Seniors Helping Seniors

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Compassionate Friends Can Change A World

Compassionate Friends Can Change A World

What is your world? Is it your home, your condominium complex, your neighborhood?

For Nancy S., a Lombard senior citizen battling C.O.P.D. and breathing difficulty, her world was her small apartment with an inadequate bed, broken window blinds, and a growing list of housecleaning needs.
Seniors Helping Seniors caregiver Lea R. helps Lombard resident Nancy S. with assistance at home.

Looking to improve her situation, but not sure what her end result might be, Nancy reached out to her local senior care program, Seniors Helping Seniors®. After being matched with a fellow senior named Lea, Nancy’s world has gone from hazy to bright! Lea’s knowledge as a nurse, plus her past care experience helped Nancy to receive oxygen tanks and breathing equipment at no cost, immediately improving her respiration despite having only one lung.

Lea really wanted to help Nancy rest properly, but because of her poor breathing, she would awake every hour or two, plus the only comfortable place to rest seemed to be her living room chair. Lea helped Nancy make a few calls and by that evening, Nancy had a brand new hospital bed in her apartment at no cost.

After not sleeping more than an hour or two for over five years, the first night in her new bed, Nancy found peace and slept a full seven hours! Since then she averages five to six hours each night and she credits Lea for her role in this. “Lea has been an absolute blessing and I could not be happier”, Nancy writes. “With these changes, I feel ten times better. I walk better, I have less pain in the morning, I’m less stiff and I no longer have to take pain medication in the middle of the night as I did before. Now everything is a little more enjoyable, including my crochet-work, which benefits mothers needing baby blankets. I do love Lea”, she says with tear.

Lea’s weekly two hour visits continue to help Nancy stay on top of household cleaning, laundry, and Lea has become a trusted, discreet friend to help with bath-time. Nancy will always battle with her respiration, but thanks to a loving fellow senior, her world is one where it’s a little easier to sleep and breath.

No comments:

Post a Comment