To Make Thanksgiving Dressing One More Time

Our stories about meaningful experiences are written as they unfold. Therefore, most stories are in the present tense. Some of the patients in these stories are no longer with us. They, and their families, gave us permission to share their experience with you. For those who have since passed, we share these in their memories with deep appreciation for what they have taught us about life and living.

LeAndra Sullivan, 57, a bubbly, irrepressible optimist with a heart of gold, refused to let cancer keep her from living. In fact, that’s why she chose hospice care—she had too much left to do, and she needed help making sure she could do it.

Junie Barclay, her primary hospice nurse, also full of spirit, was the perfect partner in crime for LeAndra.

“The first few times Junie was here, we cried together,” LeAndra told us. “But on that third visit, we both said, ‘That’s enough. Now we’re going to laugh.’ And we did! We’ve laughed and laughed together.”

They also planned. LeAndra came home from the hospital with hospice on October 28, 2014. On her first visit with LeAndra, Junie asked what was most important to her.
“I want to be here, at home, enjoying the little things,” LeAndra told her. “I want to spend time with my grandbaby, Blane, because he is my light.”

Then she added a milestone she wanted to meet–her bucket-list wish: be alive and at home at Thanksgiving, and be well enough to make her beloved dressing one more time, so Karen, her daughter, could learn to make it herself.

“Hers is better than anyone’s,” says Karen. “I wanted her to make it and I wanted to watch, write down the ingredients, and learn.”

Junie immediately worked with LeAndra and Karen to develop a plan of care centered on helping her meet her goals. They plotted out what had to happen in order for LeAndra, who was mostly bedbound, to be able to sit or stand at a kitchen counter long enough to make the dressing.

It would be a challenge. LeAndra’s cancer had metastasized to several parts of her body. Massive pain crippled her, and she had been in a coma for months after having a bad response to chemotherapy treatments.
“We had to get her pain under control, re-educate LeAndra and Karen on how to take the medications, and develop enough strength and good body mechanics for her to be able to leave the bed,” says Junie.

The Hospice Care Plus team scheduled extra visits to give their plan the best chance of working in time for Thanksgiving. Within a few weeks, they had success. On Thanksgiving Day, using a special chair that helped lift LeAndra to the counter, she made the dressing one last time, with Karen at her side.

Passing on the traditional dressing recipe to her daughter meant the world to LeAndra.

“We had the most beautiful day I’ve ever had in my life that Thanksgiving,” LeAndra said.

LeAndra died on March 15, 2015, after a five-year battle with cancer and five wonderful months at home with hospice care. Her daughter, Karen, has so many memories from her mom’s time at home—memories that will be especially poignant each Thanksgiving, when she makes her mother’s dressing.

“Leandra had the best outlook on life,” says Junie. “She was full of life and determined to live it—truly live it—until her last breath. I’m very proud to have been a part of that.”

How can you honor life during National Hospice & Palliative Care Month? Visit the #WeHonorLife campaign page to learn about all the ways you can help, from volunteering and shopping to helping us increase access to specialized care for the seriously ill and their families. Questions? Contact us at hospice@hospicecp.org or 859-986-1500 or visit our website.