CARING CONNECTIONS STORIES

You can well imagine how 89 year old Mrs. S.* felt during heart failure to have Risa*, her LiLY volunteer, by her side, holding her hand for the time between when EMS arrived and 8 hours later when Mrs. S. was comfortably asleep in the I.C.U.  Not only did Mrs. S. benefit from such neighborly friendship, so did her family.  When her daughter arrived from San Diego the next day, Risa was there to greet her, fill her in, and open the latch to her mother’s apartment. LiLY’s social worker was also on hand to discuss care, set up needed services, and, later, to continue to keep in touch with distant family, making sure Mrs. S. didn’t need to return to the hospital for lack of after care.  Later, Risa learned that during World War II, Mrs. S. had been a spy for the allies, carrying important messages that helped the U.S. to vanquish the Nazi regime.  When Mrs. S’s family called to thank Risa, she said, “It was my greatest pleasure.  It was ‘pay back’ time!”

 

Ms. H.*, without any family at all within 7,000 miles, was hospitalized in her late eighties. (Ms. H*, a refugee from Hiroshima at the timing of its bombing.) She was frightened and, without a good enough command of the English language, she thought she was diagnosed with stomach cancer and that she had a very short time left.  She insisted that she be sent home immediately without treatment so that she could die in her own bed.  It was the LiLY social worker who was able to speak with physicians and make Mrs. H. understand that she was diagnosed with probably treatable colon cancer. She explained that Ms. H. could stay in the hospital, receive treatment, and only then return to her home, recuperate and go on to enjoy the rest of her life.  “Aha,” said the elder, with tears of relief.  Thus, after another few weeks, Ms. H. was able to spend her next birthday in the comfort of her own home with her favorite berry pie homemade by one of her three doting volunteers, all who enjoyed an evening of laughter and comaraderie.