One Man’s Journey
When Franklin Wyman thought about how he wanted to die, he chose hospice.
BY LINDA KESLAR // PHOTOGRAPHS BY ANNABEL CLARK // SPRING 2007
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Like growing numbers of hospice believers, Franklin Wyman wanted to spend his final months away from the “lifesaving” interventions of hospitals.
(Annabel Clark for Proto)
The promise of hospice: to live out your days as you choose, with the support you need—in Wyman’s case, from a bevy of family members and Angela Twohig, his private-duty nurse, who is with him 12 hours a day, five days a week; she massages his arthritic ankles, cooks his meals and helps him dress.
(Annabel Clark for Proto)
Being with his wife, Ruth, was a chief reason Wyman opted for hospice.
(Annabel Clark for Proto)
The couple's daughter, Janet Coleman, often looks over her dad's shoulder as he pays bills online and checks e-mail.
(Annabel Clark for Proto)
Beth Damsky, a social worker, stops by once a week to make sure he's getting the services he needs.
(Annabel Clark for Proto)
Hospice nurse Christine LaRoche, in weekly visits, practices high-touch, low-tech medicine, checking Wyman’s vital signs and assessing whether his prescribed medications are having the desired effect, keeping him alert but in minimal pain.
(Annabel Clark for Proto)
Hospice nurse Christine LaRoche, in weekly visits, practices high-touch, low-tech medicine, checking Wyman’s vital signs and assessing whether his prescribed medications are having the desired effect, keeping him alert but in minimal pain.
(Annabel Clark for Proto)
Hospice nurse Christine LaRoche, in weekly visits, practices high-touch, low-tech medicine, checking Wyman’s vital signs and assessing whether his prescribed medications are having the desired effect, keeping him alert but in minimal pain.
(Annabel Clark for Proto)
