Client Success Stories

It was our honor to be trusted with helping Pam Purvis and Tanya Ackerman find some much needed Solutions for “Big Daddy” – Bob Ackerman. With their blessing, we are sharing their story so that others who are facing these challenges know where to turn.

When Tanya reached out to us just after Thanksgiving, Big Daddy had recently been discharged from one hospital, only to be sent to another facility nearly an hour from Pawleys. Pam was driving there every morning to spend time with Bob; encouraging him, asking questions about his conditions and care, looking for answers from the team at the facility, searching for support, yet coming up short, and then driving back home in the dark—depressed and defeated. Bob was not receiving the level of care they had anticipated, and ended up getting worse with additional infections, declining day by day. Tanya was not only heartbroken seeing Big Daddy’s condition, but was also very concerned about Pam's health and wellbeing; she was seeing the toll that the travel and the long days with no answers, was taking on her.

After speaking with them both, it was clear we needed to help make a change for Big Daddy—and quickly. Our team drove out to the facility, assessed Big Daddy’s condition, spoke with the Case Manager and Director of Rehab, to understand the care goals and if they were seeing progress. Since he was unable to participate in the therapy they were providing, we encouraged the family to allow us to help have him discharged home and set up services there to support his care. We were able to work with the team at the facility for a referral to Tidelands Hospice and quickly began planning for his safe discharge. A home safety visit helped us to see what equipment was needed and where would be the optimum placement for the hospital bed and then we started moving furniture out to make room. Once Tidelands Hospice was engaged, all the equipment Bob needed would be at home waiting for him. 

Our Solutions Care Manager, Joy Sanders, was at the home when Bob arrived. She worked to get him settled in, reoriented, and helped the family to understand more about what the Hospice team would provide. She also spent time training them on how to use the hoyer lift which can be incredibly intimidating, but allows them to transfer without risking injury to themselves or the patient. Tanya, Pam, and friend Tristian practiced on each other in between fits of laughter, with Joy’s “supervision”. These three were tops in their fields professionally—Pam a talented and accomplished Jazz singer, Tanya an award winning photographer and author, and Tristian a renowned musician and conductor—yet none had the first idea how to be a caregiver with Bob in this condition. So with support, training, encouragement, and coaching, the team at Solutions and the team at Tidelands Hospice got them ready for this big job—and they were amazing! I think they even surprised themselves!

The next few weeks were hard, knowing that Bob was slipping away and they struggled to hold on to every day they had left with him. Tidelands Hospice does an amazing job of helping families to understand what to expect, but it's still such a painful realization that love is not enough in the end to keep our loved ones from passing. The Hospice nurses could not have been kinder, more gentle or supportive to both Bob and to Pam. The Tidelands CNA came Monday-Friday and her visits were such a comfort to Pam, knowing Bob was in gentle and capable hands. The family had their quiet moments with Bob, listening to his music, telling stories, holding his hand, and not missing any opportunity to tell him how adored and loved he was.

It was such a gift for us to have been part of this chapter with Pam, Tanya, Lauren, Tristan, and of course Big Daddy. Bob’s legacy lives on through his music and with his family who will never stop loving him.

Music alone shall live.

After 10 years of caring for his wife who had Alzheimer’s, this client decided to move closer to family after she passed away. With the help of his daughter, he moved cross country, unfortunately arriving just as Hurricane Ian did. He was committed to continue to live independently, safely drove himself around and even moved himself into an independent community. But before he even had a chance to get settled in, he had a serious fall and suffered from a TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury).

This changed everything. He couldn’t walk, couldn’t speak, couldn’t swallow, had to get a feeding tube. His daily emails to family with hopeful updates ceased. All the plans his family had to welcome him to a new community were put on hold, while he transitioned from one hospital to another, finally getting well enough to be accepted to Encompass for Rehab.

We were referred to them when the family needed assistance with getting him into the community they had chosen, Arbor Landing. He was making huge progress, was responding well to therapy and was highly motivated, continuing to do all the repetitions and exercises he could on his own in between sessions. However, he had not progressed enough to meet the criteria to get into Assisted Living and the family was told he would be discharged to a Skilled Nursing Facility. Our team worked with the Encompass Case Management Team to advocate for more time, additional sessions with PT, OT and ST, continuing to work with Arbor Landing team to understand the progress, goals, milestones they needed to see to ensure their future resident could come to the community safely. When we ran into a documentation hiccup with therapy that potentially sidelined his ability to move, our team engaged and worked with Case Management & the Wellness Team at Arbor Landing to ensure the notes were reflective of this patient’s continued progress. We were able to document his ability to transfer, walk 150 feet, safely swallow and eat meals on his own and scheduled a visit with the Wellness Director and Memory Care Director of Arbor Landing to join us at Encompass to meet the patient in person and witness his progress.

This was an amazing success story for the family after a challenging few months. To have their Dad settled into this new community before Christmas, to have him safe and living close to them, and to have a care team onsite overseeing his medical needs and providing additional therapy so he can be his strongest self. We love running into him at the community, seeing him engaged in conversations in the dining room, and in activities with his new friends at Arbor Landing. 

A story we often hear and fear… what happens when the primary caregiver passes away and leaves behind a loved one with dementia and no one to care for them?

