What's Your Hospice Story?

Every hospice practitioner has a story about why their chosen field is so intensely personal to them. Here’s mine.

It started in 1983, when I was a biology and biochemistry major at UMBC with my sights set on medical school. My Italian mother dreamed I would become an OB/GYN in Baltimore City, just like her lifelong physician.

While at UMBC, I worked as an organic chemistry tutor, helping students aiming to become physicians, dentists, pharmacists, and nurses. Around the same time, I also worked at Franklin Square Hospital as a phlebotomist and IV technician on the chemotherapy and pediatric floors. It was there that I met Chuck Weber, a future pharmacy student and pharmacy technician.

During our conversations, I mentioned my grandfather, who was in hospice care at our home. He had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and his pain was uncontrolled. Chuck shared with me something new at the time: a therapy pump that let patients self-administer IV pain medication as needed.

Excited by the possibility of bringing my grandfather relief, I shared the idea with his hospice nurse. Her answer was a swift “No.” She cited concerns about having pumps in the home, the lack of supplies, and the absence of an IV line. I countered each objection, only to be met with the same firm response: “No, it just isn’t done.”

That moment changed everything. I knew then that I never wanted another patient or family to be told “no” when it came to pain management at the end of their life. I decided not to pursue medical school, breaking my mother’s heart in the process, and become a pharmacist specializing in infusion therapy and pain management.

In pharmacy school, I was met with more skepticism. Professors and mentors insisted it couldn’t be done. But I kept moving forward, continuing to train, work, and gain hands-on experience wherever I could. I also took on extra roles as a tutor, lab technician, and student IV pharmacy technician. I even trained as a small-animal surgeon, inserting IV catheters that would evolve into the treatments and therapies used today.

That experience is the reason IV Solutions exists today. We built this pharmacy on the belief that hospice providers and their patients deserve better — better access to therapies, better clinical support, and a partner who truly understands what’s at stake.

For us at IV Solutions, every call matters. Every patient matters. And every “no” is simply an opportunity to find a better way forward.