This is an open letter to Home Care Yukon and the doctors who looked after my wife during the last days, weeks and months of her life.
From the bottom of my heart I want to thank all those people who work at Home Care Yukon: the nurses, the home support people, social services and the doctors who supervised Joy’s care.
My wife Joy just passed away on Sunday Sept. 10. I am so thankful that she passed peacefully while sleeping. In the days weeks and months before her passing, as her health declined, the people at Home Care kept increasing its support for me. I kept Joy at home and Home Care, and the home support workers would visit every day.
We don’t realize how lucky we are here in Yukon to have such services and from such wonderful caring people. I cannot put into words how much it meant to my wife, how she would perk up and be happy and smile and talk and even joke during the visits. These are times that I will remember. And when she became too ill to do that I could see in her face that she still loved the visits. It tore away at my heart to see her decline, but these wonderful people were there to support me as well and I am forever grateful.
The most important thing to the doctors, the nurses at Home Care and the support workers was that Joy remained comfortable, that there was no pain, that her personal care was looked after and that she could enjoy their visits. The help to me was immeasurable — it made it possible in the most difficult of times to keep my love with me rather than at the hospital.
Who ever heard of doctors doing house calls, and answering their phones at all hours of the day and night? Well, the doctors looking after Joy did just that and much more. People down south couldn’t believe the care Joy was getting.
Thank you to Dr. Kanachowski and Dr. Biss: you were there to guide me through this time and to make sure Joy was comfortable and I need you to know how much it means to me that you were there when Joy and I needed you.
Thank you as well to the nurses, Margie, Emilly, Sam, Erin, Jessika, Beth, Holly, Heather, to Jenny the social worker (who was so much more than that) and Jose the physiotherapist. And to the home support people: Rita, Jan, Glenda, Jose, Bony, Gladice, Samantha and Sol.
And to anyone that I may have missed, I am truly sorry.
Simple words cannot express how important you are. Thank you so much!
Rick Karp
Whitehorse