Our Inspiration
John & Cutter Mitchell – Our Inspiration
John and Cutter Mitchell’s inspiration for Interim Healthcare of Augusta comes from their personal experiences with caring for beloved family members.
John: My wife’s parents lived in an in-law house attached to our home. Our problems started with my mother-in-law’s failing health as she suffered from macular degeneration and then lost the use of her right side and her speech from a stroke. Shortly after the stroke, doctors diagnosed my father-in-law with pancreatic cancer. My wife devoted herself to caring for her parents. My mother-in-law’s health continued to deteriorate and after my father-in-law’s surgery for cancer required skilled nursing care, the burden for my wife, even with all of the family’s help, became too great, and we reluctantly moved her mom to assisted living. When my wife’s dad left the skilled nursing facility, he joined his wife in assisted living. They both missed their home, but it was only with my wife’s help that they qualified to stay at assisted living. It wasn’t long before my father-in-law’s cancer took him. My mother-in-law held on, but she was unhappy because of the burden she placed on my wife. She finally decided to starve herself and she passed peacefully in hospice.
Cutter: I loved growing up with my grandparents in the attached house next door. As my grandparents aged, I had a front-row seat to the aging of loved ones and their need for care. My grandmother had a severe stroke restricting her to a wheelchair and the use of only her left side. I spent more time with her to help her participate in the household. Then my grandfather started his struggles with pancreatic and brain cancer. My grandfather faded first, and I spent almost every afternoon with him in the hospice house watching movies or just talking. My grandfather died there after my last visit with him. I stayed close with my grandmother as she also went through hospice. She starved herself to death because she felt that she was a burden to her family and that because of the stroke and her macular degeneration, her quality of life deteriorated daily.
John: My wife and I were not aware of the home healthcare option. Had we known, the burden would not have been as great on the family, and in my in-laws’ case, they probably could have stayed at home as they wished. Even at assisted living, if they had visiting home care, they would not have had to worry about being moved to a nursing home -- they could have had home healthcare right at the assisted living facility.
Cutter: One of the most important lessons I learned was how much my grandparents wanted to spend their last years at home. They were both in assisted living for the last year of their lives, but only reluctantly. No one in the family was aware of in-home healthcare and the many options available.
John & Cutter: We see the opportunity to help people understand the options they have to care for family members, including the option of staying at home without putting an unbearable burden on the family. We want to help folks seeking options for the care of loved ones that will allow the loved ones to stay in their homes. And understand that if seniors must go to senior living or assisted living, they can still benefit from home healthcare to keep them in a less restrictive environment.