Seattle, Washington

I moved my mother from the Tampa/St. Pete area to Seattle in 1992 when she was 70 years old. I set her up in a similar setting – a condo in a nice neighborhood. She hated it. She had difficulty making new friends and most of all she hated the weather. She moved back to St. Pete after four months. I visited her two to three times a year - which was as often as I could, but not nearly enough in order to closely monitor her health status.

My mother was 76 years old when she had her first stroke. It was mild and she fully recovered. But there were more strokes and with each one her ability to function independently was diminished. She had hired help with housekeeping but now she needed assistance with bathing and cooking as well. So we hired full time help. She thought that assisted living was a too expensive, too institutional, and she did not want to move from her condo. In fact she flat-out refused to move into an assisted living setting.

When my mother was 79 she became too weak and confused to stay at her home. I moved her to an assisted living facility in St. Pete. I chose the facility because I thought it was the right size and it was bright, sunny, and cheerful and the staff seemed helpful. (It turned out to be a poor choice. In hindsight I should have put my mother in a facility that had multiple levels of care.) The staff was friendly but with only one nurse on duty, the medical care was too minimal. My mother hated it. She felt betrayed and alone. She wanted to return to her condominium home where she was comfortable.

It was at this time that I became aware of Jane Ogilvie and the services that she offered. I hired Jane. Jane started meeting with my mother a couple of times a week. She counseled me on my mother's needs and checked out the assisted living facility. She looked at he staff and at the facility itself. She found the medical monitoring to be woefully lacking and reported such to me. I began thinking of moving my mother to another facility – one with multiple levels of care. But my mother had another stroke. It went undetected by the staff but Jane picked up on it immediately. Jane arranged for my mother to be admitted to the hospital. The doctor thought a recovery was quite possible.

After a brief hospitalization Jane got my mother into a nursing home where the care was top notch. I might add that it cost less than where my mother had been staying and the care was much, much better. We hoped that my mother would recover to the point where she could again be in an assisted living setting. Unfortunately within a couple of months she developed pneumonia. She died painlessly and quickly. My regret: had I moved her into a facility that provided better care (rather that a facility that had a pleasant atmosphere) my mother might have thrived.

Jane helped me with a thousand things. She educated me and helped me understand the aging process. She helped me make better decisions. She helped my mother by being a friend and advocate on health matters. I can't say enough positive things about this gal and service she offers.

If you want to talk to me about Jane's services feel free to call.

Jerry W. Holmes
Seattle WA