Boquete Health and Hospice

View this email in your browser Working together…….. Last September, BHH received a urgent call from a Boquete community member requesting help for a young man who had fallen from a construction site. The 23 year old had been in the hospital several months and had multiple surgeries but the doctors said he would never be able to walk or work again. The family did not have resources to buy any equipment, especially not a hospital bed which would be needed to help take care of him. Since BHH guidelines are for short term use of equipment, he did not meet those guidelines but we wanted to help. After many calls looking for any organizations that might be able to help with this need a call was made to Tom McCormack. The Tom and Linda McCormack Foundation brings containers of used medical equipment to Chiriquí several times per year. Tom was willing to designate a bed that would fit the needs of the patient but the container would not be arriving for several months. As with all request for beds, a home visit was made by a BHH nurse administrator a few days after the patient arrived home from the hospital. He was in a regular twin bed propped up as best as the family could do with blankets and a few pillows. He was able to move his arms and legs but not in a fashion to be able to help himself. His family was very attentive to helping but were already running out of supplies to clean his tracheotomy and needed diapers as well. Indeed the family needed both a bed and other equipment needs. After consulting with BHH board members a decision was reached to provide a hospital bed for this young man until the permanent bed from Tom McCormack could be received. While BHH does not provide diapers and other disposable goods, we did have some in the storage locker that had been donated. Those and other similar supplies were taken to the family and arrangements made to have a bed delivered to the home of his sister where he was staying, Fast forward to March 2019…. The bed from BHH was used for 4 months until the permanent one arrived and hospice has kept in touch with the family and were able to provide a walker for him a few months ago.He is now able to walk, though slowly, with the help of a walker, his arms and legs much strengthened and the tracheostomy removed. While he has not been able to return to work, the outlook for him is much brighter! It took many calls and many volunteers from BHH and other organizations to make this happen and we were glad to be a part. Volunteers in Training In April there were two training opportunities for our volunteers. Volunteers learned how to take apart, assemble and transport the hospital beds that we deliver to clients from our Equipment Loan program. There is also ongoing training of volunteers to learn current CPR methods. The goal for BHH is to train every restaurant employee, school employees and teachers, church members and every member of the community that wants to learn these life saving skills. Be watching for dates and location of these training sessions. Blood Drive Invitation Boquete Health and Hospice, in partnership with Hospital Regional and the Rotary Clubs, is hosting the FIRST EVER blood drive in this community on Saturday, June 15th from 7am-1pm at the Ruby McKenzie Center (a.k.a. the Animales Event Center). Please join us in supporting this event. A single blood donation can help 3-4 people regain their health. All blood donations deemed to be acceptable, will be banked as "credits" for future use by anyone in the community at no charge. Choose to make a difference by donating or volunteering and spreading the word about this life saving initiative. Our Mission Our mission is to provide palliative care for the terminally ill in order that they may experience death with dignity and limited pain; to inform and promote community health; and, to support people with health and wellness needs by providing information, equipment and volunteer services. To Make a Donation BHHF functions with donations provided by the community. If you are interested in supporting the work we do, please make a donation. To make a financial contribution by check or cash contact Merl Will-Wallace,our treasurer,at dharma49@icloud.com to arrange a time and place to pick up your donation. You can also click here to make an online Paypal donation. For more information visit our website: http://www.boquetehealth.org We also have a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/boqueteheartshandsandhelp/?ref=bookmarks Please Like our page and share the contents with your family and friends. Confidentiality All patient information shared with any Boquete Health and Hospice volunteer is kept in the strictest confidence. To Contact Us Hospice/Health: (507) 6781-9250 Blood Donor Program: (507)-6590-2000 Email: boquetehospice@gmail.com Email: boquetehealth@gmail.com

Boquete Health and Hospice presents this community education opportunity!

Watch for details about this exciting presentation!

