotions ranging from
fear and loneliness to despair and
50
March 25 • 2010
moms and caregivers for an elderly par-
ent or a spouse," Winer said. "Very few
people address the concerns and needs
of this group who are more numerous
than we see."
Winer also reported how impressed
Making Her Mark
"The worst words that we can hear
are, 'Sorry, there's nothing else we can
do,"' says Rabbi Bunny Freedman,
director of the Jewish Hospice &
she knew about life's
passages, she had no
idea that the next years
of her life with her husband would take
Turning Chaos into Confidence, should
recover after a few months in hospice,
we still follow the patient and their fam-
ily to provide services."
"Jewish Hospice is not governed by
Medicare rules," says Rabbi Freedman.
"We are a community-supported orga-
nization that provides support to Jews
in the metropolitan area during the last
part of their life. For example, someone
may call for our help before a patient
is eligible for Medicare. Even if they
"You can do anything you want if you
Many found her presentation inspira-
tional as she related her personal story
of how she went from an overweight
woman with low self-esteem to become
an active, healthy person who leads
one of this country's largest weight-loss
companies while learning to love and
respect herself and enjoy life.
She shared her morning routine in
which she looks at herself in the mirror
and says, "Florine, you have two choic-
es: to be happy or not to be happy.'
Then I ask myself, 'What can I do today
to make me happy?"