Pat Sterling’s story, as told to Mary Zahner Bauer, Director of Donor Relations.
Duane died in January. He was diagnosed in 2015 with multiple myeloma, which is cancer of the white blood cells. We were told it wasn’t curable, but treatable. He went through chemotherapy and it went pretty well. He also had a stem cell transplant, which put him into remission for five years. Unfortunately, the cancer came back in 2022. We had our treatment plan ready to go — he was going to try everything he could to stay with me as long as he could.
But things didn’t go as planned. The day after his first chemo treatment, Duane had a terrible fall while we were out running errands. I didn’t see him fall, but I heard him yell.
While he was at the hospital, his organs began shutting down. The hospital told us there was nothing they could do and that we needed to find a place for him to go. We were at a loss. I couldn’t take care of him at home, and he couldn’t stay at the hospital. Everywhere we called, we were told “no.”
Thankfully, multiple friends of my daughter Tiffany recommended Kansas City Hospice HouseTM. They said, “yes.” It was a complete relief. Kansas City Hospice House was a comforting and compassionate experience during one of the most difficult times in our lives.
Duane was honored with a Veteran’s ceremony where they presented us with a heart-shaped pillow and a crocheted red, white and blue blanket for his bed. The staff even helped us celebrate his birthday. He was there for only six days, but they respected and treated him as if he was the most important person in the building.