View this email in your browser Welcome to the Class of 2019! In February thirteen new volunteers received training to become BHH volunteers. The training involved three days of presentations covering all of the aspects of being a volunteer for Boquete Health and Hospice. The training was planned, organized and administrated by the training committee chair, Beverly Stearns. We welcome our new volunteers: Lesley Hughes, Joan Feuerstein, Linda Archer, Carmen Restrepo, Luis Botero, Evie Jones, Newman Jones, Valerie Strahl, Sherry Shirritt, Loesje Sherwood, Susan Peterson, Anne Maxwell and Leslie Sherling. March Match Making Event Our March monthly meeting was a match making event for the new members to sign up for the volunteer activities they are interested in joining. The team leaders described the opportunities for volunteering with each team. The event was a great success with over forty people participating. Members were able to learn about all of the teams and some signed on to participate in more than one team. One of our new teams is the Ambassador Team headed by Dave and Erin Ross. Watch for updates on the activities of this team. Working Together for a Healthier and Happier Boquete Boquete Health and Hospice has a close relationship with Fundacion Pro Integracion (Handicap Foundation). Recently Fundacion Pro Integracion shared a story about one of their regular clients finally getting a shower finished so she could bath comfortably; however, she still needed a shower bench to facilitate her showers. Boquete Health and Hospice jumped in to donate a shower bench to Janeth and her husband Edwardo (seen sitting on the bath bench). This puts an exclamation mark on a long process to provide Janeth with some basic comforts so necessary for a handicapped individual. Our two organizations share numerous volunteers who help to meet many of the healthcare needs within the Panamanian community in Boquete. We are heartened by what we can accomplish together through cooperation, mutual volunteer support and, when a need is identified, financial support. One of the key leaders at Fundacion Pro Integration, Chuck High, helps out with technical advice and new member training at Boquete Health and Hospice. Also pictured is Sally Zigmond, who is a key member of our equipment services team at BHH and also is a regular, Saturday worker at the Handicap Foundation. Boquete Health and Hospice Foundation and Fundacion Pro Integracion, are proudly working together for a healthier and happier Boquete. Our Mission Our mission is to provide palliative care for the terminally ill in order that they may experience death with dignity and limited pain; to inform and promote community health; and, to support people with health and wellness needs by providing information, equipment and volunteer services. To Make a Donation BHHF functions with donations provided by the community. If you are interested in supporting the work we do, please make a donation. To make a financial contribution by check or cash contact Merl Will-Wallace,our treasurer,at dharma49@icloud.com to arrange a time and place to pick up your donation. You can also click here to make an online Paypal donation. For more information visit our website: http://www.boquetehealth.org We also have a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/boqueteheartshandsandhelp/?ref=bookmarks Please Like our page and share the contents with your family and friends. Confidentiality All patient information shared with any Boquete Health and Hospice volunteer is kept in the strictest confidence. To Contact Us Hospice/Health: (507) 6781-9250 Blood Donor Program: (507)-6590-2000 Email: boquetehospice@gmail.com Email: boquetehealth@gmail.com Copyright © 2019 Boquete Health and Hospice, All rights reserved. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

All of the available seats for the February 14th luncheon and presentation have been reserved. If you made a reservation and have not paid the $15 recommended donation, it is requested that you pay in advance at the Boquete Health and Hospice table in the Tuesday Market.

You are invited to attend!

What are you doing for February 14th? Hearts, candy, flowers, Valentines? Sure, share them over dinner. But for lunch, attend the BHH luncheon and presentation on medical marijuana. We all need to learn more. Boquete Health and Hospice hosts Dr. Rod Gottula, a U.S. practicing physician specializing in medical marijuana. MORE INFO TO COME! SAVE THE DATE - LUNCH on February 14 to learn about this timely topic. Volunteers Caring for Our Community www.boquetehealth.org

What is at the top of your New Year’s resolution list? How about BEING PREPARED? Come to the BHH presentation at BCP, Tuesday, Jan. 8th at 10:30. Learn things you can do to be prepared in Boquete. On Tuesday, Jan. 15th (same place and time), Juan Contreras, a local attorney, will present legal aspects of being prepared in Panama. Boquete Health and Hospice

View this email in your browser A Review of 2018 To Make a Donation BHHF functions with donations provided by the community. If you are interested in supporting the work we do, please make a donation. To make a financial contribution by check or cash contact Merl Will-Wallace,our treasurer,at dharma49@icloud.com to arrange a time and place to pick up your donation. You can also make a donation online on our website using the convenient Paypal button. Our Mission Our mission is to provide palliative care for the terminally ill in order that they may experience death with dignity; to inform and promote community health; and, to support people with health and wellness needs by providing information, equipment and volunteer services. For more information visit our website: http://www.boquetehealth.org We also have a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/boqueteheartshandsandhelp/?ref=bookmarks Please Like our page and Share the contents with your family and friends. Confidentiality All patient information shared with any Boquete Health and Hospice volunteer is kept in the strictest confidence. To Contact Us Hospice/Health: (507) 6781-9250 Blood Donor Program: (507)-6590-2000 Email: boquetehospice@gmail.com Email: boquetehealth@gmail.com Copyright © 2018 Boquete Health and Hospice, All rights reserved. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

Boquete Health and Hospice is grateful for all of the support we receive from our community!

See you at the Tuesday Market!

Look for us at the Tuesday Market!

