Patient Credits Recovery to Home Health Care Team

A beautiful fall day welcomed Forrest Health Home Care Physical Therapist Seth Hester, PT, as he made his way to the front door of Lana Buckley’s home in the Stringer community. Michelle, a brown Labrador Retriever, that Buckley shares with her daughter and family next door, ambled across the yard to greet him. Just inside the door, Lana sat patiently in her recliner eagerly awaiting Seth’s arrival, even though she knew he was going to put her through the paces during her afternoon Home Health Care appointment. These appointments take place a couple of times a week.

Buckley, a spry 79, fell in recent weeks causing significant damage to her arm. Seth and Home Health Care Registered Nurse Dawn Barnett, RN, who are usually there at different times of the week, have been seeing Buckley on a regular basis for several weeks now to make sure her arm doesn’t get infected, heals properly, and she gets her strength back.

But it’s not the first time Home Health Care has visited the house located on a county road in Jasper County. About three years ago, Buckley suffered a heart attack and was transferred to the Cardiac Care Unit at Forrest General Hospital in Hattiesburg. Seth, Dawn, and Lisa Gatlin, RN, PCM, who now oversees the Forrest General Home Health Care office in Laurel, were her Home Health caretakers, or “angels,” as Buckley refers to them, who nursed her back to health then and continue to do so today. “When Dawn and Seth come, I’m a happy camper.”

But Lisa was there even before then, having taken care of Buckley’s husband before he passed away. She took such good care of him that he had a small trophy made with “Nurse of the Year” engraved on it and listed her middle name as “vampire.” “That’s because I was always drawing blood from him,” Gatlin said. He even had some kind words published about her in the local newspaper. Treasures to Gatlin, she has the trophy and a copy of the paper in her office at work.

Today, Buckley is eager to get her workout started, and heads toward the door on her rollator walker where she and Seth stroll down the road a piece, sometimes stopping to pick persimmons, which are currently in season, from a tree that overhangs the road. Then, it’s back to the house with Michelle leading the way, after a stop for a sniff or two.

Back at home, Buckley moves to the couch, gets comfortable, and begins moving her legs up and down, alternating right and left, as Seth counts her 20 repetitions. Then it’s horizontal movement for another 20. From there it’s on to pedaling her bicycle, which is actually just the pedals, sans seat, handlebars, and wheels. No basket, horn, or banana seat for Buckley, who keeps a steady pace, never stopping for a breather. She is currently pedaling for six minutes on her way to a 10-minute goal. She then repeats her leg exercises and is done for the day. “I’m doing a lot better since he’s been coming,” said Buckley, who laughs that Seth is the only man she’ll let in her house other than her brother.

Next, it’s onto a kitchen stool where Dawn checks her vital signs, asks her a series of questions about doctor’s appointments, eating, medications, and getting around. Seth has gone outside with a can of spray to battle wasp nests in the garage that could pose a real nuisance to his patient. It’s just one of those extra things that Home Health Care workers find themselves doing to assist their patients however they can.

In addition to her daughter and family next door, Buckley also has a younger brother and a grandson who live close by, and a son who lives up the road in Bay Springs. “I love on all of them like Dawn and Seth love on me,” she said.

As far as rehabbing her arm, when Buckley’s Home Health Care nurses, Dawn or Monica, aren’t around, her daughter has been trained to tend to the wounds and rewrap her arms. “We not only teach the patient, but family members, also,” said Dawn.

Following Buckley’s heart attack, she was sent home with Home Health Care to help her get back up on her feet again, and rebuild her strength. “I love it,” she said. “It’s very important to have them come to me. I don’t get out a lot and don’t drive much anymore. I don’t even go to the grocery store. My daughter does that for me.” She does go to church, to the drive-thru at her pharmacy, and occasionally out to eat with family. Her daughter takes her to doctor’s appointments, and she gets meals delivered by a friend at a nutrition place right up the road. “Like me, my friend had gotten out of shape, and I really did when I fell,” Buckley said. “I’ve got my friend doing exercises, too. She told me, ‘I don’t know how you do that.’ I tell her it makes you stronger, much stronger.”

“Dawn and Seth are like family,” said Buckley. “I love them and they love me. Dawn will tell me to text her and let her know how I’m doing. And I see Seth around in Stringer. They are precious. I don’t think nobody else would tend to me.”

Buckley said the threesome share things with each other – stories about family members, what they’ve been up to, and what they’ve got coming up. “And they always tell me to have a good weekend,” she said.

Buckley is able to handle things around the house. “I do a little bit and sit down and then get up a do a little more,” she said. “I can’t just sit here all the time. I’ve got to have something to do, even if it’s just a little bit at a time.”  She watches TV, sweeps the floors, cleans her car out, does her laundry, and some cooking. She also has homework from Seth to do when he’s not there. “I’ve got to do them,” she said, referring to her exercises. She also admitted when she finishes her exercises with Seth and he leaves, she lays down and naps in order to rest her heart, doctor’s orders. “Dr. Borganelli (an electrophysiologist in the Heart & Vascular Department at FGH) saved my life. He was so good to me when I went into AFib.”

She’s also been babying a collection of houseplants on the carport that friends sent when her mother passed away. “I’ve been nurturing them for years,” she said. Much like the Home Health team has been nurturing Buckley.

While Buckley is dependent on Home Health Care to help take care of her, she couldn’t be more pleased. “I’ve got good people from Forrest Health Home Care taking care of me,” she said, a big smile on her face. “They are good to me, and I tell everybody.”