A letter of thanks from a family member

While we have many formal measures in place to evaluate our care and services, few are more meaningful than hearing from our patients, clients, families and communities directly. The letter below from a family member about our Continuing Care program and staff sums up the impact of this service.

“Dear Ms. Stevens,

“I am writing to congratulate you on your Transitional Clinical Care Team at the Colchester East Hants Health Centre in Truro. Kathy Bonner and Toni Thompson were instrumental in working through a very difficult situation for our family.

My husband was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2004 and in 2014 he started to exhibit severe signs of dementia. His fears, anger, and frustration caused him to lash out; he was a prisoner of his own body because of the disease. During this trauma he lost his ability to speak and be understood. He was exhibiting severe signs of cognitive decline, the physicians said he had suffered a delirium and it may take three to six months to come out of it or that he may not improve.

“Kathy and Toni met with our family and began a journey of care, kindness and understanding. They began to try and find ‘the good man’ (husband, teacher, mentor, and friend) hiding in a horrible disease. They gave him back dignity, trust, and most of all - hope that things would improve. These care team professionals came to know the real man. They worked with him one on one, with their quiet attention and concern for his health, always following up with our family. It was so important for him to have this kind of quality care. The great efforts of these women on a daily basis to address his needs had a calming effect on him; they transformed his fears into feeling he was in a safe environment. They listened to his history of trial and error days (good and bad), shared the information with the care team and the many doctors who saw him.

“Your care team helped him and our family work toward a more hopeful future with this disease. Kathy and Toni brought this journey for my husband to a happy conclusion; he is now home in his community care facility where he knows a lot of the nurses and staff.

“Your team has given him a new lease on life; he actually smiled and spoke a few words. We are so very appreciative to have been under the care of Kathy and Toni. They worked so hard to get him where he needed to be at this stage of life – home! Thank you so very much for all the help. I congratulate you and your staff on making our health care system work for families and the loved ones who they care so much about.

“My husband is the love of my life. We celebrated our 45th wedding anniversary in 2015. With the wonderful help we received, perhaps we can still celebrate with our family, our friends, and all of the caregivers one day at a time.

“Thank you all from the bottom of my heart. Home is where the heart is.”