Dialysis can be draining, both emotionally and physically. And after five years of waiting for a kidney, Andres was at a tipping point. With his health deteriorating and morale declining, the MJHS renal transplant team was asked to intervene.

This began a pioneering collaboration between a university medical center, its team of transplant physicians and MJHS Home Care. Their one goal; to keep Andres alive while he waited for his new kidney.

Using every available resource, MJHS nurses motivated Andres to better manage his diabetes and other chronic conditions. After time, his body became healthier, producing a wonderful side effect… optimism. By the time his life-saving kidney arrived, Andres was truly ready—physically, mentally, emotionally—for the operation that changed his life.

Before the surgery, MJHS Home Care nurses monitored Andres’ health and visited him at the local clinic. MJHS social workers connected Andres with community services that he would need. And members of the MJHS renal transplant team taught Andres and his wife the vital dos and don’ts of post-procedure care.

By the time Andres went home, MJHS had everything in place. Andres and his wife were given easy-to-follow daily living instructions. Round-trip transportation to critical doctor appointments was pre-arranged. And a high-tech pillbox was delivered to his home. (It flashes when he needs to take life-preserving medicine and calls his wife when he forgets.)

“I’ve been on a physical and emotional rollercoaster for years,” says Andres. Today, my body is stronger, my mind is more confident and my heart is really happy. With MJHS Home Care, I’m surrounded by people who know me, encourage me and treat me with dignity,” adds Andres. “My team has given me the best gift in the world…the support I need to stay healthy!”

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Anthony and Ruth Casanova like to hold hands and enjoy Menorah’s breathtaking ocean views. But it is for the physical and emotional rehabilitation that they’ve come back—four times.
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When Ruth, 82, first arrived after a hip replacement, she was in pain and couldn’t walk. By the time she left, “she actually walked a little faster than before surgery,” says daughter Linda. The physical and occupational therapy she received at Menorah let her resume dancing with her husband Anthony. “He was my present,” Ruth says serenely, when asked if he brought presents during visits.

Ruth returned to Menorah after a stroke in which she lost use of her left side, and much of her speech. She cries to recall it—but brightens quickly. The caring and expert staff at Menorah helped restore her speech, critical for a woman who loves bantering with her husband and 19 grand- and- great-grandchildren. She was able to regain use of her arm and walk with help, a huge improvement that required encouragement from the staff and unbelievable commitment from Ruth.

Ruth came back yet again after she broke her other hip.

Then: shock. It was her husband’s turn. Anthony broke a shoulder in a fall. Of course, he turned to Menorah for his rehabilitation. Seeing Anthony, a familiar member of the staff warmly said: “Hey, what are you doing here?” This time, Ruth took Anthony’s hand and comforted him as they watched the ocean together.

The Casanovas rely on two constants: their love for each other and their trust in Menorah Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing Care.

This is Joseph, Jacob, Elizabeth, Nathaniel, Tabitha and their mom, Sharon. It’s a lovely family photo, but an abnormal one. To the left is the MJHS social worker who helped them do something no family should have to. She helped them cope with the fact that their son and brother, Jonathan, only nine years old, was dying of cancer.

The whole MJHS Hospice team played a critical role in helping all of them, Sharon says. The social worker, Khatima, brought in the MJHS Creative Arts Therapist. Matthew had the kids make puppets, thumbprints, and Jonathan’s favorite … trains. Via the art, he had them releasing feelings they shouldn’t bear alone, and holding on to feelings, like happiness, they should. He encouraged them to share their art with Jonathan when he grew too weak to participate, so he would remain engaged.

MJHS pediatric hospice nurse Wanda was another “blessing,” says Sharon. “She made sure everything was in place.” She fed Jonathan when he resisted. With a doctor’s aid, she kept him pain-free. Seeing he was “getting ready,” Wanda arranged for everything Jonathan needed so that Sharon could focus on her son. Sharon wanted all of the children to be together when the time came, so that Jonathan could die unafraid.

That is what happened. After five months of hospice, Jonathan died in his mother’s arms surrounded by the siblings he loved so much.

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Visit HospiceNYC.org for more information

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When the Froymoviches were courting, they walked daily through a European park, where fountains tossed celebratory mists into the air above them. Fifty years later, the duo still takes their special walks. But now they do it by the Atlantic…while benefiting from the added services of MJHS Adult Day Health Care.

Seaside jaunts are a main reason these two picked the Menorah campus of MJHS Adult Day Health Care located in Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn. Besides letting them relive the past, the walks are terrific therapy. Tai Chi and muscle coordination exercises are often held outside weather permitting.

But the Froymoviches are here for even more. “The staff is caring. And the programs!” exclaims Polya. She and husband Isak rattle off so many stimulating programs—from Russian poetry readings and Judaism talks to Name That Russian Tune contests, operas and pizza parties—they get flushed. It as if they are young again.

They left East Europe’s Moldava 30 years ago because most Jewish people were not allowed to enter university. Isak won 7 invention patents—yet couldn’t go to college. In America it changed. Their son and grandson have BAs. Both are computer whizzes.

And now, so is Izak. MJHS taught him to use computer programs and digital equipment. He now films, edits and scores day center activities.

The two resume listing favored MJHS programs: trips to the dolphinarium, Guggenheim, the King Tut exhibit; Club Memory. Both are “medically frail and need monitoring…but you would never know it,” says Adult Day Director Joyce Little.

Polya stands, flushed again. They are late for a famed Russian reporter’s political talk. “There’s just so much MJHS offers us,” the 76-year-old explains. She tugs at her 78-year-old husband’s sleeve and hurries off to class.

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