As many of you know some medicines that people take on a prescription basis effect the sense of taste and foods that once tasted wonderful no longer taste nearly as good.  Patient’s tell me their stories along this line quite frequently.  Recently a patient who was able to cease taking medicine because her illness was in remission suddenly had her sense of taste “return to normal”.  I saw her in the hallway and she gave me a big hug as she said, “I can taste chocolate cake again and it is heavenly!” I love being able to celebrate victories of recovery with those who I have know when their illness seemed like it had control of them.  This patient felt she had her life back partly because she could again enjoy her favorite food.  This brings me to a larger concept.  In many visits patients share with me “victories” they have achieved.  I respond with excitement to each one of them as a way to affirm the patient in the healing process.

Try offering affirmation in as many situations as you can. I think you will discover the joy I have found in being able to celebrate victories large and small in the lives of others!

Each week I call new patients who have been admitted to our Home Hospice Program.  Some desire me to come visit.  Others decline because they have their own spiritual leader making regular visits to the home.  The one response that is a component of every response is that they appreciate my inquiry into what their needs might be, and willingness to help in any way I can.

One way any of can achieve comfort is to know that there is someone to call if we need them.  These phone calls don’t take a large portion of my time but the comfort the provide is powerful to those who receive the calls.

I would love to hear examples of people you have called to offer support and what their response has been to your offer.  Please share your experiences!

Cell phones are one of most frequent items that family members have with them as they enter the hospital.  The advantage is it enables them to keep in contact with those people they want to inform about the patient’s status.  This is good because in many situations it can relieve anxiety.

Cell phones also can cause more anxiety.  When a patient is in a trauma situation many family members get emotionally worn out answering a high volume of calls and text messages inquiring about the patient status.  I had one incident where the family received a phone call from a friend extending sympathy for the patient’s death.  The family went over the edge because the hospital had not given the family that information.  I was with the family and they demanded an explanation from me about how someone not even in the building could know about the death and yet neither I or anyone else on the staff had told them about it.  I was stunned and excused myself for a moment.  I checked with the staff and discovered the patient was very much alive and the staff was not expecting that status to change.  I asked for permission to tell the family that after I told why I was inquiring.  I was told that of course I could relay the information.

When I told the family their patient was very much alive and the prognosis was that the patient was going to remain alive, they were in disbelief.  They could not imagine how the caller got the incorrect information about the patient’s status.  I was in the consult room when the family returned the call to report the patient was alive and asked the original caller why they thought the patient had died.  The answer as that they had driven by the crash site, and observed the crumpled condition of the vehicle and assumed the patient could not have survived the accident.

This post is my plea to anyone who calls a family to inquire about a patient’s status.  Please don’t make assumptions about what the status might be.  When family is present they are the first individuals to be informed of the patient’s status whether they survive or whether the accident has claimed their life.

To call and report conjecture as fact only inflicts more emotional turmoil on the family than they are already facing.  In a lot of cases I feel the family could have a less emotionally stressful time if they turned their cell phones off while waiting for the initial report following a patient arriving at the hospital in a trauma situation.  Unfortunately families resist being disconnected from their network of friends and relatives in these situations.  So because families want to be connected, please do not make their situation more stressful by presenting opinion as fact, it only compounds the the stress.

July 28 was an unusual day for me because I only saw four patients prior to lunch.  (The photo above is an image from internet I am using to represent a visit.)  The four visits I made all had the distinction that I had been personally requested to be there by the patient or a family member.  In each of these visits I had met the patient and family on previous admissions.  One of the visits had an urgent nature to it, but the other three were mainly fueled by the need to have someone familiar be with them to bring image to the fact that God is always with them.  Seeing the chaplain was a reminder of God’s presence even without my reading Scripture as is depicted in the picture.

I am glad that I am not forced to account for my time on a quantity of visits basis.  I can spend the needed time in visits based on the quality of pastoral care that is needed in that specific situation.  Those visits reminded me that while all visits have common components, the pastoral care I provide is individualized to meet the specific needs of the situation.  That is the same way God deals with us, he does not give all of us the same situation.  He is with is no matter what the situation is that we face.

In church this Sunday our pastor chose HOPE as the main theme for the service.  He asked what sounded like an easy question, “What gives you hope?”

As I thought about that question I realized for many people there are different ideas of what hope means.  I did an internet search on “images of hope” and found some images there that did not seem hopeful to me at all.  I guess that shows what is hopeful for one person is not necessarily so for another.  Not a bad learning to take away from an internet search.

The image I chose for this posting is obviously about healing from cancer.  It is a condition that continues to touch new people year after year.  We have made many strides in how we can effectively treat cancer.  Yet we also know that not every cancer patient becomes a cancer survivor.  So while it is fine to place hope in medicine and your provider, I see it is also important to have an eternal hope that will be of comfort even if you hear the devastating news that the medicine is not working on your particular cancer.

I encourage to find someone, whether they have an illness or are healthy and engage them in a conversation about what gives them hope and why it gives them hope.  My hunch is that both of you will find your spirits lifted as a result of the conversation.