View this email in your browser Hundreds Benefit from the 2018 Boquete Health Fair Stormy skies couldn’t stop the flow of Panamanians and Expats alike into the 2018 Boquete Health Fair, October 14, hosted by Boquete Health and Hospice. 25 vendors promoted their medical services to the crowd in an impressive array of videos, displays and signage. Looking around you could see lines of families at the laboratory tables, hospitals and at MINSA getting their fingers poked to test glucose; getting blood pressure tests; and receiving free vaccinations for flu, pneumonia and tetanus. What a day it was to visit doctors, clinics, hospitals, specialists, pharmacies and laboratories, without being sick - just like trick or treating - getting special offers and valuable information. Our sincere thanks extend to all who volunteered, all our vendors, and all who came to experience our second annual Boquete Health Fair. We learned a lot and look forward to start planning for our third annual event next year. To see more photos from the Health Fair go to our website: http://www.boquetehealth.org November is National Hospice and Palliative Care Month Our Palliative Care Program Boquete Health and Hospice started out as Boquete Hospice. Supporting people in the final phase of their lives was what we were about. Although we have expanded greatly since then hospice work is still the first love of many of our volunteers. We feel very privileged to be in your life at this most special time. The final stage of life is precious and natural. It can be beautiful and graceful. It is our goal to support individuals facing this final stage so that they and their loved ones can experience it with peace and dignity. We organize, teach and provide information and equipment. We do everything we can do to make the experience better. We work with the family (whoever is close to and supporting the person) in many ways. There are tasks we perform such as loaning equipment as needed e.g. hospital bed, bedside commode, wheel chair or oxygen concentrator. We can provide meals for the patient and caregiver, provide information about nursing staff for hire and/or teach the family to provide care. Our goal is the comfort of the client to support them in having the best quality care possible in the time remaining. We might be the ones the patient chooses to talk to about what they are experiencing. We are good listeners and will be there for patient, family and whoever needs us. Here in Panama there are many obstacles to the family experiencing their loved one’s death as a calm transition. Our goal is to smooth the way. We know about the system in Panama for final arrangements, the paper work and the various offices. We know who to call and what information is needed. We have Spanish speaking volunteers who can help navigate the system. At Boquete Health and Hospice we know that death is a normal part of living and we treat it as such. We know what support other people in this position have needed and what was helpful. The support we give is logistical, practical and straight from the heart. Book Corner A Year to Live by Stephen Levine How to Live This Year as If It Were Your Last What would YOU do if you knew you only had one year to live? Move to Tahiti? Quit any commitments? Have that 2nd piece of pie? During his years of hospice work, Stephen Levine has witnessed many on their deathbeds who have regrets of unresolved relationship issues, unfulfilled bucket lists, and words they wish they had said. Stephen challenged himself in a year-long experiment resulting in this practical and spiritual approach to life and death that will wake you up and make you think. “Most of us go to extraordinary lengths to ignore, laugh off, or deny the fact that we are going to die, but preparing for death is one of the most rational and rewarding acts of a lifetime.” This book is definitely worth your time to read. It takes us into the emotional side of our familiar “Being Prepared.” My major lessons learned are: The time is NOW to do your personal healing and healing with others. Take care of unfinished business before it’s too late. Pay attention to every moment – smell the roses – avoid distractions that don’t serve your Highest, Best Self. Examine your priorities and live a life fulfilled NOW. Stephen Levine is suggesting living a year with this intense, merciful awareness. He says that preparing for death allows us to enter into a new and vibrant relationship with life. This book offers a healing process with clarity, insight and closure. To Make a Donation BHHF functions with donations provided by the community. If you are interested in supporting the work we do, please make a donation. To make a financial contribution by check or cash contact Merl Will-Wallace, our treasurer, at dharma49@icloud.com to arrange a time and place to pick up your donation. Our Mission Our mission is to provide palliative care for the terminally ill in order that they may experience death with dignity; to inform and promote community health; and, to support people with health and wellness needs by providing information, equipment and volunteer services. For more information visit our website: http://www.boquetehealth.org We also have a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/boqueteheartshandsandhelp/?ref=bookmarks Please Like our page and Share the contents with your family and friends. Confidentiality All patient information shared with any Boquete Health and Hospice volunteer is kept in the strictest confidence. To Contact Us Hospice/Health: (507) 6781-9250 Blood Donor Program: (507)-6590-2000 Email: boquetehospice@gmail.com Email: boquetehealth@gmail.com Copyright © 2018 Boquete Health and Hospice, All rights reserved. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

Hundreds Benefit from the 2018 Boquete Health Fair Stormy skies couldn’t stop the flow of Panamanians and Expats alike into the 2018 Boquete Health Fair, October 14, hosted by Boquete Health and Hospice. 25 vendors promoted their medical services to the crowd in an impressive array of videos, displays and signage. Looking around you could see lines of families at the laboratory tables, hospitals and at MINSA getting their fingers poked to test glucose; getting blood pressure tests; and receiving free vaccinations for flu, pneumonia and tetanus. What a day it was to visit doctors, clinics, hospitals, specialists, pharmacies and laboratories, without being sick - just like trick or treating - getting special offers and valuable information. Our sincere thanks extend to all who volunteered, all our vendors, and all who came to experience our second annual Boquete Health Fair. We learned a lot and look forward to start planning for our third annual event next year. http://www.boquetehealth.org For more photos and information about Boquete Health and Hospice check out our website:

