Rejuvenating stories of healing at Country Lane
Two of the stories that inspire team at small Extendicare home
Wednesday February 22, 2012 -- Kristian Partington
“You need to see that once in a while,” says registered nurse Kim Mitchell as she reflects on two residents who the team at Country Lane in Chatsworth helped become well enough to return home.

In long-term care, where staff members build long-standing relationships with residents and their families, Mitchell explains there can be difficult emotional aspects to the job.

“Our residents, we do become their families, and their families are our extended families,” she says. “Sometime there is sadness.”

To see residents get well enough to return to their own homes “rejuvenates you,” she says.

Mitchell shared two such stories with the Morning Report.

One story focused on a resident with terminal lung cancer whose life was greatly improved after moving to Country Lane. The other was a gentleman who came to the home in 2008 with a diagnosis of dementia.

At the time, he was suicidal, she recalls, but his diagnosis proved incorrect. He was suffering from severe depression and had stopped taking medication. He was a danger to himself and refused to leave his room, terrified of the people around him.

“Through a great many team conferences we began to come up with ideas and suggestions to help Jake rediscover his self worth and how much he could still contribute to life around him,” says Mitchell.

He began to leave his room and helped with small jobs around the home, getting mail or working in the gardens.

“He lost his fear and his anxiety and we could see pride in his face,” says Mitchell, and at the end of 2009, he moved out of Country Lane to live with his daughter.

Today, he lives in his own apartment and is a frequent visitor and volunteer at the small home where he rediscovered the value of life.

He works on the gardens, trims the hedges and helps decorate for holidays.

“We were lucky to have been able to care for him when he required our help and now we are lucky to continue to have him as a friend,” says Mitchell.

If you have a resident success story to share, please contact 800-294-0051, ext. 24, or e-mail kristian(at)axiomnews.ca.