Page 54 - Robeson Living Fall 2018

Harris family shares hospice story

By Roxana Ross

Harold Harris came to Southeastern Hospice House in an might want to avoid.
ambulance from Duke University Hospital, after being
told he would likely die in a couple of days or a couple of “I coded three times at Duke,” he said. “I just went down-
weeks. That was not what happened, however. hill. I had a feeding tube, dialysis, a tracheotomy. I had ev-
ery tube you can imagine. I was on the last form of life sup-
Almost two years to the day after he left Southeastern port at one point.”
Hospice House, after defying his prognosis and making
a miraculous turnaround, the 49-year-old and his family A bacterial infection and a hematoma complicated his prog-
visited the facility to talk about their experience and thank ress, and after a relapse while he was fighting the infection,
the staff who cared for them during that time. the medical professionals told the family that he was not
going to recover.
Harold came to the inpatient hospice facility after a se-
ries of medical problems over several months, which be- “Crazy things happened,” said his wife, Phoebe Harris. “Fi-
gan with a heart attack and bypass surgery. Now much nally, they made the decision there was nothing else to do.
recovered, though on disability because of lingering issues They’d done all they knew to do and so they sent us here.
with his heart, he has an irrepressible sense of humor as he The palliative care team talked to us about hospice, and we
talks about his medical journey. He grins as he tells stories decided this would be best for our family and our children.”
about how he beat the odds, and he seems to have taken a
real joy in being the most unconventional patient South- Once Harold arrived at Southeastern Hospice House, the
eastern Hospice House had likely ever seen, like when he couple gathered their five children together to pray and pre-
was doing doughnuts on a scooter outside or inviting a pare to likely say goodbye to their father.
church singing group for a mini concert in his room. He
cracks jokes almost nonstop about a subject some people “We brought them in to talk with them and told them what

Page 54 Robeson Living ~ Fall 2018