Testimonials

Audrey’s story as told by daughter Mary Degroat - February, 2006

I wanted to let Alzcare know how happy I am with them and all that they do for my mother, Audrey.

I am amazed every time I visit how the employees treat the residents so well and spend time with them and treat each resident as part of the family!  The employees seem to actually like their jobs!

I find that mom is happier than she has been in the last 2 ½ years and it is wonderful to see. You can tell that she is using her brain because she talks about so many things now and asks so many questions! 

It is nice to be able to visit with Mom instead of being there to take care of her like I had to do at the other facilities.   It is also nice to be able to call and whoever answers the phone knows mom and can tell me how she is and update me on things.

Today I got another picture emailed to me of Mom doing an activity.  This is such a nice thing you’ll do for the families.  It makes me feel good when I see the picture and know that she is happy and being well taken care of!

When I was there the other day she was sitting around with some other residents playing trivia.  I took her outside to visit a while and look at the flowers and she could not stop talking about the trivia game! She told me the questions she was asked and how she enjoys the game.  It was so nice that she was doing something that keeps her brain thinking and keeps her happy.  This is so different from what I was use to dealing with at her other facility.  Below is some of what Mom and I went through every day.   

At the other place if I called to check on Mom the phone either rang off the hook or the person that answered didn’t know anything so I was told to call back later! Because of this I would end up going by every day and sometimes twice a day.  This was the only way to make sure she had a least one meal a day and that she had no medical problems. If I didn’t do that she would stay in her room and because there were so many residents they would just let her stay there because they would forget about her!  Or, if they did get her to the dining room she would not be able to eat because no one would help her with her vision problem and all that.  I ended up buying a red plate so she could see her food better but they would always forget to give it to her unless I went by and demanded it!

Another thing to worry about was that her feet started swelling so bad she couldn’t wear a size 8 anymore she had to wear a size 10.  The thing that was bad about this was that they never told me this, I noticed it and said something and they would say , “Oh we noticed and said something to the nurse so she could document it!” No one would call me or call the doctor they just said her feet were that way because she walked around inside the building to much and never rested! So I ended up taking her to the ER that night for 6 hours just to be told to contact her doctor in the morning!  I’m scared to know what would have happened if I hadn’t been there to notice the swelling and help her!

Once the doctor saw her about this she discovered there was a problem that she needed medication for the swelling! 

Another thing I find interesting now is that Mom is up during the day doing activities and only goes to her room at night to sleep.  However, at the other facility she would stay in her room all day and say she was bored then end up staying up all night since she had slept all day.  Because of this I noticed Mom was declining in the disease and not as alert.  The Activity Director was nice but would tell me that she would ask Mom if she wanted to do something, she would say No so she would leave her in her room!

Now that she is at Alzcare she is up doing things all day.  Even if it is listening to the radio or sitting outside looking at the flowers she is doing a lot more then she ever did at the other place! It is amazing how the employees can get her to do things by just asking the right way and being encouraging. 

Another thing that was a problem at the other facility was the housekeeping.  Most of the time when you walked in the front door it would smell so bad it made you sick to your stomach.  I would complain to the director who would then blame it on one particular resident that wouldn’t let anyone clean him.  I told her that is something to handle with his family and not make the others suffer when we are paying this much money.  She always agreed with me but the problem always got worse!  Whenever I took Mom out for a drive she would say that she hopes it doesn’t smell bad when she goes back.  It made me upset that she noticed and had to be there with it all going on.  It wasn’t like this was a low income bad place, it was a well known national company who just didn’t have the right staff or management!

I’ve NEVER noticed a problem with the housekeeping at Alzcare!  I understand these things happen and that it is part of life, but if it smells as bad as the old facility it must have been like that for a long time. 

Before Alzcare I was at the point where I didn’t think there was a good facility anywhere so I would just have to take care of Mom at home like I use to.   I knew she needed 24 hour care and since I work during the day I would need help.  I had tried this in the past and it is hard to find someone that is reliable and still cares. 

So since I had visited Alzcare in the past I thought about visiting again and that is when I found they had built a second building! I was very happy with everything I saw on that Saturday and I felt like I was in someone’s house and not in a facility! It was exactly the type of place I was wanting for my Mom but never thought I would find.  The concept of having only 16 residents and more staff to resident ratio was perfect. I had always said that an Alzheimer’s residence needs to be with only a few people living there so they could have more one-on-one attention.  So it was nice to find out that someone else believed the same thing I did and made it happen!!!

Again I have to say how pleased I am with the staff and how much they care.  I have been asked by several employees if I can give them some background on my Mom’s life so they can communicate with her better.  This is just wonderful that they even care and want to know about her.  Up until October 2005 when Mom moved to Alzcare, all I ran into with this disease was people treating her like she wasn’t there when she was in the room.  They would talk to me in front of her and that would upset me.  Now everything is so different and she is getting the respect she deserves!    

It is such a breath of fresh air to find a place that is doing what they say they will do and enjoying the residents at the same time.

I still feel guilty if I don’t go by and see mom every two days.  However, I know she is in good hands so if I can’t get by she will be okay.  The guilt thing is part of all this that can’t be helped.  Besides, I love going by and catching up on what she has been doing the last few days.