Any inspiring medical stories?

[charbie]

I don''t post many things like this, but today I just felt compelled.

I work at a nursing home, and our level of care varies from rehab after a hip replacement to someone in need of hospice care. not everyone has the luxury of coming in here and leaving in great shape, although many people do.

we recently admitted a resident from another nursing facility. she had been there for a few years. her son said she mainly just lays in bed, is on a feeding tube, a lot of oxygen, and didn''t do too much but moan and sometimes watch tv. he transferred her because he felt she wasn''t receiving great care, and said even though he knows she will never be the same (has had multiple strokes) he felt like she should be able to do something.

over the past month, she has slowly been getting better and talking with the staff. she has been in physical therapy daily, and is learning to sit up straight, and hopefully will soon be eating regular food. she now is up in her wheelchair daily, off the oxygen, and able to stand regular showers. she is literally wheeling herself around the nursing home, even with her hand contractures. she lights up when you talk with her, remembers names, and will tell you about her day.

i''m just so inspired by her today! to see a woman who hadn''t had much to look forward to just a few months ago to seeing her interacting and talking with others truly made me happy to be in the industry i''m in. sometimes we all need those little pick-me-up feel good stories to remind us why we do the jobs we do. today i got that, for sure.

 

[Kaleigh]

Date: 11/30/2009 5:06:08 PM
Author:charbie
I don''t post many things like this, but today I just felt compelled.

I work at a nursing home, and our level of care varies from rehab after a hip replacement to someone in need of hospice care. not everyone has the luxury of coming in here and leaving in great shape, although many people do.

we recently admitted a resident from another nursing facility. she had been there for a few years. her son said she mainly just lays in bed, is on a feeding tube, a lot of oxygen, and didn''t do too much but moan and sometimes watch tv. he transferred her because he felt she wasn''t receiving great care, and said even though he knows she will never be the same (has had multiple strokes) he felt like she should be able to do something.

over the past month, she has slowly been getting better and talking with the staff. she has been in physical therapy daily, and is learning to sit up straight, and hopefully will soon be eating regular food. she now is up in her wheelchair daily, off the oxygen, and able to stand regular showers. she is literally wheeling herself around the nursing home, even with her hand contractures. she lights up when you talk with her, remembers names, and will tell you about her day.

i''m just so inspired by her today! to see a woman who hadn''t had much to look forward to just a few months ago to seeing her interacting and talking with others truly made me happy to be in the industry i''m in. sometimes we all need those little pick-me-up feel good stories to remind us why we do the jobs we do. today i got that, for sure.

What a great story this is Charbie. Love to hear inspiring stories like this. Bless you for the work that you do. My Nanny was in a nursing home for 8 years, and know great care is out there. I really appreciate people like you, who care and give it their all. Thanks for sharing this story with us. Just goes to show with proper care, there is HOPE~!

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Date: 11/30/2009 5:06:08 PM
Author:charbie
I don''t post many things like this, but today I just felt compelled.


I work at a nursing home, and our level of care varies from rehab after a hip replacement to someone in need of hospice care. not everyone has the luxury of coming in here and leaving in great shape, although many people do.


we recently admitted a resident from another nursing facility. she had been there for a few years. her son said she mainly just lays in bed, is on a feeding tube, a lot of oxygen, and didn''t do too much but moan and sometimes watch tv. he transferred her because he felt she wasn''t receiving great care, and said even though he knows she will never be the same (has had multiple strokes) he felt like she should be able to do something.


over the past month, she has slowly been getting better and talking with the staff. she has been in physical therapy daily, and is learning to sit up straight, and hopefully will soon be eating regular food. she now is up in her wheelchair daily, off the oxygen, and able to stand regular showers. she is literally wheeling herself around the nursing home, even with her hand contractures. she lights up when you talk with her, remembers names, and will tell you about her day.


i''m just so inspired by her today! to see a woman who hadn''t had much to look forward to just a few months ago to seeing her interacting and talking with others truly made me happy to be in the industry i''m in. sometimes we all need those little pick-me-up feel good stories to remind us why we do the jobs we do. today i got that, for sure.

This is such a great story, but it makes me sad. What was the last facility doing (or not doing?) to treat her? It sounds like a lot of hard work went on, but nothing over and above standard care for someone with her condition. I''m so happy her family transferred her!

 

[that_someone_special]

What a great story!

Mine is a little one, but when I was in 6th grade (11 or 12?) my appendix burst and I had to spend a week, over christmas break, in the hospital. There was a night nurse that was SO NICE. He gave me back rubs and make me home-made jello. I would be in tears every night because of the pain and he is the only one I remember that actually cared about me there. It really made the hospital stay OK.

 

[charbie]

@kaleigh-thank you! I''ve known since age 15 working with the elderly population is what I wanted to do, and am glad you had a positive experience with your granny.

@hudson- I wish I could say we are miracle workers, but we aren''t. This could be a whole different discussion, but given the way our reimbursement system works, we are paid until someone plateaus or reaches 100 days in the facility. At that point, reimbursement goes down by as much as two-thirds! The more therapy we give, the more we can make, until they go off medicare. Given how ill this patient was, she may have hit a peak and couldn''t get the skilled services shye needed. Sometimes it really just takes time and a new set of eyes.

@swedish- I just love night nurses like that! It can be difficult to find good night shift nurses and aides...they don''t always have a ton to do since most of the time the patients are sleeping, so they often get a bad rap as being lazy. I''m glad you had a good nurse during what I''m sure was a hard time for you at that age!

 

[LtlFirecracker]

Thanks for starting this.

I just spent the day being insulted by someone who has never met me.

Maybe I can get some inspiration back.

 

[DivaDiamond007]

That is a very inspirational story Charbie!

I''ll share my own.

As some of you may know, I was diagnosed with DVT (deep vein thrombosis) in June of this year. I had a clot in my left calf, below the knee. I was put on bedrest and my muscles atrophied (contracted and shrunk). Atrophy is very painful. I went to physical therapy 3x a week for months and I''m finally starting to be able to walk normally again. The therapists were wonderful. It was not fun being forced to use my muscles again and it hurt a lot, but in the end they gave me the tools I needed to get back to my life. It''s been a long road but I could not have done it without my therapists. For months I wasn''t able to shower (had to take an actual bath in the tub) and I wasn''t able to fully care for my son, which was the most heartbreaking thing of all. Now that I''m mobile again I can carry him, feed him, bathe him and take him out without assistance. I feel so blessed to have so many people that supported me while I was healing.

Those who care for others are so important to those who need them! Sometimes the patient just needs a little push to get going again.