Testimonials

 

In January 2012 my mom experienced a hallucination event caused by a combination of dementia and taking her medicine incorrectly. At this point in time I knew I had to put some extra care in place to be able to allow my mom to continue living in her home. Of course I did not fully understand what was going on and was overwhelmed with how best to provide care for my mom.

Fortunately I was referred to Senior Helpers and made arrangements to have someone come in during the week for 2 hours a day to make sure mom was taking her medicine daily and was getting some help with things around the house. Senior Helpers suggested that I contact Jan Norby, a geriatric nurse, to see if she might be able to help. Both Senior Helpers and Jan were a gift from God. Jan made arrangements for my mom to see a geriatric psychiatrist for evaluation right away. This was very helpful so she could begin medication to help stop the progression of the disease.

Jan began visiting my mom weekly to fill my mom’s weekly medicine containers, check her blood pressure, and she took my mom to all her doctor appointments. Jan worked with my mom’s doctors to make sure that mom was taking the right medicines for her and taking the right dosages. They were able to reduce the medications to once a day and also get my mom off of Coumadin which saved a trip to the lab every so often to check her levels.

Having Jan in our corner has meant peace of mind for me. While my mom still sometimes does not understand why Jan needs to come I know that if I had not made these arrangements, my mom’s health would not be as good as it is. Jan has continued to come and assess my mom weekly even though now my daughter is living with my mom and helping her around the house so she can continue to live at home.

It is comforting to have a professional care giver to give us suggestions, encouragement and resources for information as we walk through this dementia journey with my mom. Jan has become a part of my family and I treasure her as she cares deeply for my mom and for our family.

Jan provided me with a chance to finally exhale knowing that my aunt was in safe hands in my absence. She was unwavering in her availability to us for about a year. My aunt’s health deteriorated suddenly and Jan helped to guide us into Hospice care where she passed a few days later.

My aunt was very independent, and mentally sharp as a tack, but had numerous chronic health conditions to manage. Living nearly 1000 miles away, I was finding it difficult to oversee her care from afar especially when emergencies arose.

Jan quickly got up to speed with my aunt’s health history by reviewing past medical records. It became obvious that her RN background was a treasure trove of needed information she used to navigate doctor appointments, follow-up care with the assisted living facility, and communication bridge for her doctors, nurses, P/T, Hospice, my aunt, and myself. I greatly appreciated her genuine compassion towards my aunt and her willingness to share her faith in God with us.

Perhaps the greatest compliment came from my aunt in her final hours when she told Jan how much her professional care had meant to her and that she thought this occupation suited Jan very well. My aunt told her to keep on with her work as it is so needed by others. My aunt told her that she loved her.

Jan was a blessing to both my aunt and myself.

 

Our family spent eight years trying to meet the needs of my elderly Mother and Father in our home. Then, with only Mother left, we faced the busy season of a son getting married with all of us wanting to participate. That’s when we hired our Christian friend and former neighbor, Jan Norby, to come in as an RN and work with the doctor to  us make improvements in Mother’s medicines and routines toward the goal of her attending the wedding, with congestive heart failure. We knew Jan had a lot of experience and that she felt called to work with the elderly

and their families. Lightening my load, Jan found a caregiver/helper, so I could have a few breaks to prepare for the big event. We also needed a caregiver to go with Mother, age 90, to the rehearsal dinner with us, letting me meet and greet our guests. Finally, the day of the wedding, Jan began the day by coming to our home, helping Mother get dressed and ready, and stayed by her side through the entire (long) day. Mother loved the security of attending the wedding with Jan by her side, while I moved around the room. I rested in the security of knowing that Mother had a seasoned RN helping her navigate and monitoring her oxygen. I had no worries, and we were all able to relax and enjoy our son’s beautiful wedding. That was priceless!

Then a few months later, I called on Jan again, asking how to handle end of life issues. Jan’s experience, faith, and love helped me through.

With all of these positive experiences, I highly recommend Jan Norby and Geriatric Heatlhcare Managment to you.

Here are a series of photos from the wedding, with Jan helping sweet Grandmother watch the bride and groom’s sparkler-send-off through an upstairs window. Such precious memories….