Lumina Life Review helps hospice patients preserve their memories

When she was not even 30, Jorie Rodgers learned she had paraganglioma, a rare cancer of the nervous system. Feeling a sense of urgency, Jorie married her boyfriend, George Rodgers. They thought Jorie’s radiation treatments made pregnancy impossible—but a urine test during a doctor’s visit came back positive. Doctors assumed it was from hormones released by her tumors, but an ultrasound confirmed she was carrying a baby boy. Though her cancer was in remission, Jorie halted her chemo so she could carry him to term. After Tristan was born, Jorie went into Barnes-Jewish Hospital’s hospice program. In addition to getting pain management, she worked with the volunteers at Lumina Life Review, who helped her create a big decorated box for Tristan, filled with cards up to his 21st birthday. Jorie was 32 when she died, and Tristan was 1; before her death, she said one of the things that made the process easier was knowing her child would have a way to know her after she was gone. 

Lumina volunteers also help patients write biographies, assemble scrapbooks, create family trees, record audio or video, and make quilts and stuffed animals from their clothing. Not only does it give the patient a way to gain closure, but it leaves behind an object that helps the family feel connected to the person they’ve lost.