Don and Mary Isaac were hoping for a miracle when they took Amtrak’s Sunset Limited from Los Angeles to New Orleans on a pilgrimage to the National Shrine of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos in New Orleans last February.

In a way, they got one. Although Mary was suffering from an inoperable brain cancer diagnosed in October, and under Mission Hospice care since January, the pair had a wonderful time and Mary came back in better condition than when she left. Don is grateful that Mission Hospice was able to arrange for care in New Orleans if she had needed it. Mary died at home in April.

“It was comforting to have that service,” Don said. “We didn’t know anyone in New Orleans but Mission Hospice sent Mary’s records ahead. We were only there four days, but the New Orleans hospice sent someone to see us.”

Karri Kaiser, a Mission Hospice social worker who was part of the Isaac care team, said Mary’s children also appreciated that Mission Hospice was communicating with the New Orleans hospice.

“We knew this was important to Mary and Don as a couple, whether there was a cure or not,” said Kaiser. “It gave them time to say goodbye to each other on their own terms.”

Don and Mary met in 1979 in Wisconsin before moving to California. They married in 1998 after Don proposed at a stoplight in Half Moon Bay, where they had lived for years. Mary was a technician at Intel and production manager at Teledyne Microwave Electronics, retiring in 2002. For three years prior to her diagnosis, she was an administrative assistant at Our Lady of the Pillar Church in Half Moon Bay. She and Don, a mechanical engineer at Lockheed Martin, also operated Tamin, Inc., an energy-related equipment development company. 

Don admits that when Mary’s doctor first brought up the issue of hospice care, he wasn’t sure what it was, confusing it with home health care. Eventually, the Isaac family would experience nursing, social work, chaplaincy, home health aid and volunteer caregiver services. Volunteers also provided respite care for Don and staff came twice a week to give Mary a bath. Mission Hospice arranged for nursing visits, Mary’s medication for nausea and pain, as well as equipment and supplies.

“Our needs changed over time as Mary got sicker,” said Don. “Whenever we needed something, it was always delivered right away. Hospice was really impressive and caring.”