Someone named Rosa from Woodland Terrace called while I was walking to lunch this afternoon. We had an amicable twenty-minute phone call about mom and her care. She was calling to see if I was the right person with whom to discuss mom’s care. She began by talking to me as if I had no […]
My sister and I had a forty-three minute conference call with doctors, nurses, discharge coordinators, and administrators at Halifax Hospital. Dr. Caliendo talked to me as if I was a dumb ten-year old and I felt insulted and embarrassed, at times in tears during the call. Less than six months later, my mother would be […]
Here is an email I sent to my friend’s father-in-law, who works in the elder care industry and who had been offering me some advice. From: Gagne, David To: [redacted] Subject: Re: Questions for Monday Sent: March 2, 2012 3:41 AM ET Hello, [redacted], Thank you so, so much. I cannot possibly describe to […]
I spent a staggering sixty-nine minutes on the phone with a social worker named Marilyn at Halifax Hospital this afternoon. I took over a page of notes, and when the call was finished I was mentally and emotionally exhausted. Here are my notes from the call: 1240 – called Marilyn, social worker; super nice, smart, […]
This is an email I sent to a friend of mine. From: Gagne, David To: [redacted] Subject: Fwd: Treatment Team Meeting 2.28.12 Sent: February 29, 2012 2:18 AM ET Hey [redacted], This is an email (see below) I received from my sister summarizing what was discussed at Monday’s treatment team meeting. I find it […]
My sister asked me to send this email to Connie Wade 1 at Halifax because apparently they were giving her a hard time about returning my mother’s personal items to her. 2 It is a fine example of their strict policy regarding the arbitrary enforcement of their other policies. 3 Dear Connie, This message is […]
I sent this email to Connie Wade: Dear Connie, I hope this message finds you well. I’m copying here my little sister, [name redacted], who is the daughter and only other child of Kathleen, and my wife, [name redacted], who earned her Ph.D. in Psychology and has known my mother for twenty years. (Also please […]
I called Stephanie P. at Halifax Hospital because there was no return address on the Guardian Advocate test I was sent, so I had no way to know where I was supposed to send the completed test. She gave me the address and I mailed it to her along with a cover letter. Stephanie told […]