SUNDAY MEMORIES
Judy Wills
Fred was in the hospital for nearly a week, then transferred to a rehabilitation hospital for two weeks. I was quite pleased with the care he received in both facilities, and a little leery of moving him to another facility, but it was necessary. Fortunately, he is in a facility (actually a nursing home with an excellent reputation for their therapies) that has done wonders with his therapies, all three – physical (PT), occupational (OT), and speech therapy. He has made such great progress, especially compared to where he was at the rehabilitation hospital that I am amazed. He is walking – with help. He has more motion and control over his right arm and hand, and his cognitive function is improving daily.
But believe it or not, the main purpose of this posting is not to talk about Fred’s strokes and recovery – amazing as that is, but to talk about some of the people we encountered at this facility.
Two of the first people we met were the nurses on duty that day, one of which was Fred’s nurse. She is a lovely lady from Germany, which drew us instantly, since we lived in Germany for six years…and her name is Karin, as is our oldest daughter, but her name is spelled Karen. The other nurse is Christina. When I asked Christina if I could use her name in this blog, she said, “but I wasn’t his nurse.” I told her that it didn’t matter – I had watched her, and knew what a dedicated nurse she was, and how she treated her patients/residents. She just grinned at me. There are other nurses as shifts change, and we are impressed with them all. They bring him his medications in either pudding or usually apple sauce. He snagged his arm once on something in the lobby and the nurse patched him up quickly. I am most impressed with the nursing staff.
Okay…I have to stop here and tell you that when you see the people (usually women) working in this facility (except for the office staff), you will see them in different colored scrubs. Here is a photo of what I mean.
Each color represents what job they have/do. The Blue scrubs indicate the nurses (RN/LPN). The Purple scrubs indicate the CNAs (Certified Nursing Assistant). Pink scrubs indicate the housekeeping and laundry. Aqua indicates therapists. Black scrubs indicate dietary/food service. There is also a navy scrub that indicates maintenance and environmental services, but I’ve never seen them in that color – just t-shirts with the facility logo on it.
I have been most impressed with all these ladies…they are amazing. And they have treated Fred with the utmost respect and care.
We have become friendly with many of the residents and staff. They talk with us, they laugh with us, and they care for us. Many have expressed regrets that we are leaving – we have become part of their lives, and they ours.
~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~
Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .
Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.
After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.
Old Things R New 