THE ASPIRE BLOG

The moxie of Aspire Indiana Health’s Madison County Home and Community Based team should never go unnoticed. They follow things through to completion, especially when it comes to patient care. They are determined to meet clients where they are and show compassion in how they’re served.

Perhaps no better recent example is that of “DC,” a longtime patient of the team who recently passed away. This is his swan song. (His story is used with permission.)

David was one of the quirkiest people you’ll ever meet. David had myriad mental health concerns, but always greeted you with a smile. David was a “collector of things,” or as we call it: a hoarder. David loved to collect anything related to technology, doomsday scenarios, stamps, and outer space. 

I met David almost two years ago when he was about to be evicted from his apartment due to his hoarding. I used to be a professional home organizer and melded that skillset with being a therapist. David almost instantly trusted me in helping him organize and throw things away, mostly because I looked through every single envelope, book, etc. to find stamps tucked away, including the precious Marilyn Monroe stamps he’d been looking for years – found inside a book on planes. 

Countless hours were spent getting rid of things in his apartment, and processing the thoughts, feelings and memories wrapped into all of these objects. We were able to keep David in his apartment during that time due to the help of his treatment team working to organize his apartment. 

In May of this year David was diagnosed with Chronic Myelomonocytic leukemia at the age of 72. He was ready to fight this cancer and had doctor appointments almost daily that everyone on the team stepped up to help get him to. David Ables, his Care Coordinator/Life Skills Instructor; Clay Waterman, another LSI; Michael Smith, supervisor; and I, and countless others helped get him where he needed to be. 

We had already coordinated with Lifestream on services and were waiting on the Aged and Disabled Waiver to come through to get David a home health aide, homemaker, food delivery and personal emergency response system. Several weeks into that process the paperwork finally went through and there was some relief in helping drive him places and appointments, but his treatment team continued to ensure they were at every doctor’s appointment to know all the available information for David’s next steps. 

During this time David became acquainted with his son and grandchildren again, with the help of Google meet calls to talk about fond memories together. David hadn’t seen his son in several years, so a trip was planned for David to be able to see his son and grandchildren in person again. Work on David’s advanced directives were completed and David was at peace with whatever was to come. 

On July 7, David was taken to the hospital after a fall in his apartment resulting in a subdural hematoma. Due to David’s leukemia diagnosis, his platelets were extremely low so he needed to get platelets and blood into his system to be able to become stable for surgery. I was with him all day on that Friday in the ICU as he cracked jokes, telling nurses crazy stories about the things he’d done or seen in his life. David talked extensively about his stamp collection and the love he had for science and outer space. 

He was the hit of the ICU and all the nurses loved him. Throughout the weekend staff came to visit him and sit with him and share stories. 

As he grew weaker and weaker, we knew he wasn’t going to make it out of that hospital bed. He was still too weak for surgery and his son, who was his medical representative, was on his way to Indiana from Alabama. After much discussion with David, his son and doctors, a DNR was signed as this is what David wanted. 

He passed peacefully with his son by his side in the late evening of July 12. I and all the other members of the HCBS team were of course very sad, but also content in that we knew we’d done everything in our power to make him happy and healthy as possible during his last years.

But that wasn’t the end of David’s story. 

Coordination with a funeral home occurred to ensure David’s wishes were honored. Tackling his subsidized apartment inside a historic building in downtown Anderson proved to be a challenge because of his hoarding. HUD officials balked at the prospect of a massive clean-up. Again, Aspire’s Madison County team stepped up.

David had so many things that could be donated and so much technology we didn’t want to go into landfills. We paid David’s rent for the month of August to ensure we had enough time to sort through everything and got to work. After-hours, weekends, and lots of helping hands from staff over the next several weeks occurred. 

Food went to those who needed it in the community, furniture went to other Aspire clients, donations were made for the homeless including tents, blankets, camping stoves, camping supplies, etc. Piles of items to be donated reached almost floor to ceiling in his living room. In the end several car loads of donations and trips up and down stairs and elevators were made. 

Then in late August, a community partner, Technology Recyclers, did a massive favor by doing a residential pick-up, taking 2,030 pounds of technology to be recycled. Then a dumpster was brought in to get all the trash out of the apartment with a total of 2,260 pounds. So in total two tons of stuff came out of this one bedroom apartment. 

David’s story wouldn’t be possible with the entire Madison HCBS team showing their dedication to serving patients and the community as a whole. In the end, David helped countless people through his love of things, and left an indelible impression on us all.