What You're Missing

It's been a while since I've told a good case management story, but I want to let you all know what you're missing out on by not having a job that involves meeting old people in their homes. :-) Yesterday, I set up an appointment with a brand new client. Someone I'd never met before, an 82 year old woman who had two heart attacks and a stroke on the same day back in February. I knocked on her door at the appointed hour, and I heard a voice hollar "Come Innnnnn!" so I entered. As I stood just inside the door, said voice hollared again, "I'm in the bathroom!" I said, "Okay," in my most patient voice. Then the voice said, "I'm in the bathroom, you can come on back to the bedroom." Now, I happen to be quite familiar with these particular apartments, being part of a senior living residence and all, and I happened to know that there was a strong likelihood that the door between the bathroom and the bedroom was not closed. Maybe she's just washing her face, I thought. No such luck. I stepped inside the bedroom, and she kept talking, "Come on around the corner." Yup. Grandma was sitting on the toilet, grunting, and struggling to figure out her pull-ups. She held it up, squinting in the unlit bathroom, and looked at me. I tried to discreetly take a seat on the end of her bed and wait for her to make it into the bedroom to discuss our program. Depends are not in the job description!