Page 86 - South Mississippi Living - November, 2015

GOLDEN YEARS care with compassion
MeaningTful Moments
One size care does not fit all at Canon Hospice
story by Alyce Leard and photos by Teddy Lewis
here is no “one-size-fits-all” stories of an exciting and somewhat story of hospice. The types unconventional life, still unfolding. of care hospice provides Rush’s life began with medical
are as unique as the lives it challenges. Born with Crouzon touches. Syndrome, a rare genetic defect
Just ask Katherine Rush, who causing deformity of the skull and
86 SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living • November 2015
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became a patient at Canon Hospice’s in-patient unit in Gulfport after she was hospitalized with inoperable colon cancer. While she was familiar with the hospice care of a neighbor and accepted Dr. Hightower’s recommendation to enroll, it came
as a surprise when Canon’s nursing staff and administrator befriended her and took such an interest in her care. While she was expected to survive
no more than a week or two, she
has now been in hospice care for a couple of months. She’s cheerful and witty, well-informed about politics and current events, and loves telling
facial bones, she was a medical marvel of the time, one of the first children in Mississippi to successfully undergo an innovative surgical technique to correct the condition. Perhaps it was a portent of things to come.
Rush’s appetite for knowledge
and adventurous spirit was evident, as she recalls at age 5 going to the front porch with her father to watch tornados overhead near their home. Later in life, this mother of two sang and toured with the award- winning Mississippi Mass Choir for more than 17 years. She attended