What in the world...Part Two

As he was doing this I got a real good look around and saw what he was wearing, he had on sweatpants and a sweater with a coat over it. As I look down at his pants I noticed that they were wet, but not like an incontinent wet but an oily substance. I had to ask. “Steven, what is that all over your pants?” he looked down between his legs and said “oh that is oil”, “what kind of oil” I had to ask. He took a deep breath and said: “cooking oil, I rub it on my legs so they won’t get chapped.” “Oh,” I said, not really knowing how to respond to this.

“Well, let me look at your hand, Steven.” What I saw were little areas of redness and some drainage coming from the nail of his middle finger, I put gloves on and I squeezed it and it started to drain as he yelled at me that it hurt. It was indeed a very small area of cellulitis, so my next step was to call the doctor to discuss a plan for his infected finger before it got worse, I would recommend an antibiotic for him. I was afraid to ask him for his phone, but I left mine out in my car, he led me back into the kitchen, but before he turned the light on, I noticed the stove was going…all four burners and next to it was a piled high to the ceiling were empty pizza boxes.

Now I was scared, “Steven, I have to shut the burners off, with that gas going so close to those boxes it’s a fire hazard!” “Oh no,” he cried back, “that is how I heat the house!” I was lost at this point, what am I going to do for this man, he was unstable and his home was the same. I shut the burners off and I warned him not to turn them back on again. I then told him that I had to go outside to make some phone calls, due to the fact that he did not have a phone for me to use.

I went outside and took a deep breath, a really deep breath; I needed the fresh air, “what am I going to do for this man.” The first call was to my manager. “Oh God, Marilyn do you think you're even safe in that house?” After telling her of the situation, I told her I could manage but we need a Medical Social Worker (MSW) to immediately assess this man and to assist with some emergency community resource plans. My plans were to call the town hall and get the board of health involved and inform the town nurse of the situation as well. My boss agreed to the plan and I began to make phone calls.

I called the Doctor for the antibiotics and to update him with the plan and assessment; I told him I felt unless we do something for this man he was not safe in the home. The board of health came down and at first wanted to condemn the house, “but this is all this man has.” I told them lets work together and come up with a better plan.

So we worked with the town and got Steven used furniture, we had a company come out and clean his home and one to fix his broken gas heat. I continued to visit and assess him and I even brought him two new sweatpants and clean socks and told him no more oil. The MSW in collaboration with psychologist was able to get him started on new medications so he could function more properly and live freely in his home.

Steven learned to trust me, throughout his care with the VNA he slowly became a different man. He finally made it to the doctor’s office with the help of “the ride,” transportation that the MSW had set up for him. He was able to walk down the street to the store and buy meals, instead of having everything delivered. It was nice to see Steven get out and be more independent. The community services had really helped him out and even though I thought he was trouble from the start, it turned out that I changed his life with just a few phone calls from my car.

Not all the cases like Steven’s turn out this way, we were very lucky, that the town he lived in had all the resources that they did and were able to provide him with what he and his home needed. There are times when Steven’s name comes up every now and then when my boss and I are talking about tough cases, mainly the disgusting homes that we have to sometimes go into, he is at the top of our list. We both saw him at his worst and at the finished product of our work and both of us agree that he is a success story and that is what keeps us going.