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Last Memorial Day, I
received word that a friend from another part of Florida had
fallen off his roof and suffered a severe injury requiring
months of rehabilitation. He suddenly faced a major health
crisis with no word on when he'd be able to return home. Weeks
then turned into months before he finally was able to go home on
Christmas Eve.
Throughout his
hospitalization and since he arrived home, my friend's wife and
grown children used a web site called
www.CaringBridge.org as a way to communicate with
family and friends throughout the United States. With a click of
a button, I was able to log-on to his personal web site and
leave him "well-wishes" throughout his recovery process,
including a poem upon his arrival home.
At Lee Memorial Health
System we offer a similar site for our patients and their family
members, www.CarePages.com,
so patients are able to stay connected to those both near and
far from home. I have used this site as well to keep up to date
with a long time LMHS employee who has had a tough battle with
cancer. These web sites take a lot of pressure off of families
undergoing the stress of prolonged hospitalizations and keep
communications flowing effectively both ways.
Additionally, all of our
hospitals offer wireless networks so patients are able to log on
right from their room to update their status, share their story,
read messages from friends or post new photos. And what a
wonderful way for family members and friends to log-on and
constantly stay connected to their loved one.
Some parents are using
www.CarePages.com
when their babies are transferred to the Neonatal Intensive Care
Unit (NICU). Since they are unable to take their baby home right
away, they use the web site as a way to share their story, track
their baby's progress and post photos.
Being the son of a
"professional patient" (my father had many complex illnesses and
was in many different hospitals in many different states years
ago), I learned at an early age of the importance of families
being able to stay connected during difficult times. Part of the
healing process is reaching out to one another and feeling
"connected", knowing that your closest friends and family are
rooting for you to get better as they share their thoughts and
prayers.
What could make a long
recovery process better than reading tons of web "well-wishes"
from many of the most important people in your life?
This past Christmas Eve, I
visited my friend's web site to see how he was doing at the
holidays. I immediately noticed a new posting from his family
alerting web visitors that he was headed home!
I hope if you have a loved
one in the hospital that you take advantage of one of these
personalized web pages. They are wonderful tools to keep
families and friends connected through the healing process while
being sensitive that hospitalized patients and their immediate
families should not be overwhelmed with visitors or phone calls.
Try it. You'll like how
well it works.
Jim Nathan, LMHS President
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