Chrisana: ‘Helping Others Has Helped Me’
Chrisana Kim’s sorrow over the loss of her husband and father-in-law was profound. Her daughter-in-law understood and suggested: “Why not become a CAREGiver with Home Instead® of Winchester?” The daughter-in-law had worked as a CAREGiver with the award-winning franchise that serves the Northern Shenandoah Valley, and she thought helping others might serve as a salve for Chrisana’s soul and would greatly benefit the clients. Chrisana certainly was skilled because she had served as a family caregiver in the most dire of situations.
Chrisana had taken care of her late husband for his final two years after doctors found a baseball-size cancerous tumor during a trip to a hospital emergency room. The diagnosis blindsided their family. Radiation and chemo treatments followed, with a lot of back-and-forth between their home and medical facility. Careful meal preparation, constant medication reminders, personal care and some medical care were all on Chrisana’s plate as she fought to keep her husband alive.
Meanwhile, Chrisana’s father-in-law, who had lived with their family for 20 years, needed care, too. At about the same time Chrisana’s husband began his battle, his father was diagnosed with lung cancer and went on hospice. Later, Chrisana and her husband learned his cancer had metastasized.
“I cared for both of them, and both passed away within a relatively close time. My husband died on Valentine’s Day in 2020. Coping with my husband’s death and also my father-in-law’s passing was difficult. My daughter-in-law thought I’d like working for Home Instead, and it would be good medicine for me,” recalled Chrisana, who joined Home Instead almost on the one-year anniversary of her husband’s death. The pain was still fresh.
Ultimately, Chrisana’s daughter-in-law was right, but the sorrow recovery wasn’t automatic, and Chrisana at first questioned whether the timing of the job was right.
“I was teary at times as I started with Home Instead. There were situations where my emotions could be triggered by certain things. I begin to wonder if I should be working as a CAREGiver. But, after a while, the doubts went away. Providing care for my clients brought me lots of joy. I could focus on caring for my clients instead of sitting at home and dwelling on my sorrow. Helping others helped me make it through my sadness,” Chrisana said.
Chrisana managed to effectively navigate her way through assisting two hospice clients after joining Home Instead. “I did not have them for very long before they passed away, so I did not get to know them very well. As I look back on it now, that probably was a good thing. The first hospice client knew my husband, but I did not know him before I began taking care of him,” Chrisana said. “One of the wives helped a lot with her husband.”
In July, Allyson Starling, a co-manager for the Winchester and Martinsburg Home Instead franchises who handles human relations and recruitment and retention, honored Chrisana by naming her as the Winchester CAREGiver of the Month.
Allyson and other Home Instead staff members almost immediately knew Chrisana was a natural at caregiving. Chrisana had a strong, successful caregiving example to follow. She admiringly watched her mother as she took care of her father, and Chrisana’s mother did really well without the advantage of having a nursing or medical background. “My mother cared for him all of their time together, but the final 10 years involved a lot of detail-oriented care, including wound care, because my father underwent open-heart surgery. My mother is a strong woman who accepted the challenge and did it – that’s just who she is. I get my strength from my mother,” Chrisana explained.
Chrisana said she loves every client. She pointed out clients have different personalities, widely varying challenges and unique quirks. “I haven’t had a client who I have disliked. I enjoy getting to know each clients. Each one knows what’s going on. They may not have good short-term memories, but they can mentally process what is happening and can draw on their long-term memories. They have good stories about their lives,” Chrisana said.
“If you sit down and talk with them, they can carry on conversations. I enjoy listening to them. They are curious about my background. I tell them about my past, which is a unique one, because I am a native of Thailand. I love Virginia, the cooler weather, the change of seasons and the snow. I grew up in tropical weather. Virginia is a good change.”
Chrisana added: “Being a CAREGiver is an enjoyable job, and Home Instead is a good company. I’ve had clients who were with other agencies, and they said they like Home Instead the best. I have two recurring clients now and also do fill-in shifts. I like that because I enjoy learning different things as a result of facing different challenges.”
Chrisana laughs when she thinks about how caregiving has impacted her life more than she had thought it would. “I saw a Home Instead video of a CAREGiver who said she couldn’t wait to get up in the morning and go help her clients. I said to myself, ‘I am not sure that’s how I’d approach it.’ But then the longer I worked with clients, the more I began to feel that way, too. It’s like caring for your mother or father. I worry about the clients in the same way,” Chrisana said.
All Home Instead CAREGivers are screened, trained, bonded and insured. For inquiries about employment, please call (540) 722-8750 or apply online. For further information about Home Instead, visit our website.
