Jeannie Stewart was born in San Francisco in 1940. The daughter of immigrant parents, she grew up in the neighborhood of North Beach. She loved the outdoors, and baseball, and was a hula hoop champion.
In her later years, though, Jeannie started to slow down. And one day she had a fall. That’s when her daughters, Leigh and Serena, learned their mother had a brain tumor.
“The doctors recommended she have emergency surgery,” Leigh says, “and the hope and thought was that removing the tumor would relieve some of the pressure and then we could move her to a rehabilitation facility.”
That never happened, and Jeannie remained in the hospital long after the surgery. “She was miserable in the hospital,” Leigh says. “And one day she looked at me and said, ‘Honey, can I go home?’ And I said, ‘Yes mom, you can.’” Colleen Horowitz was Jeannie’s By the Bay Health Coordinator, and would visit her on a regular basis.
“Both Jeannie’s daughters were constantly present at their mother’s bedside,” she says. “I was able to tell them, ‘You’re not alone during this. You have an entire team of professionals behind you.”
“Everything just seemed so much easier than dealing with the hospital,” Leigh says. “It was like night and day. My sister and I were able to sit there and read while she slept, and every time she woke up we would look at each other and smile.”
As the end neared, Colleen was always present to help with medications if Jeannie was in pain. “Anything we needed, Colleen was there,” says Leigh. “The experience we had with her and By the Bay Health was unbelievable.”
Hospice care also gave Jeannie’s family something really important: the chance to say goodbye in a warm, familiar, and comforting environment. “I think the most beautiful thing is our mom passed away on her own terms,” says daughter Serena. “It was important that we allow her to make that decision.”
By the Bay Health is celebrating our 50th anniversary of advocating for hospice and palliative care. You can help us continue our mission by donating. Visit our 50th anniversary page to learn how you can contribute.
