Patient Story

Edith Balsly

"The family descended on her and she enjoyed every minute of it. Not many people can stage their own death and dying parties, but she did."

Edith holding her great, great granddaughter, Annabelle.

At 95, Edith Balsly still drove, took aerobics classes regularly, and played bridge four or five times a week.  She also loved a party.  For her 95^th birthday, 65 friends and relatives, some coming from as far away as Texas and Florida, joined her for a celebration at her Cincinnati-area church, followed by a family dinner.

"Mom loved celebrations! Anniversaries, birthdays, any excuse for a get-together! She was a people person," said her daughter, June Taylor.

Ten days after the birthday celebration, Edith was diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer. She accepted death just as she celebrated life, said June.

Her doctor suggested hospice care in her own home, and she didn't hesitate. Her husband, who had died 14 years earlier, had received hospice care, too. When she was being released from the hospital, the nurses tried to assure her she'd be fine, and "she said, ‘No, I'm going home to die and I'm okay with that and you should be too,' " June recalls.

The Hospice of Cincinnati team manager told Edith she could be reached within 15 minutes 24 hours a day. "It was very appreciated that we knew we could always reach her," said June. "They had the chaplain come, and the nurse came three times a week, and gave her medicine when she requested it so she could be pain-free.

"Mom called her friends to say her goodbyes," recalls June. "The family descended on her and she enjoyed every minute of it. Not many people can stage their own death and dying parties, but she did. She'd say, ‘Now today we're going to give away all the costume jewelry, the scarves, purses and even the cars.' She loved seeing us as the recipients of her lifelong generosity."

June said hospice care allowed her mother to live her last few weeks just as she wished - celebrating life.