LETTER: Peace of mind

To the Telegram:

Anyone who is or has been a caregiver or is responsible for care of another person, knows the agonizing decision it is to move a parent to assisted living or a nursing home.

When my father needed constant care, I visited many nursing homes in the Duluth/Superior area —some more than once. Some I left feeling empty, some I left in tears, but I left Golden Living in Superior with an “OK” feeling. So after my second visit, my father moved into his unit in May 2011.

My mother had a stroke in April 2012, so I had to make the immediate decision to move her into Golden Living as well. But the staff there determined she needed to go a geriatric, psychiatric hospital in Minnesota to get her on a combination of medicines combined just for her. After eight days there, she returned to Golden Living doing very well on her new combination of meds.

She has now been there, in the same room with dad, for eight months. Both my parents are happy, comfortable and feel safe.

I feel good that I made the decision to move them both to Golden Living. The entire staff from the administrator and office staff to the maintenance guys and especially the nurses and CNAs are angels right here on earth. After one visit to my parents, people can see the love that is shown by everyone that works there toward all the residents. My parents both have dementia, as do all the other residents in their unit, so it’s a tough place to work, but love seems to have overcome the difficulty of working there.

I am writing this in hopes that if anyone has to make the same difficult decision I did, reading this could perhaps be helpful. A tough decision — yes, but also a very good decision.

Laurie Gucinski,

Port Wing, Wis.

Tags: opinion, letters