In 2005 my father was diagnosed with ALS, a disabling disease that affects the central nervous system. My father was a fighter. Along with the support of family and doctors, he did everything in his power to combat this disease. This meant countless medications, treatments, herbal supplements, supports, and braces as ALS is an all-encompassing disease that spreads quickly and affects so many functions of the body. While these treatments were certainly beneficial, they also brought a great deal of extra inconvenience. Frequent trips to the pharmacy, doctor’s office, physical therapist and health store filled my family’s days. This meant less time with my father. Despite everything, my father’s condition continued to worsen.
At this point, we had hospice come in. I was amazed at what they offered; medications were brought to my father, nurses visited,treatments and supports were all delivered right to his home. This helped to ease the burden on our family as we could spend more time together and less time running out to pick up the supplies that my father depended on to improve the quality of his life. Unfortunately my father lost his battle to ALS in 2008. However, his last weeks of life were spent with his family, as they should have been. This raised the question in my mind, “Why should patients have to be suffering so much before receiving the quality of care that Hospice provided my father?” The answer…they shouldn’t! I have created RSL Medical Marketing in honor of my father and the thousands of patients and families who are battling disease or injury.
