When V was admitted to the hospital, little did we realize the direction our lives were going to take. When discharged, it was suggested we might want to consider hospice services. After discussing our options, we decided to give hospice a try. V was a quiet, reserved person, not comfortable with strangers, and very independent. Then we met his hospice nurse, Darla Butikofer. The time she spent with V, with us, regarding V’s health concerns, medication options, and just his overall well-being put V at ease.

Darla never took V out of his comfort zone. She would talk things through with V, even though he may not have added much to the conversation. All decisions were left to V, to us. We did have other hospice nurses, and all were great, but Darla will always be the one I remember for her kindness, thoughtfulness, and caring way with V. She had a big impact on our lives.

On V’s last day, at 4 a.m., when all I wanted was to get help for V, I know I should have called for the hospice nurse on-call, but my first thought was that Darla would help me. She came, contacting the on-call nurse for me, and stayed with me until the other nurse arrived. Darla was there for us at the beginning of our journey and was there for us at the end.

Thank you, Darla!