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Providing above-and-beyond service
for loved ones in need
UB staff member Marian Felschow says Hospice Buffalo provided services that she didn’t expect. Photo: DOUGLAS LEVERE
Marian Felschow, a secretary in University Facilities, was aware of Hospice care well before two of her family members became terminally ill, but she had no idea of the depth of care the agency provided until she was personally involved.
“Hospice did everything for us,” she says. “Even things we didn’t even think of.”
In 2002, Felschow’s mother-in-law was diagnosed with advanced colon cancer. She reacted poorly to her initial round of chemotherapy and subsequently refused further treatments.
“The hospital staff recommended Hospice, first in the hospital itself, then later as part of my mother-in-law’s home care,” says Felschow.
She says Hospice had a constant presence in her mother-in-law’s care, even sending aides late at night to deliver new pain-management medications.
“Many of the things Hospice provided I expected,” she says. “But they were even there for things I didn’t expect.”
Hospice offered grief counseling after Felschow’s mother-in-law died. The agency also worked quickly to reorganize the home from how it had been set up for her mother-in-law’s care.
“When I look back, I realize that Hospice provided everything we could have asked for,” she says.
Nine years later, Felschow again saw the well-coordinated and compassionate care Hospice provides. In 2011, Felschow’s mother stopped her dialysis treatment after being diagnosed with bone cancer.
“Her doctors said she would live only two weeks without dialysis,” says Felschow. “They recommended Hospice, and from my previous experience with my mother-in-law, I knew that my mother was in the best hands.”
Felschow says her mother never left the hospital and, in a sense, Hospice never left her mother’s side.
“They were there for us,” she says. “And they were there for my mother when we couldn’t be. I can’t say enough about the organization.”
A donation to the UB Employees Campaign for the Community will help Hospice to continue serving families like Felschow’s from across the community.
The campaign allows UB faculty and staff to contribute to any of more than 600 health, human service, educational, environmental and cultural organizations. Employees can:
- Make a donation by Nov. 20 either online or with a paper pledge form, also available on the campaign’s website, to qualify for the Nov. 21 drawing for a free Nook.
- Read more about the impact of their gift.
- Read personal stories about fellow UB employees who have been helped by the campaign.
- Check out the campaign scorecard showing the progress of each unit.
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