http://www.whotv.com
via CAAI News Media
Elizabeth Klinge Reporter
April 12, 2010
Moving to Des Moines twenty years ago, Darlene and Sears Son wished for a new life. They'd escaped war in their native countries of Vietnam and Cambodia. But ten years ago another battle began against the cancer invading Darlene's body.
"The nurse, right now, they come in every day," said Sears Son, sitting at his wife's bedside. Hospice of Central Iowa has been helping the family prepare for the end.
"Part of what the social worker does on the hospice team is explore what might give them joy or peace," said Debra Erickson with Hospice of Central Iowa. For Darlene, it was the family she'd left behind to come to the U.S.
Through donations, Hospice of Central Iowa is able to help some patients in need each year with a final wish -- an outing with loved ones or a visit to the coast. A trip for three from rural Cambodia was a first. Still, the trustees felt this wish was special, said Erickson.
"I was pretty confident we could make it work from the foundation stand point. With the visas and the embassy and everything, I was more concerned about that," she said.
They cautiously started contacting embassy officials explaining the urgency of the situation. Six weeks and countless emails later, the news of Darlene's lifetime arrived. Her husband printed out the approval papers to show her. "She never let them leave from her hand at all," he said.
"It felt like she was deteriorating. But when she heard her sisters were coming it was like a new life went into her, and she was able to smile, and laugh, and talk," said Sarah Son, Darlene's daughter.
The sisters arrived in late March for a three month stay. They say they are thankful and want to be with her until the last minute.
"Mom's been waking up at like two in the morning. So she wakes up her sisters, and sometimes I hear them talking about everything that went on when they had been growing up and cute stories," said Sarah Son. Stories that they say will now end with a wish come true.
For more information about donating to Hospice of Central Iowa's Quality of Life Foundation, go to www.HospiceofCentralIowa.org
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