Vicki Kennedy Talks about Compassionate Care

It was a beautiful May morning two years ago - bright skies and lots of sunshine. Senator Ted Kennedy was drinking coffee with his wife Vicki and reading the papers. The senator had taken the dogs for a walk earlier. And suddenly their lives changed forever. Senator Kennedy suffered a seizure that would eventually lead to the diagnosis of the brain tumor that took his life.

Mrs. Kennedy headlined the Kenneth B. Schwartz Center’s recent woman’s event, attended by 650 women from every segment of the health care industry. We knew when we invited her to talk at the gathering that she would have a tremendous story to tell about compassionate health care and she certainly did. What I didn’t realize is that she knew Ken Schwartz, our organization’s namesake, from Democratic political circles, and how much our mission resonated with her. Call it kismet.

She talked about the difficulty of what she calls “D-Day” – diagnosis day. The doctor was accomplished and outstanding in his field, but he delivered the grave prognosis in a way that left no room for hope. He basically assumed the worst outcome -- and soon. What the doctor didn’t realize was that he was dealing with a man who was a fighter and a questioner, someone who would want to take a large role in his own health care. He could never just accept those words of defeat and go home, according to Mrs. Kennedy. “Know your audience when delivering bad news” was her first message of the evening to clinicians.


She went on to talk about the “magnificent” group of nurses and doctors who subsequently became Senator Kennedy’s care team. “They listened to us. We weren’t Pollyannas. We knew how grave the situation was, but we also had hope,” she said. Senator Kennedy went on to live 15 months more months and they were “high quality months of high achievement,” said Mrs. Kennedy. “He saved Medicare, spoke at the Democratic convention and wrote a book, “she said. (And I might add: threw out the first pitch at Fenway Park!). And it was a precious time on a personal level as well, she said. She described how her husband loved to sing, and that last summer every visitor would have to sing a solo at the dinner table.

Mrs. Kennedy concluded her remarks with the following thoughts:

"Lovingly introducing the topic of end-of-life care. Don’t leave it to the families to broach this difficult topic," she said. "Just ask: do you want to be home or at the hospital? How can we help with the details to make things easier and comfortable and to give you the best quality of life possible? Let your patient know you're there for them. "

Not surprisingly, Mrs. Kennedy’s remarks brought down the house.