As part of our training through the Reiki Training Program, it is recommended that as practitioners we volunteer for hospice care. Just a few short years ago I lost my father to Parkinson’s disease. This was a very difficult time for me, he lived on the Washington coast at the time and although he had an excellent care giver .. I was unable to visit him on a daily basis. As time progressed and his health declined I felt helpless in what I could do for him. I couldn’t take a way his pain or relieve his suffering, his mental and physical state only deteriorated and there wasn’t much else I could do but love him. When Eileen had mentioned the hospice volunteer program through Evergreen Hospital, I knew that it was my chance to help others. I may not be able to offer a cure for them or completely relieve their symptoms but what I can do is offer a nurturing touch of comfort and Reiki to calm and relax them during their time of pain and suffering.
Becoming a hospice volunteer begins with two referrals and I was fortunate to have my teacher Eileen and a dear friend do this for me (thank you Kit!). The next step is an interview with Criss East, the wonderful director and volunteer coordinator of Evergreen Health Hospice. This morning I braved traffic and terrential rain out to Kirkland for our meeting and made it there just in time for our interview. Criss was immediately warm and delightful, we sat together and she asked me several questions but mainly why did I want to volunteer? I explained to her of my process with my father, especially seeing caregivers who had given him such kind and compassionate care. I know in my heart of hearts that I am one of those caring souls who has the patience and understanding to help in this manner.
The next step in becoming a volunteer is that I have to have all my shots and immunizations current. I left the hospice building and made my way over to the main hospital through a maze of elevator and escalators until I finally located the Employee Health office. I was again greeted warmly and then issued a stack of paperwork and release forms for today’s shots. Last week I had visited my own doctor to receive a copy of my WA state record for the shots I had received. That flu shot I got in February? I assumed would be good for a year is only effective through the end of this September. In October I will have to return for flu shot “2015/2016”. I’m am embarrassed to say that the Tdap (Tetanus) that I got two years ago when I broke my thumb at the knife shop was the only other current immunization I had on my chart. Today I received the beginning series of Hepatitis B shots which will be a three shot series, a blood draw to test for Measles, Mumps, Rubella, Chicken Pox as well as a the first of a three step TB skin testing. Not to mention, a local and national background check and health screening which are all provided by Evergreen Hospital. I should be able to travel to any country after today! ;~)
After all the health and background screenings, in October I will complete three eight hour days of training. This will be a thorough educational process of what to expect while I’m with patients, how to handle anything that arises but mostly how do I provide them with the most respectful and appropriate care as a practitioner. After training has completed I go into a pool of Reiki practitioners and massage therapists who offer “comfort therapy” and will be emailed a list regularly of patients requesting this type of care.
I am ready for this journey. <3
“Death is nothing at all. It does not count. I have only slipped away into the next room. Nothing has happened. Everything remains exactly as it was. I am I, and you are you, and the old life that we lived so fondly together is untouched, unchanged. Whatever we were to each other, that we are still. Call me by the old familiar name. Speak of me in the easy way which you always used. Put no difference into your tone. Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow. Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes that we enjoyed together. Play, smile, think of me, pray for me. Let my name be ever the household word that it always was. Let it be spoken without an effort, without the ghost of a shadow upon it. Life means all that it ever meant. It is the same as it ever was. There is absolute and unbroken continuity. What is this death but a negligible accident? Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight? I am but waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very near, just round the corner. All is well. Nothing is hurt; nothing is lost. One brief moment and all will be as it was before. How we shall laugh at the trouble of parting when we meet again!”
― Henry Scott Holland, Death Is Nothing at All