I have missed several days of posts this month.  Today being Saturday I have not been at the hospital so I have no patient interactions to inspire me in a direction of what topic to write about.  Then on my Twitter account the International Spy Museum posted the picture above marking today as the 106th anniversary of the founding of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

As I studied this picture I thought of the agents who gave the ultimate price, their life, because they were killed in the line of duty.  Now serving in the FBI is prestigious so most family members are excited when one of their own makes through the intense screening process to be hired.  I expect that many new agents know there is a possibility of being killed in the line of duty but hope it won’t happen them.  I can imagine their loved ones by pointing out the odds are in their favor of being safe due to the many security precautions the agency utilizes to protect the agents.

What happens on that fateful day when the unfortunate agent loses his life in the line of duty?  How do the relatives involved react when they receive the news?  How does the loss of an agent affect the case that brought about the agent’s death?

These three questions all lead us to process emotions that would be involved this scenario.  Employees and family members could both benefit from having someone to discuss their emotions surrounding the loss.  Life can’t continue as it did before.  People will be searching for way to move on in life now that a precious person has been taken from them.  Chaplains can be that person to listen attentively without making judgments.  Chaplains can ask those they minister to what gives them hope and affirm the elements of hope that are identified.  Chaplains can help those they minister to decide what their next step is and remind them it is important to take each day one-at-a-time.

I have no idea how many agents have lost their life in the line of duty in the past 106 of the FBI’s history.  But I pray that the coworkers and families of those who have died were able to have the grace provided through the ministry of a chaplain.  Surely we can all agree suffering is something universal for all who have mourned the life of a fallen agent.  When we suffer having someone to make the journey with us is a gift that leads us to healing and wholeness.

The world has been consumed with the shock and sorrow of the Malaysian Airlines flight that was shot down over the Ukraine.  On the news tonight I saw this image of hearses lined up to receive the caskets of those killed in the plane wreckage.  Already knowing about the event I was surprised this image of the hearses moved me as much as it did.

This picture is one of many on the news that shows the pain caused when innocent people are caught in the cross fire of parties that are at war with each other.  I am sure their families are thinking, “This was not supposed to happen!”  I can relate to their feeling because the airplane they were flying on was not engaged in any military activity either passive (surveillance) or active (carrying weapons to fire) and yet it was a target just for being in the wrong airspace at the wrong time.

I hope those who mourn their loved ones can be comforted by their faith in this time of tragic shock.  I also hope something can be done to curb the recent escalation of violence in various areas of our world.

Today I worked with a family that had high anxiety as their loved one was rushed to an emergency procedure to save his life.  I was with them for over 2 hours.  Because of their anxiety they could have benefited from updates on the patient on a more timely basis than was provided.  Each time I noticed they were getting upset by not knowing I went to find out what information I could give them as an update.

What I did many would say was the heart of pastoral care: seeing the need and finding a way to meet it.  I also saw it as service recovery.  Our institution defines service recovery as providing a genuine apology for something that upsets the patient or family and then finding a way to make amends without accepting blame or passing the blame onto another individual or department.  In this encounter the family wanted information.  It did not matter to them who kept them informed as long as someone kept them informed.

So when no one else was fulfilling the role of providing the information they needed, I took steps to provide it for them.  The family may not remember my name in six months, but I know they will remember that the chaplain who was with them offered them information that achieved the goal of lowering their stress level.  For me, that is an excellent lasting memory to leave with anyone under my pastoral care ministry.

Recently I posted an entry on a Flea Market held at our church.  Today I found out that one of our active members who was at the Flea Market had a massive stroke and by noon she had died.  Being a chaplain I get many calls about patient deaths.  This particular call affected me differently than the others because I had a connection to the patient that existed prior to her hospital admission.

As I went through the emotions and thoughts of processing the knowledge of her death I realized that what I was experiencing at the moment was probably very similar to what friends and family members experience when I am dealing with them as a chaplain when a patient dead happens.  I learned about myself, I learned how unsettling the realization was momentarily that none of us knows that for sure we will have a tomorrow here on earth.  Then I reached into my faith beliefs.  My faith tells me that whether I die suddenly or with a lot of warning that death will come – I will move from earth to heaven to be with my Lord and God.  I am very thankful that I have that assurance.  It is particularly important when events like the sudden death yesterday come along and remind us in a profound way that our life on earth is only temporary whether than temporary period is 2 days or 95 years.

Today as I read the news I was reminded that 45 years ago today myself and almost everyone I knew were doing the same thing – we were watching the Apollo 11 as it performed its journey to the moon.  I watched it on CBS so my memories are filled with the wonderfully unique voice of Walter Cronkite.  Apollo 11 stands out to me as one of the human events that proves to us that if we apply ourselves we can accomplish any task.

So often when we fail our failure is not due the impossibility of the task it is due to doubt or failure to remain committed until the goal is reached.  Discouragement saps our energy and convinces us that we should move onto something else, preferably something we can accomplish more easily.  As I reflect on history some of the most wonderful and long lasting events hold their power because of high level of commitment it took for them to become reality.

This topic also has a direct implication for health care because many of the devices we use in treatment today were first developed for the space program.  Had they not been developed for that program, who knows when or if they ever would have been developed so we could use them to provide healing and comfort to people when they are ill.  Today is the anniversary of a significant day in history and for that I am thankful!