Demetrice W. has an amazing reservoir of patience, which is one of the reasons she is a Care Professional of the Month for Home Instead® of Naperville, Illinois. For instance, it took Demetrice two months to win over a client with whom she had later built an incredible relationship that lasted eight months before the client passed away in January at age 74.
The wheelchair-bound client lived in a care community and could barely speak, because she possibly was suffering from the effects of aphasia, a language disorder that affects a person’s ability to communicate effectively. “Because she had a hard time vocalizing things, she would motion with her fingers up or fingers down for yes or no,” Demetrice explained.
“I really had difficulty with the situation at first. If I did not know what she wanted, I pointed to something or showed her a picture for confirmation. When I took her somewhere in the facility in her wheelchair, she’d rigidly put her foot down on the floor and suddenly stop us if I was going in the wrong direction.”
Noting her concern about meshing with the client, Demetrice added: “My mother encouraged me by saying, ‘You and your client will have a good day.’ After a while, before I’d go there for a shift, I’d pray and ask God to give me favor with the client. God was involved with building my connection with the client. I asked God to show me things to help her, and God did just that. I asked one day if the client would like to pray with me, and she did. I’d read from the ‘Daily Word,’ and we’d end with ‘amen.’ It gave me the chills. I was so excited. Overall, I wanted to understand her and learn everything I could about her so I could help in any possible way.”
Among the things Demetrice learned were:
- “She mostly wanted to stay in her room, but she’d leave the room to get her nails done. She picked out the polish. She looked forward to the routine.”
- “We’d turn on a television channel called ‘MeTV’ and watch the series ‘In the Heat of the Night.’ Now I watch it every day to remember her.”
- “While we’d watch TV, if I talked too much, she’d give me ‘The Look,’ and I knew I had to quiet down. I would laugh.”
- “The client would not eat for her sister-in-law, but she did for me. I’d take a picture of her eating and send it to her sister-in-law. I know she appreciated it.”
- “One way I knew I’d won her over was when she started holding my hand. If she grabbed one or both of my hands and squeezed, that was her way of thanking me.”
Demetrice won’t forget her month of December with the client. “I played Christmas music that had a jazz beat, and she liked that. I’d play music from my phone on a low volume after I put her in front of the mirror and put her hair in rollers. The music sparked a smile, and she liked having her hair in rollers. She’d sit for an hour or an hour and a half at a time,” Demetrice recalled.
Then January arrived, and so did the unexpected heartbreak about 10 days into the New Year. “When I arrived at the beginning of the week, I saw a big difference in her. I would hold her hand, and I saw a tear roll down her cheek. I think she became ill with a virus and went downhill, an all-of-a-sudden thing. She stopped eating and declined so fast. It was so sad,” Demetrice said.
“Later, I cried when her sister-in-law told me it was not looking good. On a Wednesday I went to see my client even though I did not have a shift with her. She was not conscious. I blessed her, anointed her with oil and played Christian music for her. After I went home, two or three hours later, I got the call. She had gone home to be with the Lord. I thanked God for the opportunity to get to know and serve her. Through it all, Home Instead checked on me. I appreciated that.”
At our award-winning Home Instead franchise, owned by Kelly Hutchison, all Care Professionals are screened, trained and insured. For inquiries about employment, please call (630) 637-3360 or apply online. For further information about Home Instead, visit our website at homeinstead.com/home-care/usa/il/naperville/402.
Our Home Instead franchise serves five Illinois counties (Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall and Will) and 29 Chicagoland towns (Aurora, Bartlett, Batavia, Bolingbrook, Bristol, Campton Hills, Elburn, Elgin, Geneva, Kaneville, Millbrook, Montgomery, Mooseheart, Naperville, North Aurora, Oswego, Plainfield, Plano, Sandwich, Somonauk, South Elgin, St. Charles, Sugar Grove, Warrenville, Wasco,
