By Linda Hope, Masonic Village Home Health patient
In early spring, I experienced a catastrophic, life-threatening medical event, and spent two weeks in the hospital, including one week in the ICU. I did not know how, or even if, I could recover from this. I emerged from the hospital traumatized, weak, and fragile.
Spoiler alert! I have recovered fully with the wonderful work of doctors, nurses, other professionals, and the prayers and good wishes of many friends.
Coming out of the hospital, I knew I wanted to be at home where I could accommodate my prior disabilities best. I also knew it wouldn’t be easy. When you leave the hospital, and suddenly all the supports that surrounded you are gone, it’s daunting and scary. We didn’t know for sure when they would release me, but it was on a Saturday, and the next day, Sunday, the [Jenna Zahm] MVE Director of Home Health was there to evaluate my needs.
It wasn’t complicated. She already had hospital reports and went over all of my recent history and organized occupational therapy (OT), physical therapy (PT) and nursing to begin that week. They were all in touch with me immediately to set up appointments and begin to help me on my journey back.
The first person I saw was the OT who started with — do you want a shower? I most certainly did. Most emphatically did! She brought a shower chair for me, and we walked through ways to organize the experience, so it didn’t take too much energy. She ultimately had to help me shower a few times since I had to wear a heart monitor for two weeks and they can’t get wet. We went through many of my activities of daily living during the next weeks to help me gain strength and pace myself.
The PT began with simple exercises to keep me moving. Since I already had mobility limitations, she worked with those and assigned exercises that fit my needs and followed up with those each week. She made sure I was making progress and felt stable and sure in my mobility.
The nursing part was important because when my ECMO (heart-lung) machine was taken out (it is inserted in each side of the groin), they had difficulty removing it. I had a rather large wound in an area that is hard to heal. Nursing was important to help me keep an eye on this and make sure healing was happening as it should. I felt much more at ease knowing professionals were checking this weekly, offering suggestions, and if I had any difficulty, they would come and see to it right away.
Because all of this involved heart, lungs, and medications, I was offered telemonitoring as well. The nurse set up a blood pressure cuff, oxygen monitor, and scale connected to a computer (tablet). Each day I took my vital signs and weighed myself, and the data went to a central location where someone checked it to see if I’d had any major changes. It was very simple to do. I could also call if I felt things had changed.
When you are feeling fragile and unsure of how your recovery is going to proceed, it is incredibly helpful to have well-trained professionals working with you and regularly checking your progress. It was very reassuring and allowed my recovery to take place where I was most comfortable — at home.
I have the highest praise for the home health professionals MVE has available to us. They made my journey safer, supported, and happier. I’m so grateful to all of them.
Don’t hesitate to call if you feel you might need any of these services. Masonic Village is here to support us and keep us functioning well into our future.
