One story illustrated CAREGiver of the Month Lynn Russell’s multiple-layered commitment to her Home Instead® of Winchester clients.
“I took a gentleman to all of his prostate cancer chemotherapy and radiation treatments. Every time afterward, he wanted ice cream that had to be from a specific ice cream truck. There were times we waited until the ice cream truck opened if we had arrived early. You never understand what people may be going through and you can’t walk a mile in their shoes, but you can walk beside them,” said Lynn, who follows Home Instead’s stringent care standards as well as living its guiding principles – “Build Trust, Take the Lead and Share Your Heart” – and has created some of her own that are based on her vast experience as a family caregiver and long-time CNA.
- “I like going into the clients’ homes and becoming friends with them and their families, and I want them to feel relaxed because I am there to help.”
- “I let each client know I respect their decision to remain in their homes and will work hard to keep them there. For those living in care communities, I let them know I also am eager to serve them in any way I can.”
- “I enjoy being with the clients and letting them know they are special. I offer assistance whenever they need it. Emotionally, it may be an ear to listen or a shoulder to cry on.”
- “I feel everyone needs to smile, laugh and express their stories. Listening is a wonderful tool, and I hear their stories over and over without pause. I listen with a passion, as if it were my first time hearing them. It’s part of being attentive to all of their needs.”
The spark from Lynn’s caregiving origins can be traced to fall 1980, when she moved from New Jersey to Winchester, Virginia, and started the nursing program at Shenandoah College and Conservatory of Music and Nursing. “I didn’t finish because I fell in love with my husband after we met on a blind date. We have been blessed with 38 years of marriage. We have two sons, both of whom are married,” said Lynn, who also has two step-grandsons, one granddaughter and a number of dogs between all of their homes.
Lynn worked as a nursing assistant at a 35-resident New Jersey facility during breaks from college before she got married. After she was married, she returned to Virginia and worked as a nursing assistant at the George Washington Home for Adults, similar to an assisted living facility. “Then after the birth of our first son, I went to work for the Winchester Medical Center as a unit secretary and monitor observer in the critical care unit for the start of a 28-year tenure there,” she said. “While I was working at the hospital in 1991, my husband had colon cancer. Then I had breast cancer in 2002.”
Lynn added: “From those experiences, I knew I was a naturally nurturing person and caregiver. As a family caregiver, I helped my in-laws when my mother-in-law had breast cancer in 1990. I took her to her chemotherapy treatments and stayed with her. In 1994, my father-in-law asked me to be the one to take to him to his VA hospital appointments in Martinsburg, West Virginia. He passed away Dec. 1, 1994.”
Lynn never stopped being a family caregiver. In 2010, her mother-in-law was diagnosed with lung cancer and wanted to live at home. Alongside her husband’s siblings, Lynn assisted in the care until her mother-in-law’s death Feb. 14, 2011. In 2015, Lynn’s 89-year-old dad encountered health problems and later was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a disease that put him on oxygen 24/7. “Then Dad fell, and Mom asked me to take care of him. I was unemployed, so the plan was to stay two weeks, but I stayed three,,” Lynn said.
Then Lynn was ready to go back to work in November 2015.
“One evening, while I was searching on the computer, I came across Home Instead. I applied and was contacted that same evening by an HR staffer. I told her I was taking care of my dad in New Jersey and intended to return to Virginia on Nov. 6, so I could interview Nov. 9. She didn’t want to schedule the appointment until I was in Virginia, but I persuaded her I’d definitely interview Nov. 9, and I did. I was hired and started class Nov. 11,” Lynn recalled.
After Lynn started with Home Instead, her dad’s health held steady for about three years. In May 2018, Lynn’s mom pleaded with her to take care of her dad, 91. Lynn said, “I took a leave of absence from Home Instead. My husband and I went to New Jersey and were his family caregivers for five weeks until his death June 9. I was able to be both my dad’s caregiver and remain his daughter. Mom asked us to stay for a while until she handled the loss of her husband of 64 years. So, I went to work for a Home Instead franchise in New Jersey. By August 2018, Mom began to manage alone, so we returned to Winchester, I ended my leave of absence and returned to my job.”
Sadly, on Dec. 27, 2021, Lynn’s mother passed at the age of 93. But Lynn has been provided the opportunity to care for clients who are in many ways like her mother, and the sweet memories continue to grow.
“Around Christmastime, I helped a client who was planning to have all of her family over for the holiday. Her mission was to make apple pie, which meant I was making the apple pie. I am not a pie creator, so I had to take directions from her. Step by step, she was the teacher, and I was the student. During a project that included many laughs about her baking measurements, the pie came out beautifully and tasted wonderful,” Lynn said.
“I’ve had many client shopping experiences. Each person has his or her own difficulties. Most times, clients use a motorized cart to get around the stores. One of my jobs is to maintain my footspeed and keep up. One day, I was shopping with a client at Walmart, and she was in a motorized cart. The cart battery died, and she still wanted to shop, so I pulled the cart – and her – throughout Walmart. It was a nice challenge for me.”
But for Lynn, no challenge has proved to be too big.
All Home Instead Caregivers are screened, trained and insured. For inquiries about employment, please call (540) 722-8750 or apply online. For further information about Home Instead, visit our website.
