We love to share home care and hospice stories. Below is a story sent to us from Assemblywoman Melissa "Missy" Miller about her personal experience with home care.

"I have been blessed with 3 wonderful children. Two of my children have special health care needs. My daughter Melanie passed away when she was 7 from her condition and my son Oliver is almost 20! We have been so fortunate to have had wonderful home care providers throughout the years. When my daughter became very ill, she needed to have nursing care in the home. It was a terribly frightening time, she was very ill and getting sicker and I was struggling to do all of her care myself, while still working and caring for my younger daughter.

When we had nurses start, our world changed for the better. These nurses gave me tremendous peace of mind, their expert, loving care enabled me to sleep, work and just be Mama again to Melanie. After Melanie passed away, we welcomed Oliver to our family. Oliver has very different medical issues than Melanie but also needed home care support. As I've said, Oliver is almost 20 and we have had home care since he was about 1! We would not have been able to get Oliver as far as he's come without the help of these amazing people.

We have nurses who are a part of our family now, lifelong friends. They care for and love Oliver like we do! The people who choose to go into home care are a very special group of people. They choose to do the work that is often physically demanding, scary, even heartbreaking at times. They recognize that the care they are providing makes a huge difference in the lives of the people they care for and their families. The rewards are felt mutually. My life is forever changed for the better because of them!"
--
Missy Miller
Assemblywoman
20th District