If it were not for IHSS and my very competent and caring IHSS provider I would be living in a nursing home. I have terminal cancer and can no longer care for myself in important ways. I have no nearby relatives for emotional, financial or other support so I depend heavily on the unconditional love my two small dogs give me on a daily basis. I don’t know what I would do without them. They mean everything to me. Of course they would not be allowed to be with me in a nursing home and I would be extremely bereft.

I spent three days in a ‘nursing’ home following major surgery for my cancer and it was a horrible, horrible experience. Most of the staff were very under-qualified to care for people recovering from major surgery and I almost died there as a result of this. Many of them were probably underpaid as well as they were lazy and hard to get any help from.  Actual RN’s were few and far between. If a friend had not been there the day I almost died, to find an RN and get her to my room fast I would very definitely have died then. My tracheotomy was clogged and I was very close to unconsciousness. The employee who should have responded to my calls was nowhere to be found.

It costs the state of California far, far less to keep me at home rather than in a ‘nursing’ home. Keeping the IHSS program properly funded is a no brainer, isn’t it?  My provider gets $644 a month, far less than an awful and lonely and frightening ‘nursing’ home or hospital would cost.  And my provider goes above and beyond the call of duty in that he puts in more time with me than he’s paid for.  No nursing home or hospital would do that.  He will be with me until the end and I am so appreciative of him and the IHSS program that allows me such compassionate and competent care. Thank you so much!

# # #

Read more provider & consumer stories