About four years ago, 83-year-old Lake Park native JC McMullen, Sr. was diagnosed with liver cancer in the hospital. He had one singular focus: going home.
McMullen knew of Hospice from his experiences as a leader in the church when he would visit those receiving home hospice care.
The same day of his diagnosis, his family called Hospice of South Georgia (HOSG). After three months of hospice care, McMullen had improved so much that he no longer needed the services. However, this would not be his last encounter with HOSG.
In November 2021, McMullen’s blood pressure dropped to a very low level, and he was unable to communicate with his family. He describes that night in particular as one that made him realize he was getting close to the end of his journey.
A few hours after that scare, he got his wife and children in the room together and said, “Do yall have any opposition to me letting you call Hospice?”
Everyone was in agreement, so his wife called HOSG, and they came to the home the next day with equipment and machines in tow.
“The first few months were kind of rocky.” McMullen describes how his hospice care team made modifications to his medications in order to keep him as comfortable as possible.
Some days were better than others, but McMullen took it one day at a time and remained grateful for each passing day.
At one point, HOSG Case Manager Robyn Mosteiko-Jalbert and Social Worker Sherry Tierney recommended that McMullen and his wife get out of the house and have a beach vacation. McMullen was hesitant. “What am I going to do if I need you all?”
Robyn made arrangements for a hospice in Jacksonville, Florida, to be on standby in case the McMullens needed anything.
When they arrived back home from the trip, McMullen was grateful, but more than anything, glad to be home.
“The greatest blessing out of all of it is having an extended honeymoon with my wife and being able to enjoy my family and being able to talk and communicate.”
Each time he had a bad day, he wondered how much longer he would have with his family. He put his faith in God to determine that timeline.
“We’ll just leave it in His hands. As long as it’s intended to be, it will be.”
At the same time, McMullen credits his Hospice team for keeping him going.
“I would never have been here if it had not been for Hospice,” he says. “The comfort we’ve had of being able to know we’re going to be at home, and when one of those attacks come, I don’t have to go to an emergency room. That would make me just give up on life.”
The family says McMullen has received “A+” care and would recommend Hospice of South Georgia to anyone with a life-limiting illness.
“There is a misconception that hospice care is given only in the last days of a person’s life,” said Eli Metts, HOSG Nurse Practitioner. “The truth is, many patients find that they wish they had utilized hospice sooner, as McMullen has.”
Rather than looking at hospice care as an ending, McMullen views it as a blessing that has allowed him to remain comfortable and spend more time with his loved ones. “Not my last breath, but an extended breath to have comfort at home.”
To learn more about Hospice of South Georgia, visit https://hospiceofsouthgeorgia.org/.
