On Saturday, August 12, 2017, 284 women gathered to swim across Cayuga Lake (a distance of 1.2 miles). They were escorted by 150 boaters in kayaks, canoes, stand-up paddleboards and powerboats. And they were supported on shore by 130 volunteers who helped out at Cass Park, the Ithaca Yacht Club, the swim entry on the…
The 14th Annual Women Swimmin’ for Hospicare is August 12, 2017. An important protocol for our Women Swimmin’ event is that no swimmer should be alone as she crosses Cayuga Lake. This is also a mantra for hospice care. Our staff and volunteers work together, as a team, to care for and support our patients and their families. Your support of Women Swimmin’ for Hospicare makes that possible.
Hospicare is excited to join with Ithaca’s Hangar Theatre to celebrate the world premiere of Dégagé (Disengage) by Mimi Quillin. Based on Mimi’s own experience, this is the story of a former dancer who becomes artist-in-residence at a hospice residence. There she learns what it means to live life fully until the very end. Dégagé will run at the Hangar July 20-29, with a special talk-back session after the performance on July 25, 2017.
Linda Haylor Mikula, former Hospicare Board member and current Women Swimmin’ committee member, sees the deep connections between Hospicare and our community as something very special. Linda’s appreciation for Hospicare’s work in the community has led her to contribute to our mission in many irreplaceable ways. “It’s hard to say ‘no’ to Hospicare,” Linda says.
by Dr. Pat Hayes Home is where my heart is. When I’m home, I’m comfortable. I get satisfaction out of sitting in my favorite chair, looking out the window at my backyard, even eating off the plates my wife picked out. I imagine if I were dealing with a terminal illness, little things like that…
“Facing the end of life takes courage, perhaps especially for the family members of patients,” says Pamela Goddard, Hospicare volunteer. “Facing that approaching loss is a difficult thing. But, we don’t have to face it alone. This is the real gift of hospice services—support for both patients and their family members at every step of…
Each year, on an evening in early June, the gardens of the Nina K. Miller Hospicare Center on Ithaca’s South Hill glow with light. Visitors stroll our garden paths, which are lined with 300 luminarias, many dedicated to someone who has died. At the end of the evening a lighted canoe glides across our pond…
The Dryden Barber Shop has been in business 30 years, and Sylvia Short, the shop’s owner, wanted to throw an anniversary party. In keeping with the shop’s tenth, twentieth and twenty-fifth anniversaries, this party would be a fundraiser for a charity, but which one? “I thought, everyone loves Hospicare,” she says. “There’s not one person…
At dawn on Saturday, August 12, 2017 more than 300 women will swim 1.2 miles across Cayuga Lake for Women Swimmin’ for Hospicare. Women Swimmin’ is a community swim—not a race—that raises money in support of Hospicare & Palliative Care Services. Registration for this community swim opens Monday, May 1 at 6:00 a.m.
Advance directives provide a road map to future healthcare and are important documents everyone should have. They can include a healthcare proxy (someone you designate to make decisions about your healthcare if you are incapacitated); a living will (guidelines about the type of care you want or do not want); and a Medical Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment (MOLST) form (a document signed by your doctor outlining the type of care you want and who can make decisions for you). But how do you make the important decisions necessary to fill out these forms? The following are some suggestions you may find helpful as you think about your own advance directives.