My 93-year-old stepfather is a patient at Kaiser and after numerous falls and visits to the hospital, he received a pacemaker last year. We first met Diane Simpson at his first pacemaker check. Diane was very patient with explaining how it worked and what to do. The patient was having to deal with numerous appointments as he fainted and face planted on the concrete. He had multiple fractures to his jaw so he was also seeing the facial plastic surgeon, cardiologists, primary care, etc. He suffered from arrhythmias and was placed on medicine to help. Unfortunately, the drug had many side effects and landed the patient back into the hospital with some lung toxicity and an infection from his diverticulitis. After many trips in and out of the hospital, we managed to get the patient back home. He still struggled with the arrhythmias and orthostatic hypotension. I worked with the doctor and Diane about his condition. At his last physical appointment with the doctor, he mentioned that he was tired and inquired about Hospice. We knew he was giving up. We also knew that the arrhythmias would return as the drug washed out.
Diane was very helpful in monitoring his pacemaker and checking the interrogation reports that we would send to her remotely. She monitored him over the weekend and always called us back when we had questions. She is compassionate, had excellent follow up and genuinely cared about the patient. She went above and beyond what she needed to do to help us. The patient was placed on a beta-blocker on her recommendation and after talking to the Dr. they started the drug. She was so delighted that the beta-blocker was helping. She continues to work with us on the dose adjustments and monitors him remotely. This level of care gave us a sense of hope that he may be ambulatory one day.
We know that he still has a long journey as he is extremely weak, doesn't have an appetite, and still suffers from orthostatic hypotension. But knowing that we have a team like the doctor and Diane is comforting to our family. They both have been excellent, compassionate, and patient. It's refreshing to see that this level of service can still exist in medicine. I hope that Diane and the Dr. are recognized for being who they are!