What stories have inspired you the most about seniors who live in a facility? Facilities are definitely not all gloom and doom.
I watch a show on television called Daily Blast Live. Today the topic was on comeback stories. I heard a truly amazing story. The show is streamed and I highly recommend that you watch it.
This young healthy 22 year old woman went out for a run with her beloved dog. She was hit by a car and bleeding out, had numerous injuries and just about died. The dog instantly died due to being trapped under the car.
She was in a coma for 18 months and down to 64 pounds. She spoke of her dreams while in a coma. The hospital didn’t know what else to do for her and sent her to a nursing home. She couldn’t walk, see, or speak. She looked a mess.
The seniors rallied around her and taught her everything that she needed to learn to cope in her condition. To date she has had well over 100 surgeries to rebuild her body.
She was blind for 10 years and the seniors (some who were retired teachers) helped her to learn braille. Even the seniors with Alzheimer’s disease helped her! The seniors had bake sales to raise money for her to go to specialized training.
Eventually, she underwent an another surgery and was finally able again in one eye. She was able to build a career.
I was so captivated by this woman that I decided to do a Google search on her and she has a TED talk from years ago online as well.
Her name is Ramona Pierson. It’s so refreshing to hear comeback stories.
One thing that she said that really struck a chord with me was that she said that the biggest thing that the seniors in the facility taught her was how to learn how to learn. She acknowledged their wisdom.
These seniors in the nursing home truly enabled her to become a ‘comeback’ story. Don’t miss this inspirational story. It will give you chills!
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Then once again I couldn’t post on the forum. Quickest fix ever though! LOL 😆 Hopefully, it will last.
To clarify she did have surgery to be able to see and she can now see with one eye.
I cannot imagine being in a nursing home at the age of 22 because the hospital didn’t know what else to do. It ended up being the best decision for her because the seniors were absolutely amazing with her.
Ramona Pierson has one of the most magnificent comeback stories that I have ever heard. The seniors in the nursing home in Colorado were absolutely incredible in the way they helped this young woman.
A patient was playing a large and complicated electronic keyboard. It was like you’d hear at a dance, with all the different instrument sounds that the keyboard could play.
One of the attendants told me that the patient played every night and that a nurse, having learned that the patient was a professional musician, had brought the keyboard from her own home for the patient to play.
Look up Ramona Pierson’s story!
It was always wonderful to see the faces of residents who had no pets when someone who lived there walked past them in the lobby with a dog on a leash. The pet owner would often stop so that others could interact with the dog. Lots of smiles all the way around!
I don’t want to care for a dog or cat full time anymore. I love them so much but the last time I had to put a dog down I told my husband that I couldn’t go through it again.
It’s awful to lose a pet. I absolutely love dog sitting for my daughter’s dog!
thank you!
The TED talk is from awhile ago. It’s great. The interview that I saw was on today. Also great!
She has started doing things she hasn't done for years, especially crafts. She plays bingo, paints and spends time in communal activities. Physically she hasn't improved, but due to a serious accident 25 years ago. there was no expectation she would.
Not all facilities are bad, and I hear about so many people writing them all off because they LO's don't want to go in. Carers often drain themselves, emotionally, financially and physically, they alienate themselves all because they are afraid to even consider a facility. Not everything is great for my mom, but it is much better than being care for at home, by people who can't provide for a high level of care.
One woman from the memory care unit always attended. She was beautiful, blond and always had her hair and nails done perfectly. She dressed in really nice clothes. She was a doctor's wife who had early onset dementia; she might have been 50 at the oldest. An attendant always brought her to the party and sat with her.
When the music started playing, Beautiful Lady got up and danced! It put new life into her, and she was a good dancer and so graceful. She could adapt her steps to any music. The expression on her face was pure happiness. In those moments, you wouldn't know that she had dementia. You might think that she was making a spectacle of herself, but there was nothing of that about it. She was having her best life.
When people on this site start moaning about not wanting to "put" their LO in a "home" and how they promised they never would, and they're completely miserable and exhausted but don't want to break that stupid promise, I think of Beautiful Lady. She'd have been denied joy in her life if Dr. Husband had decided to keep her at their home because he didn't want her "put" in a "home."
Lesson learned.
She also helped residents from time to time if they were having trouble paying bills. One time she learned that a resident’s daughter was financially strapped due to a divorce, and she sent her a birthday card containing a $100 bill!
At one concert the listeners were arranged in front of us, many in wheelchairs. One was an old man who looked absolutely out-of-it -- slumped over, not seeming to know what was going on around him, unresponsive to greetings of others.
We had an arrangement (very beautiful, you can hear it on Youtube) called "When I Grow Too Old to Dream." When we started to play it the old man straightened up, looked out at everyone, and started to sing it quite strongly with a wonderful voice -- every word perfect. We in the quartet had knots in throats -- our violist played it faithfully while actually crying the whole time. When he finished everyone applauded and he acknowledged the applause. Later he seemed to slump back into nothingness, but he still had that song in him...we hope he remembered it. There are frequently some keys that may not be obvious into the minds and hearts of those who are almost gone.
She was a pilot, in the United Nations ... and so much more.
We will be celebrating her 104th birthday in June.
She gets out and walks the halls ... with poles or a walker. She is active and focused on doing what she needs to do to keep going.
Over the last year or two, "she" calls ME to see how I am doing. I absolutely love her. I worked with her minimally for years and then shifted to a friendship.
Gena / Touch Matters
Wow! 104! Amazing!!! I love how she calls you to see how you are. That’s awesome 👏.
Music is a wonderful universal language. I’m quite sure that they enjoyed your visits. Your posting touched my heart.
Play any Sinatra songs? He was my mom’s favorite! My mom’s physical therapist used to play Sinatra tunes for her to exercise with. She did home health PT and OT in her 90’s to help with strength and balance issues related to her Parkinson’s disease. She worked so hard during her rehab stay in the nursing home.
Mom lived to be 95 years old. My dad died at 85.
‘When I Grow Too Old To Dream’ is such a great old tune!
Yeah, okay but it also happens with posts that are questions. Not just on my posts, others too.
What a sweet story about your friend.
Could part of the reason it may seem gloom and doom is because a disproportionate amount of the very unhappy or difficult elderly ( not always their fault especially with dementia for example ) end up in nursing homes ?
It’s difficult to live at home with someone like that.
My friend took her aunt into her home but not her own mother . Both had dementia but the aunt was cooperative , happy . She lived with my friend for a few years until she had a stroke then was in SNF for about a year until she died .
The Mom was too contrary , uncooperative she went to AL then MC .
My friend was an only child , mom had divorced when she was 2. The aunt never married , my friend was soul beneficiary . She ended up using her mother’s money and the aunt’s money ( aunt had passed ) for memory care for her mother until it ran out and she went to SNF on Medicaid .
Of course, I am glad Ms. Pierson had such a recovery and success in her life.
But to suggest this is a story to imply "warehouses for the elderly and disabled" (nursing homes in the U.S.) aren't all (or certainly most) warehouses for humans is to belie the truth of the matter and is nothing more than propaganda.
Read her story or listen to her TedTalk. It’s an incredible story!
Seniors can have bake sales! I did fundraising all of the time where I had items donated. Or perhaps they talked with the cooks at the NH to bake to raise money for their 22 year old guest.
The seniors in this particular facility were absolutely amazing! Please google her name and read it. It’s a remarkable story that I know is an exception. That’s what makes it so special.