Butler County woman recovers from loss of leg with support from esp
As Mona lay in the hospital confused and barely aware of her surroundings, her family rallied around her. Decisions had to be made quickly.
For years, Mona had been beset by one health problem after another. That, plus the isolation brought by the Covid pandemic, had flattened her once bubbly personality. Now her life was in peril.
The problem was her left leg. She had had three surgeries over the years in an effort to correct inadequate circulation. She was often in pain, but in February of this year, it grew worse. Infection had set in.
“She called me and I could tell something wasn’t right,” said Mona’s brother, Ralph. “She was slurring her words. When I went over, sure enough, she was way out of it, and her toes were totally black. I knew right away what it was.”
Gangrene had settled in her foot and was spreading quickly up her leg. Five days after being admitted to the hospital, surgeons removed her left leg a little below the knee.
Once she was in rehabilitation and over the shock, Mona, 76, began to rebound. Meanwhile, her sister-in-law, Terri, moved into high gear to help Mona return to her home in Hamilton.
Retired from a long career at the Butler County Department of Developmental Disabilities, Terri knew from experience with her clients there what services might be available for Mona, including from the Elderly Services Program (ESP).
She’d even received help from the program herself after hip surgery and for her husband, Ralph, when he fell and broke his shoulder blade. Through ESP’s Consumer Directed Care option, Terri is also employed as an aide for her sister, Martha, who has dementia.
While Mona was in rehab, ESP Program Manager, Katie Furniss, arranged for a ramp to be installed at Mona’s front door, ordered medical equipment, emergency response service and home-delivered meals. Friends knocked down a retaining wall and moved a sink so the ramp and bathroom alterations could be installed.
By the time Mona returned home in mid-April, everything was ready. In addition, a walk-in shower is in the works and Mona is waiting to be matched with a home health aide for homemaking help.
That first night home, family gathered with Mona for a pizza party.
“I chased them out afterward,” Mona said. “I try to do as much as I can for myself. People have their own lives.”
“Mona has always been a can-do kind of gal, upbeat and independent,” Terri said. “I knew she had a lot of living left to do. We knew that she would want to be home. That would be her number one goal. That’s what everyone wants and it’s much more cost-effective than a facility. It’s all about adapting.”
Retired after 41 years at Citi Financial Bank, Mona has enjoyed travelling and playing dominoes with a tight group of friends she has known since school days.
“I don’t know why, but since this happened, I feel like years have been taken off me,” Mona said. “I had been in a slump from all the health problems. Maybe I’ve been revitalized. I feel like anyone would – that it’s good to be in your own home."
(Story from 2021 Butler County ESP Annual Report)
For years, Mona had been beset by one health problem after another. That, plus the isolation brought by the Covid pandemic, had flattened her once bubbly personality. Now her life was in peril.
The problem was her left leg. She had had three surgeries over the years in an effort to correct inadequate circulation. She was often in pain, but in February of this year, it grew worse. Infection had set in.
“She called me and I could tell something wasn’t right,” said Mona’s brother, Ralph. “She was slurring her words. When I went over, sure enough, she was way out of it, and her toes were totally black. I knew right away what it was.”
Gangrene had settled in her foot and was spreading quickly up her leg. Five days after being admitted to the hospital, surgeons removed her left leg a little below the knee.
Once she was in rehabilitation and over the shock, Mona, 76, began to rebound. Meanwhile, her sister-in-law, Terri, moved into high gear to help Mona return to her home in Hamilton.
Retired from a long career at the Butler County Department of Developmental Disabilities, Terri knew from experience with her clients there what services might be available for Mona, including from the Elderly Services Program (ESP).
She’d even received help from the program herself after hip surgery and for her husband, Ralph, when he fell and broke his shoulder blade. Through ESP’s Consumer Directed Care option, Terri is also employed as an aide for her sister, Martha, who has dementia.
While Mona was in rehab, ESP Program Manager, Katie Furniss, arranged for a ramp to be installed at Mona’s front door, ordered medical equipment, emergency response service and home-delivered meals. Friends knocked down a retaining wall and moved a sink so the ramp and bathroom alterations could be installed.
By the time Mona returned home in mid-April, everything was ready. In addition, a walk-in shower is in the works and Mona is waiting to be matched with a home health aide for homemaking help.
That first night home, family gathered with Mona for a pizza party.
“I chased them out afterward,” Mona said. “I try to do as much as I can for myself. People have their own lives.”
“Mona has always been a can-do kind of gal, upbeat and independent,” Terri said. “I knew she had a lot of living left to do. We knew that she would want to be home. That would be her number one goal. That’s what everyone wants and it’s much more cost-effective than a facility. It’s all about adapting.”
Retired after 41 years at Citi Financial Bank, Mona has enjoyed travelling and playing dominoes with a tight group of friends she has known since school days.
“I don’t know why, but since this happened, I feel like years have been taken off me,” Mona said. “I had been in a slump from all the health problems. Maybe I’ve been revitalized. I feel like anyone would – that it’s good to be in your own home."
(Story from 2021 Butler County ESP Annual Report)
