When we learned that we would be transitioning my dad home from the hospital to home hospice for comfort care, we were very anxious about being able to manage his pain and increasing needs for care ourselves.  Heather Speece was our primary home care nurse, and she came out right away to meet with us.  She explained what to expect and let us know that we could call any time of the day or night if we needed help. She set us up with a personal care aid to assist with bathing. To help us in administering Dad's medications, she made a spreadsheet showing the times for each medication and its purpose, even including those in reserve that he was not yet taking. That made it easy for us to keep his regular medications straight and to find an appropriate add-on medication as new symptoms and situations arose. She also helped us to find medications that came in liquid or could be crushed because Dad was having difficulty swallowing.

At each visit, Heather made sure that we were comfortable with how to care for Dad based on his changing needs, and she came a couple of extra times when we had concerns between visits that required her to change the catheter, check the pain pump setting, or do a physical assessment. Heather was very compassionate in taking care of my dad, always talking to him and explaining things to him even though he could not respond. Heather took time to develop a relationship and to make my dad feel special, and his face would light up when she came to see him. Heather encouraged us as caregivers to take care of ourselves and assured us that we were doing a good job. When my dad needed his catheter changed, his pick line redressed and the IV pain pump medication changed out all on the same day, Heather came over on her day off to assist a less experienced nurse with the procedures to make sure that Dad remained stable and comfortable throughout. When my dad passed away, Heather came within the hour. She hugged us and spent a long time with us.  She made arrangements with the funeral home and the medical equipment company, so we did not have to worry about those things. Heather went above and beyond in caring for my dad and our family during this difficult time, and her capable, calm, and compassionate presence helped to make my dad's last month a blessing for us all.

The entire care team at Tower Health at Home was wonderful. They took care of everything involved in transferring Dad from the hospital to our home. Whenever I called, someone answered right away, and a nurse called me back with a few minutes. When my sister and I had a question for the doctor, she called us right back and stayed on the phone until we were comfortable with the care plan. When I called in the middle of the night because Dad's pic line was alarming, the on-call nurse came out at 3am to check the line. We are so grateful for the blessing of being able to care for Dad at home during the last month of his life, and the THAH team, and Heather in particular, made it a very positive experience for all of us.