To quote an old Texas saying, Alexandra Choy has “a lot of irons in the fire.” The Home Instead® Care Professional of the Month is a third-year nursing school student who carries a full academic load as she works toward her Bachelor of Science in Nursing, and she also helps her aunt as the family caregivers for her grandmother, who undergoes at-home dialysis and lives with Alexandra.
The soon-to-be registered nurse’s future is bright – in fact, she already has received a job offer from a clinic that is awaiting her graduation. That prospect excites Alexandra, but she also remains steadfast in her desire to remain part time with Home Instead of Collin County, an award-winning franchise owned by Todd Felker. Alexandra is loyal to her original client, a widower who has been dealing with Parkinson’s disease for the past four years. He unexpectedly lost his wife to the effects of COPD last March.
“My future position as an RN at a clinic appears to come with flexible hours, just as Home Instead offers work flexibility. I believe my current client will still need me some of the time, and I am not one to quit on someone who is in need,” Alexandra said. “It is hard to give up any client, and my current client is doing so well. There is real enjoyment from working with him.”
Alexandra added: “With Parkinson’s, he needs to continue to work on his physical therapy exercises and on projecting a strong voice. His mobility and flexibility – as it is with all Parkinson’s patients – is an issue. Sometimes I have to support him when he walks, and I am always a standby assist. A physical therapist comes in to help him with exercises. I work his PT regimen into my care plan for him. I also had some of my own exercises, and I consulted the physical therapist first before doing anything. She gave me the thumbs-up.”
The client doesn’t want anyone other than Alexandra and his two daughters to help him. One daughter lives with the client in their three-story home, and the other daughter lives across the street. Alexandra’s skilled and compassionate care has been impressive, but her client and two daughters might have been even more impressed with Alexandra’s ability to win over the client’s late wife when Alexandra came aboard in May 2022 shortly after joining Home Instead.
“I had equalized care for him and his wife. His wife used a walker but wanted to be independent. While I did not hover, I stepped in to help her when my intuition prompted me. She actually liked it when I did take the initiative. Sometimes she said no to my help. It took months to win her over, but I finally won her trust. That is huge in my job because instilling trust is a big thing. I want them to be comfortable with me. Some care is quite personal. She tried to help her husband as much as she could, and that made her feel important. Despite her challenges, she was successful with some aspects of her care for him.”
Last March, the unthinkable happened. The 80-year-old wife’s health unexpectedly spiraled after her COPD took a turn for the worse on a Friday after Alexandra had left for the day. “She was placed in hospice over the weekend and passed away on the next Monday. She did not want me to see her like that, so I did not come to the home on that Monday. It was hard. He and his wife had bonded with me, and their family loves me. I was like a daughter to her,” Alexandra said.
Home Instead Care Pro Advocate Amanda Ross said: “The family just raves about how much they love Alexandra and what a great help she is. It’s easy to see why she’s our Care Pro of the Month. She is special, having to juggle work, nursing school and her role as a family caregiver.”
At home, Alexandra and her aunt face a challenging situation with Alexandra’s 92-year-old grandmother, who has late-stage Alzheimer’s and kidney failure. “I care for her when my aunt needs a break. Sometimes she forgets who I am. She is more aware of her circumstances at night and feels bad about it. It is at nighttime that she knows she’s having memory problems. When she is waking up, she can be aggressive and combative sometimes,” Alexandra explained.
“She won’t allow my aunt to give her a shower so I do that. I also prepare her meals since she is on a special renal diet. Grandma undergoes manual home dialysis. A nurse is in charge of that, but my aunt and I took a class so we know how to do it. At one point several years ago, the doctors gave Grandma two years to live, but she has gone on for much longer than that.”
For Alexandra, there’s no feeling like coming alongside someone who needs help to make it through the day. That’s why Alexandra loves being a part of the Care Pro team for the Plano franchise, a member of a network comprised of Home Instead, Inc. and its parent company, Honor. With the world’s largest home-care network and the most advanced care platform, Honor and Home Instead are revolutionizing care for older adults, their families and Care Pros. Combined, the network has more than 100,000 Care Pros across 13 countries, meeting the growing needs of millions of older adults and their families worldwide.
All Home Instead Care Professionals are screened, trained and insured. For inquiries about employment, please call (972) 744-9898 or apply online at https://www.homeinstead.com/location/413/home-care-jobs/ . For further information about Home Instead, visit our website at https://www.homeinstead.com/location/413/