“COME SEE your MEDICAL OPTIONS - all in one place, coming to YOU¨ Boquete Heath Fair October 14 – 1 to 4 pm – Feria de las Flores y Café de Boquete https://youtu.be/XJzCKgyaCvM Hospital Chiriqui Centro Medico Mae Lewis HRRL - Hospital Regional Hospital Materno Infantil Jose D. De Obaldia Todo Salud de Panamá Centro Ortopédico Hospital Chiriqui Centro de Ultrasound Farmacias Revilla We Care Pharmacy (VA outreach) Ministerio de Salud (MINSA) Laboratorio Clinico Inmunotec Laboratorio Clinico Analytik Dra. Vanessa Lambiz Boquete Medical & Associates Opticentro Vega Dr. Teofilo Samudio Clinica Piel Sana Hear4U Happy Feet Fisioterapia Especializada y Rehabilitacion BANCO de SANGRE INSTITUCIONAL David Rotary - Hospital Regional Boquete Health & Hospice - Boquete Rotary CREATING HEALTH and WELLNESS Center Peter Holyk, Naturista (MD –USA) Rodny Direct Organica Store Ana´s Veggies Buenos Vecinos FPI – Fundación Pro-Intergración 911 Knit-Natters BOQUETE HEALTH and HOSPICE Life Support Equipment Loan Health Support and Hospice Services Blood Donor Program “Volunteers Caring For Our Community” boquetehealth.org

FREE / GRATIS Boquete Health Fair / Feria de la Salud Octubre 14, 2018 - 1 to 4 pm (Feria de las Flores y del Café de Boquete, Salon de Arco Iris) Link below for a “Quick Look” https:youtu.be/XJzCKgyaCvM https:youtu.be/m3wnl6UO-Fo Know your medical options!! Learn about a new blood donor program!! Boquete Health & Hospice’s mission is to support health in our community.

Know your medical options! Come to the Boquete Health Fair on October 14, at the Boquete Fair Grounds from 1:00 - 4:00 to meet doctors, specialists, representatives from clinics, hospitals, labs and more. Free testing is available for blood pressure and glucose. Boquete Health & Hospice's mission is to support health in our community. Click on the link below for more information: https://youtu.be/XJzCKgyaCvM https://youtu.be/XJzCKgyaCvM

A Big Thank You to the Boquete Community! Our latest Buenos Vecinos Food Drive in front of Romero’s Food Market in Boquete August 18th was a great success, thanks to generous community and even tourists who stopped by to learn more about our food charity and to donate cash and selected non-perishable food items. By the end of the day, BVB had collected enough to support one of our needy families for more than a year. We appreciate your big hearts! We want to also thank those Coconut Foundation Members who recently renewed their annual pledges to support BVB for a minimum of $360 a year. And hats off to N & N Catering (Nairn Cutten and Nancy Halbert) who donate the profits from their catering jobs to Buenos Vecinos. Their substantial donation means that our clients will continue to find BVB groceries at their door throughout the year. BVB could not exist without this kind of support. Thank you!

HOSPICE’S LIVING WILL WORKSHOP Due to an overwhelming response for the Living Will Workshop, we are closing the registration. There will be more workshops in the future. For any of you interested in this workshop who have never attended the “Being Prepared” presentation by Hospice, please do so. A Living Will is not a stand alone item. In Panama, it is so important that you know the entire picture of how you need to “be prepared”. At least as best as one can know . Panama has its own laws, customs and way of doing things. The legal paperwork you have in your country of origin does not supercede the way things are done here in Panama in relation to any property held in Panama. And if you are no longer able to make decisions for yourself, the laws and customs of Panama will govern as long as you remain in Panama. Watch for the Hospice “Being Prepared” presentation. Learn more about what you need to know and prepare for.

HOSPICE FORMS WORKSHOP: LIVING WILLS On Thursday, Sept.6, Hospice will present a workshop on filling out your “Being Prepared” forms, especially the Living Will. Workshop will be held at Animales from 9:30 am. – approximately 12:00 p.m. If you are finished prior to that time and have no more questions, feel free to leave. The Living Will is an important document explaining how you want to be treated should you become unable to make medical decisions for yourself. Do you want tube feeding or liquids? Do you want pain medication? The ramifications of these questions will be anwered so that you can make educated choices and decide what is important to you. Having others make those decisions may not be in your best interest and is not fair to those individuals having to make those decisions for you. Nurses and those in the psychology field will be available at the workshop to answer more personal questions. Please RSVP for your space. Nikki Steele #6341-9428 njspanama@yahoo.com