KATHLEEN VALLEE STEIN
  • Home
  • Books
    • Loving Choices, Peaceful Passing
    • Petals from the Garden
  • Op-Ed & Articles
  • Media
  • FAQ
  • Contact
​Kathleen Vallee Stein is an award winning author, speaker, ​and advocate for hospice.
Bob Vallee passed peacefully from this life in his own home under the care of his daughter. But first came the most difficult decision he ever had to make. Loving Choices, Peaceful Passing: Why My Family Chose Hospice tells the story.​
Buy the Book

Loving Choices, Peaceful Passing: Why My Family Chose Hospice

Bob Vallee sitting in a chair
Bob Vallee

Meet Bob Vallee

When Bob received the devastating diagnosis of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, he was given four weeks to live, without treatment. At the end of the third week of radiation his throat was so swollen he could not eat or drink. His wife Maryanne, and daughters Kathleen and Anne, knew the radiation was killing him faster than the cancer. 
 
Like millions of his fellow Americans, Bob was rapidly headed for a terrible death in the hospital, enduring more futile radiation. When the doctor said he would need a stomach tube to continue treatment, the Vallee family said “no” and found another way.
 
Choosing hospice care is not “giving up.” On the contrary, the last 29 days of Bob’s life were some of the richest of his 80 years on earth. He was able to live comfortably at home with the help of the hospice nurse and other professionals. Choosing hospice is not a death sentence, choosing hospice is an act of love. 
 
Offered here is an intimate account of how the myriad end-of-life decisions affect a family. It is a story of acceptance, forgiveness, reconciliation, and finally, awe for the fragility of life.

Buy the Book
About the Book
Ted Olzak and Kathleen Vallee Stein
Ted Olzak and Kathleen
"I was honored to receive the Independent Press Book Award for my book in the Caregiving Specialized Category on June 24. My husband and I went to the awards banquet in Newark, New Jersey, and then visited our son Ben, and two grandchildren, Louise and Lucien in Brooklyn.

It was fascinating to meet so many other authors and share our struggles and rewards as writers. The pictures are of my proud husband and me, Independent Press founder Ted Olzak, and Ben and the children. They even gave me a trophy, my first one ever."
Kathleen with husband Paul
Kathleen with husband Paul
Ben and kids
Kathleen's son Ben with his children
Kathleen Vallee Stein wearing a red top
Kathleen Vallee Stein

About Kathleen

Kathleen Vallee Stein is a Los Angeles based author whose opinion pieces have appeared in newspapers and magazines, including: Christian Science Monitor,  Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Daily News, Pasadena Star News, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Orange County Registrar, and the Jewish Journal. 

Stein's book Loving Choices, Peaceful Passing, Why My Family Chose Hospice ​is about her family's experience with hospice care for her father and is now available anywhere books are sold online and at Vroman's bookstore in Pasadena.
Karen Wyatt wearing a blue jacket
“The information that Kathleen Vallee Stein shares from a daughter’s perspective about hospice is important because it’s one we [hospice physicians] don’t always hear. Loving Choices, Peaceful Passing: Why My Family Chose Hospice is a guide for families who are faced with end-of-life decisions and don’t know how to ask the doctor for help. Buy this informative and comforting book for yourself and another for a friend.”​
- Karen Wyatt, MD, hospice physician and author of 7 Lessons for Living from the Dying. Visit her at https://karenwyattmd.com/wisdom
download icon

Download a Free Medicare & Hospice Guide Sheet

The information in the Medicare and Hospice Overview comes primarily from medicare.gov. It walks you through what Medicare covers with hospice, how to find a hospice provider, and gives helpful links for creating advance health care directives. This is my gift to you. No email required. (Updated for 2023.)
Download Checklist
download icon

Download Hospice and Hope

Understand the difference between false hope and realistic hope with this guide created based on information I received from Karen Wyatt, MD. 
Download Hospice & Hope

Kathleen Vallee Stein, Author of Loving Choices, Peaceful Passing

MENU
Home
Book
Op-Eds & Articles
Media
Contact
FAQ
Privacy Policy
Cookie Policy
Terms of Service
Disclaimer
Privacy Settings
CONTACT
​Use the Contact form on the Contact page to contact Kathleen about speaking engagements, writing op-eds or articles, and other media appearances. 
BUY THE BOOK
Purchase Loving Choices, Peaceful Passing: Why My Family Chose Hospice
Signed copy
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Vroman's in Pasadena
Copyright © 2024 Kathleen Vallee Stein 
Web Design by Ready Set Go Website Design
Download icon made by Kiranshastry from www.flaticon.com
  • Home
  • Books
    • Loving Choices, Peaceful Passing
    • Petals from the Garden
  • Op-Ed & Articles
  • Media
  • FAQ
  • Contact