Islands Reflections: Healing Through Storytelling

Islands Reflections highlights the special memories and stories from our Islands Hospice O‘ahu and Maui teams, showcasing the meaningful moments that define our work. For eight months, Kristina K. has been an essential part of our O‘ahu team as an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN), managing patient’s symptoms and meeting with their families to explain hospice services.

Finding Strength in Vulnerability

As Kristina reviewed her palliative referrals, one stood out as likely being assigned to her: a young married woman with metastatic cancer who had two daughters, ages three and six. This struck a personal chord, as her husband’s first wife had passed away at 29 from metastatic colon cancer, leaving behind three young children. Feeling a wave of panic, Kristina wasn’t sure if she could take on this patient and contemplated having someone else help the family. However, a moment later, she heard, “This one is yours.”

“Then I felt something similar to an arm being wrapped around your shoulder, and a sense of calm came over me,” said Kristina. “While I was still nervous, I knew there was a reason I needed to provide care for this patient.”

When she met the patient, the woman and her husband asked Kristina and her colleague, Deborah, if they believed in God. In that moment, it felt right for Kristina to share her own story about her husband, his first wife, and their children. She opened up about her feelings and the conversation she had experienced earlier. The patient, slightly tearful, responded, “You talked to God.” 

“We went on to share a few more things about each other’s lives, and this patient and her husband have had a great and trusting relationship with us ever since,” said Kristina.

Blessings in Disguise

When work feels heavy with sensitive conversations and witnessing grief, Kristina strives to find the small blessings in each day. Recently, she spoke with a patient and his wife, helping him express his feelings of being a burden to his family. Together, they translated those feelings into words his wife could understand: he felt trapped in his body, reliant on others for everything, and had lost his sense of self and independence. Despite the heaviness of their situation, the patient’s smile and his tears of joy, alongside the tears of grief from his wife, told a profound story of love for one another.

“It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the continuous loss in this line of work and the challenges faced when providing care to those who sometimes resist it,” said Kristina. “However, it’s important to find the small blessings in the care we provide, as they help maintain a positive mentality.”