12 • SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2019 • CAREGIVER
Winter Respite Special
Now through March 31, 2020
$100/day + level of care costs
Private rooms with private baths
Leave your worries of cold weather
at home this winter.
Let us provide you with a warm place to stay that
includes the following amenities:
• Furnished rooms
• TV/Cable
• Telephone
• Laundry Service
• Delicious Meals
• Daily Activities
• Housekeeping Services
• 24 hour Nursing Care as
needed and Medication
Management
724-715-1043 | myamberwoods.com
715 Freeport Road | Cheswick, PA 15024
adno=6728054
PROFESSIONAL CAREGIVER SPOTLIGHT
ROSS GRANT AVENUE PHARMACY
adno=6730324
Vandergrift’s National Historic District Pharmacy
~ Established 1925 ~
DAVID J. GREENLEE R. PH. / OWNER
114 Grant Avenue, Vandergrift
Best
Pharmacy
A-K Valley
STEADY GO• EXCLD
EPTIONAL 2019
• • UNTRUSTED IQUE ALLE-•
• TED RESPECKISKI
WE ARE A UPMC
+ HIGHMARK
MEDICARE
PREFERRED
PROVIDER
YES WE ARE - UPMC
PREFERRED WITH $0.00
COPAY ON PREFERRED
DRUG LIST!! ROSS
PHARMACY IS A
PREFERRED PROVIDER.
Make the right choice!
Consult Your Local Independent Pharmacist
View our internet site at: www.rossgrantavepharmacy.com
Or Google the words: Ross Grant Ave. Pharmacy
724-568-1221
Serving the Kiski
Valley 94 Years
was an immediate connection between all
three of them. For starters, Swensen said, she
and Bailey both share an Italian heritage.
They’re also a lot alike in temperament and
in their refusal to accept anything less than a
future in which Lunt recovers.
“What is it you always say? ‘This house is a
no …’” Bailey asked Swensen.
“Failure is not an option,” she answered.
“That’s it. Failure is not an option here,”
Bailey said. “I hold him to that standard
just like they would. I push him just like his
family would.”
Humor plays a big part in their success.
“You have to have a little humor,” Lunt
said.
One of the things that makes Bailey such
a good caregiver, Swensen said, is that she
doesn’t wait to be told what to do.
She takes meticulous notes every day,
understands the correlations between things
such as his level of hydration and his blood
pressure and heart rate, and if Lunt seems
like he needs a pick-me-up, she takes him to
the local animal shelter to pet the dogs or on
another outing.
She’s creative and proactive and gives
Swensen the freedom and ability to focus
on her work and take care of herself without
worrying about her husband, she said.
“I had caregivers before who would sit with
Brian and not talk to him all day. All day,”
she said. “That never happens with Heather.”
Bailey also understands, Swensen said, the
importance of spouses preserving a marital
relationship and having private time.
“We have someone who will say, ‘You guys
need to have your dinner together. I’m going
to step out, you light some candles and have
your dinner,’” Swensen said.
For Bailey, the key is to provide care from
the heart. You can’t do this job, she said, if
you’re only in it for a paycheck or only want
to do it halfway. She goes all-in with her patients
whether they like it or not, she joked.
That’s why the gala and the scholarship
were wonderful, but didn’t mean as much as
what happened days later when Lunt walked
needing only her assistance.
“I was just really excited,” she said, looking
across the table at Lunt. “It just goes to show
all the hard work that I advocate for that
gets done, it really is doing something when
they said it wouldn’t. It’s gratifying to know
we will get you back on your feet. It’ll take a
little time, but we’ll get there.”