Janelle Thomas
May 2024
Janelle
Thomas
,
Registered Nurse
Aspirus Comfort Care and Hospice
Aspirus Home Health and Hospice
Wausau
,
WI
United States

 

 

 

Dad was gone, peacefully passing in his sleep. In the emotional and tumultuous moments that followed, Janelle did such a wonderful job of comforting us and allowing us whatever time we needed.
On January 12, my father was admitted to hospice and passed peacefully three weeks later. During this time, Jen Dixon was dad’s nurse case manager and was the main nurse during dad’s care. But on that final day, it was after hours and there had been some changes, so we put a call into hospice and the nurse on call returned this call quickly. My sibling answered the phone and Janelle answered all our questions, but then asked if we would like to have her here. My sibling and I were very torn because it was dark out, we live in Rhinelander and Janelle had to drive all the way up from Wausau. We were concerned for her safety and didn’t want to waste her time. Janelle told us that sometimes families want a nurse there and sometimes they don’t. We ultimately decided it would be best if she came, so an hour or so later, she was here. We chatted, expressed our concerns and told her about the changes we had noticed that day. At one point, we asked her what she thought about dad’s time left with us and she didn’t give a broad estimate as these things cannot be predicted. A few moments later, she was doing an assessment, some cares, and my sibling was helping her reposition dad as he did not look comfortable. During this time, dad’s breathing changed again and as he took an inhale, there was no exhale. There was no inhale after. Dad was gone, peacefully passing in his sleep. In the emotional and tumultuous moments that followed, Janelle did such a wonderful job of comforting us and allowing us whatever time we needed. She handled all the details so we could say our goodbyes. We shared jokes and stories of dad, laughed and cried. In hindsight, we were so grateful that Janelle gently offered her services and decided to drive up and see us. I have no words for the gratitude I feel and looking back at that moment, there’s no other way I would have had that play out. Having a nurse here made it so much less stressful and I know my family agrees. Again, thank you just does not seem like enough.