Two natives of Grosse Ile, one of two small English speaking communities on the Magdalen Islands (a small 8-island archipelago belonging to Quebec that sits roughly halfway between Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island), feel strongly that family and community ties are essential to the survival of their close knit community.
Both Kim Clark and Kerry Dickson point to the availability of excellent home care resources through their local CLSC de l’Est (Quebec community health centres) as crucial services that enabled their parents to stay home at the end of their lives and just as importantly, allowed them to accompany their parents until their death. The picture opposite shows Kim’s father Byron and Kerry’s mother Irene.
With a population of about 400 (most are descendants of Irish and Scottish immigrants, and some can trace their heritage to shipwrecks or smallpox and cholera quarantines in the 1800s), Grosse Ile boasts one restaurant, one gas station, a depanneur and a combination primary and secondary school with a total of 36 pupils. Everybody knows everybody in Grosse Ile.
Kim Clark’s father, Byron Clark, was no exception. Byron was a larger-than-life character, not just in the town of Grosse Ile but throughout the Magdalen Islands. In addition to a 30-year career as a fishing officer, he founded and managed the Cap Dauphin Fisherman’s Cooperative, played the organ at Holy Trinity Church, served as Mayor, and owned and managed the only cinema in town. Described as a community-builder and self-taught history buff, he collected photographs and historical documents covering life in the Magdalen Islands from 1793 to 1900.
An authority on the islands, he authored eight books on local history and earned an award from the Quebec Anglophone Heritage Network in 2006. Byron Clark’s book “The Pictou-Magdalen Islands Run” is a fascinating history of the ships that crossed between Pictou Nova Scotia and the Magdalen Islands archipelago in the years 1874-1960.
After his diagnosis with an aggressive form of lung cancer, Byron Clark chose to stay at home for as long as possible. According to his daughter Kim, this was possible because of the home care he received from the CLSC team (physician, nurses, respiratory therapist) for the 4 months until his death. Kim, a full time teacher and only child, switched to part-time work and moved into her father’s house to look after him with the help of her husband. Homecare nurses came regularly (once a week), more often as needed (i.e., 4 times in one day to manage the complications of pneumonia), and daily for the last period of her father’s life. Byron never had to be taken to hospital. And for Kim, the relationship with the homecare nurses evolved from a nurse-client relationship into friendship.
“Without the support of the homecare nurses, my father could not have died at home. The care that he got was phenomenal. Whenever I felt there was a problem I would contact one of the homecare nurses, Lancy or Lysanne. They were wonderful. We had access to the homecare CLSC nurses and the homecare doctor.”
Kerry Dickson made a promise to keep his mother, Irene Dickson, in her home until the end. With the help of a caregiver subsidized by the local CLSC, as well as the home care team who visited as required, Kerry kept his promise. The caregiver stayed with Kerry’s mother on weekdays during the day so Kerry could continue working in his hairdressing salon. Kerry stayed with his mother overnight and on weekends.
“Having a caregiver made life so much easier. I was able to work and maintain parts of my life. Our caregiver was very responsible and mom liked her so we were very lucky… The homecare team were very, very good. My mom liked them all.. One of the nurses would come in and say, “Irene, it’s your favourite nurse here!” They always made it uplifting. It’s a small island- you either know them or know of them, or their aunts or uncles, so maybe that’s what makes it a more caring place.”
Kerry was able to work right up until the last few days his mother was alive. Kerry and their caregiver, Valerie, accompanied Irene until her death.
“Our caregiver Valerie was with us when my mother died. In the last few days Mom had problems with her breathing so Valerie would sit on the bed and put a pillow in front of her and lay mom back on the pillow so she could breathe better. That is how she died, in Valerie’s’ arms, and I was holding her hand talking with her. That’s how it was the last few days. I would come from work and I would hold her hand and tell her all the stories from my work like I always did after dinner. She couldn’t speak at that point but she would squeeze my hand. If had to do I all over again, I would.”
Just like Byron Clark, Irene Dickson was well known and well liked in Grosse Ile. Irene by all accounts was a hard-working and very capable person who could turn her hand to just about anything. She started as a school teacher in a one-room school, raised six children, ran a farm and various businesses, and was active in her church and her community her whole life, hosting ladies’ luncheons and heading up local concerts for charity. Described as “crafty” she turned out quilts, needlepoints and hooked rugs that decorate many homes on the Islands.
After Kerry’s mother died, his niece took his mother’s night dresses and made a colourful quilt in her memory.
Both Kim and Kerry agree that homecare made it possible to keep their loved ones at home and that if faced with a similar situation, they would chose the same path because the gift to die at home is a gift of love.
“The homecare doctor put it best when he said, ‘The gift to stay at home and to die at home with his loved ones surrounding him is the most loving gift you could give’. So if I had to do I all over again, I would do it in a heartbeat.”