This was the case with Miss Rita who had moved down to Pawleys Island 22 years earlier and had been enjoying the good life with her husband and golden retriever. Rita had been diagnosed with dementia, but with the care and love her husband provided, they were able to continue to live independently in their golf villa and enjoy activities like beachcombing, golfing, visiting with friends, and going out to dinner together. Rita and her husband had never had children, but their love for each other had been all they needed. When he passed away suddenly, it was Rita’s neighbors who stepped in to help her and contacted her family members out of state to see who could travel to South Carolina to assist. Her friends, neighbors, and family worked together to come up with a plan – this plan included Senior Care Solutions and Services in Pawleys Island. Our team immediately engaged to provide support.

Our first step was to meet with Miss Rita and her cousin to understand the situation. We start every client meeting by listening and then working to come up with some solutions to best support the situation. We discovered that the needs were medical, legal, financial, and would also involve providing some daily visits while Rita’s cousin had to return home. Together we discussed areas of support, our local knowledge and relationships with trusted advisors helped us to begin connecting the family with professionals who could assist them. We were able to make a referral to an Elder Law attorney who was able to discuss POA and get all the legal documents in place. Additionally, since moving Rita home to her extended family in Canada was one option, we connected them with a Realtor who specializes in golf properties to help them list the condo. 

Our support included daily Wellness & Safety Visits, Medication Management and Meal preparation and daily updates to the cousin and neighbors. We value having trusted partners we can lean on in this community who work so well with the vulnerable senior population.

Our goal was to provide Rita and her cousin with the resources and support they needed to be able to make tough decisions easier by having all the information, resources, and local experts available to assist. 

Miss Monique had recently moved in with family, and was struggling to adjust to the new living arrangements. During the day her daughter and son-in-law were busy with work so she began waking up later and later each day. The family was concerned with her loneliness and worried she was isolating herself in her room all day. They were in need of support, but didn’t require what all the home care companies required—4 hour minimums of care–so they waited for the right solution to come along.

When Senior Care Solutions and Services came on board we were able to assess the needs and determine that Miss Monique had lost her sense of purpose. She had loved raising her children but after the loss of her husband, she’d lost her sense of self with her days going on without meaning. She was very spiritual, loved watching mass on television, but was unable to go to church during the week due to her daughter's work schedule. With our support in place, we were able to begin SeniorWellCare daily visits with members of our Care Team going in to help her get her day started, take her to daily morning mass, and then for a ride along the beach where she could reminisce about time spent with her husband. The daily visits were only an hour, but were just what she needed and helped give more meaning to her days. Her family appreciated our flexibility with providing exactly what Mom needed and appreciated that she had the same team member going daily.

Miss Karen lived alone and after being isolated from family during Covid, she had become dependent on her electronic reader and television for stimulation. Her cognitive functioning and mobility started to decline, and her increase for being a fall risk was a huge concern her children shared with us. When our team engaged in services, it was first meeting with all the children individually and understanding their concerns for their Mom. We then met all together and they were able to share their fears directly with their Mom and help her understand why they’d contacted our team. We engaged in care by first getting a referral for Miss Kaen to go to Outpatient Rehab where physical therapy was offered. 

After getting that order, our Nurse began daily visits, picking up Miss Karen two days a week, taking her to therapy and interacting in the therapy with her PT/OT. She managed the progress, communicated the success with the children and helped to celebrate Miss Karen each day as she met her goals. On the days when she didn’t have therapy, the Care Manager would come to the home and they would engage in therapy at home, to ensure she was continuing to progress. After two months of this level of support from our team, Miss Karen’s Berg Balance Scale score went from a 41 to a 54. She has developed not only more confidence with standing, walking, navigating her surroundings, even tying her own shoes now and not having to wear velcro. Her quality of life has significantly improved and her family is rejoicing in her success. Part of our Senior Well Care visits is communicating with families after each session so they can stay in touch with their loved ones' progress and understand where there are roadblocks or challenges. 

One of her daughters shared with us “The first time I met you Joy, you told us you could make her better and that we could get our Mom back. This is a miracle and we’re so proud of her and so grateful for you.”

“You gave us our Mom back” said her son, and “This is such a good thing she used to be so isolated and now she is getting out in the world.” 

Our team was contacted by an assisted living facility who had a future resident, Mr. Alan, who was committed to moving in, but just wasn’t quite ready to make the transition. His family all lived out of state and were still mourning the loss of their Mom, and the idea of moving Dad into Assisted Living was too much for them to process. The Executive Director at the facility was concerned after visiting Mr. Alan in his home and finding him in disarray. The family hired us to come and assess the situation and begin daily checks to ensure their Dad was taking his medication, eating regular meals, and have some companionship during the day. We provided this service 7 days a week and when we began having more concerns about medication compliance and depression with Mr. Alan, we encouraged the family to support their Dad moving into the Assisted Living sooner. Our daily visits transitioned into helping him get ready for the move—choosing items to take, visiting the community to see his new room, introducing him to other residents and going to lunch in the dining room, meeting the wellness team and getting all his pre-move in requirements completed and then helping him getting settled in to the new community so it not only looked like home, but felt like it too.