This week Deb Braithwaite ends a 34-year calling at Victoria Hospice.

The Oak Bay woman trained as a family physician and had plans with a friend, in Calgary where they graduated, to open a practice together.

She didnB次元官网网址檛 realize immediately that an opportunity to work a couple of half days a week at the nearly new Victoria Hospice would derail that plan for one more rewarding. Braithwaite did recognize quickly that palliative medicine was something she still needed to learn.

B次元官网网址淭here was nothing in my training to prepare me for that,B次元官网网址� she said. Every year she worked a little more, learned a little more and by her fifth year, Braithwaite realized palliative medicine was her calling.

B次元官网网址淚t was challenging but it is commensurately rewarding,B次元官网网址� Braithwaite says. As expected, end of life care can be intense, and each individual has different needs, both medically and personally.

B次元官网网址淎ll of them have limited prognosis and you canB次元官网网址檛 have an impact on that,B次元官网网址� she says. However, the impact on quality of life can be significant, controlling symptoms in a way that helps a patient and their loved ones.

B次元官网网址淓very day you can wake up and know that you have a possibility to change a life,B次元官网网址� Braithwaite says.

Then there are the people, others called to work with the dying.

B次元官网网址淵our colleagues turn out to be a really positive part of work,B次元官网网址� Braithwaite says. B次元官网网址淭heyB次元官网网址檙e such an interesting collection of human beings.B次元官网网址�

The patients too are a perk of the job. While patient encounters are not really always great, B次元官网网址渨here you failed taught you and spurred you on to improve,B次元官网网址� she says.

B次元官网网址淚t can be a real time of growth and closing circles. It can also be a time of great hardship and sadness and sorrow and chaos.B次元官网网址� The challenge is to bring the appropriate amount of time and energy to each situation B次元官网网址� there is no forumla for death.

ThatB次元官网网址檚 a highlight of three decades of working in a growing field, watching it grow and become part of mainstream medicine.

B次元官网网址淚 started when palliative care in Canada was such a small part of medicine,B次元官网网址� she says. B次元官网网址淲e started off as a small group of determined people who really wished to change the way end of life care was delivered.B次元官网网址�

That parlayed to opportunity to write, publish and teach while feeling your influence and impact on the discipline as it developed. When she started, Victoria Hospice was the third in Canada and has had to grow and reinvent itself to remain relevant to the community and patient needs. Those early years they swiped ideas from the UK, which was ahead of the curve in the field, figuring it out on the fly.

She knew they were there during the 2001 Canadian Palliative Care Association congress held in Victoria. SheB次元官网网址檇 admittedly developed a habit of seeing palliative as small and outside mainstream. Then she walked in to 2,000 delegates and came to the B次元官网网址渨onderful and somewhat shocking realizationB次元官网网址� she was wrong.

Just over half funded by private donations, while it may not be the preferred formula of funding, it does indicate a level of success, Braithwaite says.

B次元官网网址淚 do recognize it as a sign, you know youB次元官网网址檙e meeting the needs of the community,B次元官网网址� she says.

Listening at the end of someoneB次元官网网址檚 life to the things theyB次元官网网址檙e happy they did or moments they regret does had an affect in every area of her life, Braithwaite says, right down to her two chldren and her partner in retirement.

B次元官网网址淚t does change the way you think about how you might live your own life,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淚 think itB次元官网网址檚 made them realistic about life and death and made them more passionate.B次元官网网址�

She plans to spend more time with son , and her daughter Jackie Bjornert, son-in-law Pelle and grandson B次元官网网址渢he divine CharlieB次元官网网址�.

B次元官网网址淚 do look forward to spending time with family. ItB次元官网网址檚 going to be interesting,B次元官网网址� she says. Bjornert is a photographer, while Prewett is Juno-nominated drummer with technical death metal band Archspire.

She also met lifelong volunteer Andy Wooldridge at Victoria Hospice in 2001. They married in 2004.

While they may have roles at the ready for retirement, plans are few and fluid.

B次元官网网址淢y experience in life is if I left area unscheduled good things could flow into those areas,B次元官网网址� she says, expecting that opportunities will present themselves. B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e going to watch the tide go out and see whatB次元官网网址檚 on shore.B次元官网网址�

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