Angelus News | July 19-26, 2019 | Vol. 4 No. 26
A 12th-century Byzantine mosaic depicts the Gospel story of Jairus asking Jesus to heal his dying 12-year-old daughter. For two millennia, the Catholic Church has been in the business of treating spiritual ailments — but that doesn’t mean it’s ignored people’s physical ailments. In fact, the world has Christianity and its founder to thank for some of the foundational principles of modern medicine. On Page 10, contributing editor Mike Aquilina tells the story of how the countercultural beliefs of early Christians led to one of society’s greatest inventions, the hospital. On Page 14, Angelus’ R.W. Dellinger tells the story of how a home hospice nurse is living out Jesus’ healing imperative by accompanying patients in their final moments.
A 12th-century Byzantine mosaic depicts the Gospel story of Jairus asking Jesus to heal his dying 12-year-old daughter. For two millennia, the Catholic Church has been in the business of treating spiritual ailments — but that doesn’t mean it’s ignored people’s physical ailments. In fact, the world has Christianity and its founder to thank for some of the foundational principles of modern medicine. On Page 10, contributing editor Mike Aquilina tells the story of how the countercultural beliefs of early Christians led to one of society’s greatest inventions, the hospital. On Page 14, Angelus’ R.W. Dellinger tells the story of how a home hospice nurse is living out Jesus’ healing imperative by accompanying patients in their final moments.
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Compassion with confidence<br />
A Catholic hospital network of specially trained nurses brings more than<br />
medical care to patients who choose to spend their final moments at home<br />
R.W. DELLINGER<br />
BY R.W. DELLINGER / ANGELUS<br />
Standing in a closet-sized room in an Encino apartment<br />
on a recent Thursday morning, Tom Doyle<br />
was bent over his 72-year-old dying patient trying to<br />
get a blood pressure reading.<br />
The hospice nurse wasn’t having much luck. Ronald<br />
Lavery was unconscious, eyes closed, and head turned to<br />
the left, lying under a green sheet that only covered half<br />
his chest. Standing nearby was Lavery’s wife of 42 years,<br />
Gwendolyn, or “Gwen,” donning a khaki floppy hat pulled<br />
down over her forehead.<br />
Doyle was wearing a short-sleeve medical top over matching<br />
pants. His glasses slid down a bit as he worked. His hair was<br />
short and gray, but he still looked younger than his 59 years.<br />
The cramped, stuffy room was filled with noise coming<br />
from the oxygen concentration machine, which sounded<br />
like an old lawnmower. A tube connected it to the tracheotomy<br />
in the patient’s neck.<br />
Gwen showed Doyle a notebook filled with meticulous<br />
notes full of written-down times, numbers, and comments.<br />
“So this is what happened, Tom, overnight,” she said.<br />
14 • ANGELUS • <strong>July</strong> <strong>19</strong>-<strong>26</strong>, 20<strong>19</strong>
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