What My Hospice means is different to each individual and family we serve. For April McClure, it meant being able to help her mother find peace before she died. As Medicare’s first coordinated care model, we must protect the services provided for patients like April’s mother through the Medicare Hospice Benefit.

In 2009, April McClure received a phone call that her mother, Janet, was coughing up blood in the ER. They soon found out that Janet had stage four lung cancer, which rapidly spread to her breast, and then to her brain.

When the doctor’s suggested Janet move into hospice care, she was almost relieved. She needed to know the next plan, the next phase – she needed hospice.

Here is what April had to say about her mother’s time in hospice and what it meant to their family:

“Hospice was a blessing, it allowed mom to have a voice, find peace and understand more about the process of dying. Mom continued her courageous ways and acts of kindness.

During her final days she gathered the family and asked that we work together to provide gifts of comfort to hospice patients, making their lives feel as normal as possible, just like her experience.

To this day we work with hospice agencies to help terminally ill individuals do what matters to them like renew their vows, coordinate a holiday or celebratory meal, arrange spa and beauty services, and discover what is important for them.

With every gift of comfort delivered, we hope to empower a person to feel that they still have a voice. It’s about feeling valued, beautiful and connected to their loved ones and the outside world during a hard time.”

Janet Marie Archibald, April’s mother, died on July 20, 2001. After her passing, her family founded Janet’s Wish to provide services and items to individuals that are on hospice with terminal illness. Click here to learn more.

We invite you to keep promoting the power of hospice by joining the My Hospice campaign. Please consider sharing this post with your family and friends on Facebook and Twitter, or share your My Hospice story with us.