In the spring of 2011, 29 year old Kyle Sutherland noticed a small “bump” low on his left jaw. The Arizona State University graduate was a robust athlete—golf high on his regimen of sports activities—and taking courses to prepare for nursing school.
A visit to his dentist suggested nothing amiss, although he began to experience discomforting pain in his left shoulder, back, and hip. As these symptoms became more acute, in early May Kyle’s physician ordered an MRI. The resulting diagnosis was shocking; osteo sarcoma, a malignant cancer, that would require extensive surgery and many rounds of chemotherapy and radiation.
On the advice of his physician and with the support of his parents, Alta Sierra residents Dan and Debe Wilson, Kyle sought treatment from specialists in Seattle. Once there, following days of testing, the family was informed that Kyle’s cancer had metastasized to his femur, lungs, shoulder, and spine. The new diagnosis—active renal cell, Stage IV cancer—was devastating. Accompanied by his mother, Kyle returned to Arizona for treatment. By August 2011, the spinal tumors were causing severe pain and reducing Kyle’s mobility. Without surgery, Kyle would soon be paralyzed and unable to walk. For this former athlete, independence was essential to his quality of life and dignity.
Following his back surgery, Kyle’s mother Debe traveled between Grass Valley and Scotsdale, AZ overseeing the increasingly complicated care of her son. After months of this back and forth, Kyle agreed to move to his parents’ home in Alta Sierra. “He knew then,” Debe said, “that he would never go back to Arizona.”
One rainy day in February when he was admitted to Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital, his local physician, Dr. William Newsom, encouraged Kyle and his family to include the professional care team at Hospice of the Foothills in his plan of care. Soon thereafter, Kyle began receiving hospice care at home until the round-the-clock professional care available in the Compassionate Care Home was needed.
“He felt really safe here,” Debe said, her glance taking in the Compassionate Care Home. “He knew his needs were being attended to; his pain was being managed and he was receiving emotional support. Kyle bonded with his caregivers and the staff. Katherine and Brad were among his favorites. Kyle was a talker and Katherine took time to listen. Kyle loved music and Brad came in frequently to play the guitar and visit.” Kyle’s Pomeranian, Cocoa, and Debe were a constant presence at his bedside, reassuring Kyle that he was not alone.
In the serenity and security of the Compassionate Care Home, Debe and her son talked and talked; they talked about how he would have loved to have had time enough to be a father and about life before, life during, and what after life might be. Debe treasures these intimate hours with Kyle and is grateful for the comforting environment of the Home that made them possible.
Kyle passed away on April 1, 2012. In the preceding several days family members, friends, and loved ones had come to say
goodbye. But late that evening, it was just mother and son. “We started his life together,” Debe whispered, “and we ended it together.”
In the following weeks, numerous gifts in Kyle’s memory were received by Hospice of the Foothills and he was memorialized on a leaf on the Memorial Wall in the garden adjacent to the Compassionate Care Home. In addition to these generous donations, members of the Alta Sierra Country Club Women’s Club knitting group, inspired by Debe’s experience, began making prayer shawls to be given to family members of patients in the Compassionate Care Home.
“I was truly comforted by the beautiful shawl I was given while Kyle was in the Compassionate Care Home,” Debe said on the August day 22 shawls were presented to Hospice of the Foothills during a moving ceremony in the Home’s chapel. “Having my friends and neighbors undertake such a meaningful project in honor of Kyle is a legacy of care and comfort that will be passed on to other patients in the Compassionate Care Home and their families.”