Climbing

a different kind of mountain

August 30, 2020, was a day to mark in the books for the CareTEAM at SYNERGY HomeCare of Portland and their client, Bruce. The Portland team threw their first social distancing party to celebrate Bruce, as he was presented with the prestigious Mazama’s Leuthold Award.

As a Mazama climbing organization member, Bruce is one of fewer than 20 people to be honored with this award since 1894 when the organization was founded. The Leuthold Award is the highest honor to be bestowed upon a climb leader by the Mazama Climbing Committee. Recipients must have successfully led official Mazama climbs of all 16 major Northwest peaks and selflessly contributed countless hours supporting the Mazama’s mission and preservation activities.

As an accomplished climber who lives for his time climbing and hiking, Bruce has been tackling a new kind of mountain this past year. The former veterinarianturned-software developer suffered two severe strokes at the end of last year. The neurological trauma left him with impairments, both physical and cognitive.

His family, who resides on the east coast, was concerned about his ability to stay in his home and manage daily tasks due to the cognitive damage he sustained. They were also concerned about him having to navigate the stairs, as he was now a high fall risk. Most concerning was his limited ability to communicate verbally in the event of an emergency.

Additionally, right after Bruce was released to come home, COVID-19 hit. The pandemic became an additional concern for Bruce and his family, knowing that his immune system is highly compromised. Going to weekly therapy and doctor’s appointments could be risky.

The staff at Providence St. Vincent Hospital in Portland, OR, where Bruce was treated, recommended that Bruce’s family reach out to SYNERGY HomeCare of Portland to help care for Bruce at home. Cynthia Karel and Laurie Harness, who provide leadership for the agency, explain, “Because it is the Portland office’s regular practice to form small, dedicated CareTEAMs for each client, we were uniquely positioned when COVID-19 hit, to implement a continuum of care for Bruce and all our clients, using the same CareTEAM members each day, to help ensure the health and safety of our clients and staff.” Agency owner Bill Merriman concurs that the

effectiveness of the small, dedicated CareTEAMs has been instrumental in Bruce’s recovery.

In response to Bruce’s situation, Portland’s leadership team immediately assembled a highly experienced CareTEAM to work with Bruce. “We understand that in addition to basic companionship and personal care education, to provide the highest quality of care for clients with serious medical issues, we must provide our caregivers with special training to best work with our clients who have medical conditions, in this case, neurotrauma or disease.”

Portland’s CareTEAM specialists worked side by side with Providence St. Vincent’s physical and occupational therapists and Bruce’s speech pathologist to support Bruce’s comprehensive in-home recovery program. Laurie and Cynthia believe that whole-person care is multi-faceted, and a key component of that is proper nutrition. They reached out to their team of registered dietitian nutritionists (RDNs) from CORE Nutrition Counseling and went to work to create a customized nutrition plan for Bruce.

Once his nutrition program was in place, the Portland crew handled meal planning, coordinated in-home grocery delivery with Bruce’s family, and had their CareTEAM prepare fresh, daily meals for Bruce, which had an immediate positive effect on his overall health and emotional wellness.

As part of his care plan, Bruce’s caregivers drove and accompanied him to weekly therapy appointments at Providence and worked with him on a daily in-home therapy program, directed and monitored by his doctors and therapists. Bruce began to make considerable strides in his recovery.

In addition to his daily physical therapy, Bruce incorporated daily walks into his routine. He quickly graduated from using his walker to a cane, and most recently, a walking stick. He now walks fast, often leaving his caregivers in the dust.

Members of Mazama have also gotten in on the act. They have created a weekly hiking schedule tailored to Bruce’s abilities and approved by his medical team. Bruce’s CareTEAM members accompany him on all his hikes, and he is thrilled to be back in his element.

Bruce’s greatest and most important success to date is the stride he has made in regaining his verbal abilities. From not being able to verbalize his thoughts to speaking words that can be understood, and now being able to string more words together to make simple sentences, Bruce is truly making progress. This has not been an easy task - requiring months of dedication from both Bruce and his Portland CareTEAM - and we are far from done.

Bruce’s difficult journey has taken nine months of hard work, including some minor medical setbacks. Through constant monitoring and adjustments, Bruce benefits from small wins each week that allow his SYNERGY CareTEAM and his medical team at Providence to make necessary changes each week and renew his goals while keeping him motivated.

We can’t wait to see what the future holds for Bruce, and we are excited to be a part of his journey.