My dad is a resident at Delmar Gardens on the Green. I am writing to speak the praises of two of your employees, Jamaria Brisby and Zee Summerville.
First, some background. My step-mom lives alone near your facility, and at the time that these events unfolded, she visited Dad every day. Unfortunately, she has been visiting less due to health issues. My wife and I live about three hours away and visit Dad and Mom every Tuesday.
All of your staff at the facility are very kind, and we frequently speak about how impressed we are with your hiring regimen. We know it is not this way in other care facilities. Again, well done, sir.
My dad is easy to work with and rarely gives anyone trouble. Your staff have been completely professional and caring toward both of my parents. I cannot tell you how much that means to our family.
A few months ago, on a Saturday, the staff noticed that, while Mom was there, she did not appear to be feeling very well. Then on Sunday, she did not come to visit at all. The same occurred on Monday. Late Monday afternoon, I received a call from Jamaria, telling me that Mom had not appeared to be her normal self on Saturday, and had now missed two days of visits. She said that she had called and gotten no answer at my parent’s home. She told me that Zee had offered to go by the house to check on her. At this point I thanked her and told her that I would take it from there. I told her I would call, and if I received no answer, would ask the Ballwin Police Department to do a wellness visit. I also told her that I would keep them in the loop.
I called the house and no one answered. I then reached out to the Ballwin Police, who immediately sent officers to check on her. I received a call from them within about one-half hour. They were inside my parents’ home. Mom had let them in, but was incoherent. The officer put the phone on speaker to see if I could get her to talk to me. I asked her how she was, to no response. The officer then told her that I was her son. Still no response. I again asked her if she was ok. After about five seconds she said, “Well”, and after another five seconds of silence said, “I”, and then there was another five seconds of silence. At this point the officer told me that, clearly, she was very confused. He said that, when they arrived, she had her head through the neck hole of five sweaters at once, but had not put her arms through any of them. He asked if I wanted her transported to the hospital, to which my response was yes.
About one-half hour later she arrived at St. Luke’s Hospital in Chesterfield, Missouri. They called and kept me updated through the rest of the night. She was quite dehydrated and still unable to put a sentence together. They tested her for a stroke, which was, thank God, ruled out. Further testing revealed that she had a urinary tract infection (UTI). My family was already aware that UTIs are known to cause stroke-like symptoms in older adults. I asked about coming up to the hospital, but was advised that, while I certainly could, they did not believe she would be coherent until, at the earliest, sometime the next day. It would take at least that long for the antibiotics to start working.
On Tuesday morning my wife and I headed to St. Louis. While on the way there, the hospital confirmed that, in fact, they did believe that a UTI was the issue. We visited Dad to let him know that Mom was fine, but ill, and would not be there to visit for several days. We also really wanted to thank Jamaria and Zee for their concern and prompt actions.
Mom was in St. Luke’s for 8 days. While the UTI is gone, some of her reasoning has not yet returned, and we don’t know if it ever will. But, thanks to Zee and Jamaria, she is alive and, because she will allow nothing else, back to living alone again.
We cannot thank your staff enough. I have asked several doctors how long a person who has a significant infection, and is not eating or drinking, might survive without medical attention. No one would commit to a solid answer, but medical science tells us that going more than three days without water, especially if you have an infection, can be fatal. We wonder how long mom had been without water, and how long it had been since she ate. My best guess is probably almost two days. If Zee and Jamaria had not been so prudent in their actions, Mom might very well have died before we even knew there was a problem.
We will never be able to thank them (and all of the other wonderful staff) enough. I hope you will find a way to make sure that Jamaria and Zee know exactly how valuable they are to your organization. You would do well to hire more just like them.
