HI, I'M DEANNA.

My aim is to reduce suffering at the end of life by accompanying the dying well. It's important to acknowledge our teachers and from where we learned, especially when we are talking about the art of accompanying the dying. Here is an incomplete list of my journey until now. Have you chronicled yours? 

• My ancestory is that of Irish/English (mother) and Mexican/American (father). My dad came from a large family of brothers and sisters (over 8) and my mom was an only child. I learned the ways of caring for our ill and dying from my abuelita, Inez Flores.
• I married young (24), completed college at the University of Texas at Austin as an older student with my firstborn on my hip. I was a stay-at-home mom, home-schooled briefly, home-birthed my second child (VBAC), and was on a spiritual seeking and emotional healing adventure throughout those years that crossed many modalities and beautiful beings. By the sad end of this marriage, I was a RN, beginning on the oncology floor, and met some of the finest nurses I have ever met in my life.

• Within 6 months of graduation in 2000, I was working full-time for a non-profit hospice where I learned from the best palliative physicians and long time experienced "real" hospice nurses. I am eternally grateful for every moment with them.
• In June of 2005, my mother died. It was an incredibly fast dying time of 5 weeks from diagnosis of cancer to death. As a 5 year nurse veteran of hospice, I was floored by the experience and wanted to make this time as good for others as my mother got to have. Quality of Life Care was founded.

From June 2005 until now, I have had a whirlwind of learning and steadfast support from too many people to count. I will do my best to bring up a few important people below, in no particular order, as they each have profoundly impacted me: Ram Dass, Rev Bodhi Be, shamanic teacher Christina Allen, my father Tony Flores, my mother Patricia Flores, my grandmother Weeya, my grandmother Inez, my sister Victoria Carlson, my brother Marco Flores, Dr. Patrician Koch, Mercedes Flores, every single person I have accompanied through death, every single person who has come to me for training, every single person who has shared deeply with me. I have studied and learned so much from the shamanic lineage of the Andes, The Sufi tradition, my loving experiences with my family in and through the Catholic Church, from my 40 years of going to non-denomination Christian church with my dad, from reading great teachers like Stephen Jenkinson and Dr. Ira Byock and from interviewing many leading authorities and everyday people about their experience with death and dying. Thank you for spending your precious time with me.

Some Important Events to Me:

• RN in end-of-life care within and outside of hospice since 2000.
• Board Certified Hospice and Palliative Nurse for many years.
• Quality of Life Care, LLC founded 2005 to reduce suffering at the end of life by providing free public education and private training in accompanying the dying and palliative care awareness.
• Palliative Consultant & Private Practice End-of-Life Doula since 2005.
• Trained Mediator, Austin Dispute Resolution Center, 2007.
• Certified Celebrant, trained by Doug Manning, 2007.
• World Hospice Day. 2007. Event Organizer for the 1st Austin Texas Celebration of World Hospice and Palliative Care Day. City of Austin Proclamation.
• World Hospice Day - 2008. Event Co-Coordinator for the 2008 2nd annual Austin Texas Celebration of World Hospice and Palliative Care Day with Texas New Mexico Hospice Organization and the International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care.
• School of Accompanying the Dying founded 2010. The Original End-of-Life Doula Certificate Program. 
• Founder, End of Life Practitioners Collective (ELPC), 2014. ELPC is the world's 1st multi-disciplinary community for independent end-of-life practitioners. The main mission of ELPC is to connect families with providers. The secondary mission is to support providers and to role model for each other exceptional care.
• Reiki & Therapeutic Touch Practitioner since 2014.
• Corporate Consultant and Doula Program Developer since 2016.
• Austin Shamanic Center student since 2016, with teacher Christina Allen. Mesa Carrier, 2016. Energy Medicine Education 2017.
• International Death Doula Conference Teaching Team since 2017 with Doorway Into Light, Hawaii's only nonprofit funeral home founded by Ram Dass, Rev Bodhi Be, and Leila Be
• National End-of-Life Doula Alliance, 2017. Founding member and first Vice President.
• National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, 2018. End-of-Life Doula Advisory Council. First Chair since April 2018 until December 2020.
• National Professional End-of-Life Doula Conference, New York City, 2018. World class Doula Healthcare focused event. Co-organized with 2 other trainers as Professional Doula International.
• Development of an EOL Doula Hospice Program Development Template complete with training. Only package of its kind, innovative solution for hospices and healthcare organizations to not be left behind in our end of life healthcare crisis, 2018.
• Published first book, "Accompanying the Dying: Practical, Heart-centered Wisdom for End-of-Life Doulas and Healthcare Advocates," February 2019. #1 Bestseller in 3 Categories, Aging, Death & Grief, and New Books.
• Elizabeth Kubler Ross Foundation, Mexico Centro, San Miguel de Allende. Advisory Council, 2019.
• CareDoula® trademark approved, 2019! CareDoula® is our Method of training world-class leaders in accompanying the dying and in our School of Accompanying the Dying, home to our Certified End-of-Life Doula Program.
• Neighbor to Neighbor, Community CareDoula® Program. Free Foundation Level training for caregivers, volunteers, and healthcare professionals, 2019.
• Social Care Awards, 2020. Global Health and Pharma. 
  • Leading Provider of Hospice Doula Programmes 2020
  • GHP Humanitarian Award in Dying Well Support 2020

One of my earliest memories of death was when I was about 7 years old and someone close to our family died. I heard people in my family talking about the death and when I asked to go to the funeral, I was told "no", and a hush fell over the room. Years later, when I was 13 and living in Laredo, Texas, my grandmother said to me one day "C'mon, get your shoes and come with me." She didn't say where we were going or what we were about to do.

​We walked down the rocky, unpaved streets of our neighborhood to her friend's home. Her friend was dying. When we walked into the room there were several other women, all sitting quietly with their veils on praying. There was a majestic reverence in the room that is hard to describe. I was profoundly affected by this experience and felt so honored that my grandmother included me in this vigil. Years later, before I became a nurse, I learned to care for the dying in a very personal way during the year of my grandmother's own dying (thanks to my aunts who showed me how to take tender loving care of her at home).

Your journey is like a fingerprint, just like every death and dying experience. We are not here to be the same, but to be authentically who we are as there is someone who will only hear your voice. I share a piece of me here because someone reading this will resonate. Someone will feel safe here in their desire to learn with me as their guide. And it would be my honor, always.
 
Treasure what inspires you to serve the dying. Know you are enough, right this very minute. Begin now. Don't let perfection keep you in your living room dreaming. Join all your fellow journeyers out here. I will encourage you to take bold, imperfect steps. There is no time to get it just right. That is something you will learn as you go. The Silver Tsunami is already starting and there is a huge need ahead of us.
 
If you want a guide, it is my privilege and joy to help you figure out how to integrate all that you are into your vision of serving. I am here for you.  
 
Learn about how we can work together here.

​Peace to you.