Margie originally came into our lives as the hospice nurse assigned to my brother in 2014. He was placed on hospice care because of end-stage heart failure. She visited him weekly for over 20 months and became a friend as well as a caregiver, especially after our mom had major spine surgery and was no longer able to live in her condo with my brother. In July of 2015, Medicare determined that he no longer qualified for hospice because his heart failure was stabilized. I was with my brother when his doctor came to deliver the news that Medicare would not continue hospice because he "failed to die", as the doctor told us. Margie assisted with getting all the equipment we needed for him before signing off on his case. Although she was no longer caring for him, she stayed in touch with him until he passed away in May 2016.
Fast forward to February 2017 - our mom was diagnosed with metastatic cancer, primary site unknown, and given five to six months to live. At age 85, she opted for no treatment since there was minimal chance that she would achieve remission or better quality of life. She was put on hospice care immediately and was visited by the nurse once a week. Margie had since gone part-time and came to visit my mom one day because her assigned nurse was on vacation. Margie asked to be permanently assigned to my mom because of the relationship she had with our family. This made mom extremely happy, comfortable, and at peace to know that Margie would be a part of our lives again.
The day after Easter was a bad day for mom, she was in a lot of pain and wanted to go to the hospital. A call was placed to Margie and she was able to get different pain medication for her and came out to see her that same day even though it wasn't her regular day to visit. She arranged for a hospital bed and wheelchair for us to make it easier to take care of her. On Wednesday evening, we put mom on her new hospital bed and for the first time in weeks she was able to lie on her back without having a lot of pain. As the night went on, she became less responsive and never regained full consciousness.
Margie was never more than a phone call away and came to see her on Thursday and to prepare us for the next 24 hours. She stopped by to see mom midday Friday and was going to make one more patient visit before heading home for the rehearsal dinner for her niece's wedding. On Friday mom took her last breath, less than two hours after Margie left. We called Margie to let her know that mom had died. She came back to mom's after her last patient out in Orchard Farms and took care of all the arrangements, contacting the medical examiner and the funeral services to transport mom to St. Louis University School of Medicine because of her anatomical donation. We were more concerned that she was going to miss her niece's rehearsal than she was; never once did she appear rushed or upset to be with us.
Margie truly exemplifies the Mercy attributes. She has vibrancy, giving more of herself rather than just providing a service. Making it easy, she always knew what we needed and made sure that we had it sooner rather than later. She made it personal, she shared a big part of our lives while caring for our brother and brought it full circle when she got herself assigned as mom's hospice nurse. She was comprehensive, nothing fell through the cracks, she was always a step ahead and at the end, tied everything together which made it easier for us. Also, she was professional. She makes us proud to say, "Margie is a Mercy Nurse".