10/06/2019
Mr James Testimony -
My name is Melanie Koen. My Dad is Herbert James. My dad has Parkinson’s Dementia. He was admitted to hospital in January 2018 just after his 84th birthday. He has been in and out of hospital every month for the last 8 months. It all started with a stomach bug which turned out to be a viral infection. It made him extremely sick and weak. That was the first time he was admitted to hospital. Then it was high calcium causing bad back ache (for many years I might add), then he got encephalitis, then he had a stroke, then infection after infection, then he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Dementia which has caused him to be bed ridden. My Dad was then fitted with a catheter. There were endless problems. Then the doctor suggested a suprapubic as they are known to have less problems. My 85 year old Mom, Gloria James, had been caring for my dad for the most of the time he was in and out of hospital for the first few months with the help of myself and my sisters, Caron Lewis and Teresa Bruyns. Our other two siblings Yolanda Heyns and Anthony James are unable to assist with home caring as they are both living overseas with their families. The full time caring got too much for my mom and us all being full time working women, we were not able to assist as much as we needed to. We decided to take the route of a private carer. Our experiences with the carers were absolutely frightening. My dad was not comfortable with any of them and they just didn’t connect with my Dad. We had one bad experience after the next. My dad kept landing up in hospital for various reasons due to lack of the right care.
Eventually we discovered LENS Home Based Caring. This was the answer to all our prayers. LENS is available 24 Seven. They have the knowledge and the understanding of their patients concerns. The first carer we were given totally clicked with my Dad. They connected in the most awesome way. Hillary is an amazing carer. She is gentle and caring and so passionate about what she does. She has given my Dad the best care anyone could give. My Dad absolutely loves her and is most comfortable with her at his bedside every day. They talk together they laugh together. It’s like he knows her for years. He even misses her on her day off. This is all thanks to LENS.
