CAREGIVER OF THE MONTH August 2013 Grand Rapids, MI

 

Tammy Yaeger

Tammy Yaeger

We have a client who had a history of falls and really needed some oversight. But she coveted her independence and privacy so she resisted home care services. When her son pleaded with her to work with us, she simply said “I am fine, and I don’t want any strangers in my home!” How many times have we heard that? Enough that I wrote a blog about it in this month’s newsletter. Check it out!

We finally engaged with her after another fall, coming three times a week in the afternoon, and it did not take long for her to not only accept our services, but to look forward to every visit from our August Caregiver of the Month, Tammy Yaeger. At this stage Tammy is as close to being her daughter as she could possibly be, so once again one of our caregivers has bridged the divide between “stranger” and “trusted caregiver” in a very short period of time.

But our client had another fall in the morning when we were not there that ended in a hospital stay. When we encouraged her to let us be there in the morning to help her prevent more falls, she said she would think about it, but in the end when she came home, said no. Tammy knew her well enough to know she would not change her mind, so she just started calling our client every morning from home to make sure she was okay. Isn’t that what daughters do?!

Our client also had another complication that required some assistance, and when she came home from the hospital, Tammy went over there (and brought her husband along so she could introduce him, quasi son-in-law that he is!) to help her get settled back in her condo.

Tammy refuses to be paid for either the time she spends phoning our client every morning or the special, unscheduled trips she makes to be sure our client is comfortable. There are GREAT caregivers, and then there are ANGELS. Tammy is an Angel. It is just who she is, unselfish, professional, and utterly client centric. The world would be so much better off with more Tammys!

 Thank you Tammy for all you do for our clients.

 Dan Gauthier

Gauthier Family Home Care