When Venetia Leyba, an occupational therapist at Swedish Covenant Hospital, noticed that one of her patients—77-year-old Geri Howe—was experiencing pain in her chest and arm during a home visit, Leyba knew immediately that something was wrong.
Even though Leyba was treating Howe for an entirely different condition (a broken hand that she’d suffered after a fall in December 2013), Leyba asked if she could take a closer look at her patient’s chest.
“She told me she had a pain under her arm which was unusual because we weren’t doing any strenuous exercises,” says Leyba. “When I looked at her breast, it was two to three times the size of the other one, and it was very inflamed.”
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Leyba’s instinct to look closer was spot on; after talking with her nurse, Howe decided to have a mammogram which revealed a small, cancerous mass in her chest.
The emphasis on evaluating the whole patient, and not just the condition that’s currently being treated, is part of the mission of the Swedish Covenant Hospital Home Health team. “I can’t treat everything I see, but I can make recommendations to the family,” says Leyba.
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The Home Health staff includes registered nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech language pathologists, medical social workers and certified nurse aides. The team works with home-bound patients in the Chicago area to help them access physical and emotional services and support.
Occupational therapists, like Leyba, help patients with activities of daily living, such as making sure patients can dress, groom and bathe themselves. “I help them with the things you need to do every day to take care of yourself,” says Leyba, who has worked with the Home Health team for nearly 20 years and has had five children born at Swedish Covenant Hospital. “Sometimes, this is done with assistive devices, sometimes without. We teach patients how to do things so they can still maintain as much independence as possible.”
Under Leyba’s supervision, Geri Howe went through strength and coordination exercises for her hand. However, Howe says she is grateful for Swedish Covenant Hospital’s “total patient” approach.
“I couldn’t figure out why my arm was hurting; it never occurred to me to really look around and see what was going on,” she says.
After a discussion with her physician about her options, Howe decided against surgery, but will instead begin hormone therapy. She says that she would not have known about her breast cancer if it wasn’t for Venetia. “All of my experiences with [the Home Health team] have been very good. They are very kind.”
She notes that she has had a long history with Swedish Covenant Hospital Home Health—Leyba also took care of her late husband a few years ago. “I’d like to have them here more often; you get to be friends with them. But I hope I don’t need them anymore!”
Leyba agrees that her work creates very close ties between her and her patients. “I treat my patients like my family,” she says. “They’re welcoming us into their homes, and that needs to be appreciated and respected.”
For more information about Swedish Covenant Hospital Home Health Services, please call 773-275-9700.
By Nicole Joseph, Swedish Covenant Hospital
