In 2005, Mary Shofer, then 95 had just retired (yes, that’s not a typo). At 5’1 and 90 lbs Mary was spry, active and walked 2 miles a day. A widow for over two decades she was independent and vital. Age-related edema was diagnosed and her physician made a mistake in dosing medication to lower her blood pressure. At the first dose Mary’s blood pressure dropped so low that she was unable to stand and collapsed, breaking her leg, hip and ribs. She lay on the floor of her apartment for nearly two hours before help was called. Why? She had one of the medical alert devices but refused to press the button. Mary simply wanted to go to bed. Were it not for her sister, Mary would likely have died that day.
Mary’s doctors told her to expect a 14 week recovery. Determined to return home, Mary did so much better and beat all expectations and was home in little more than six weeks. On her return Mary had 18-hour/day care and as her health returned that quickly turned to 12 hours, 8 hours and then 3 hours. The family had a need – how to support Mary’s independence and still be comfortable that she was ok living independently. A new solution was needed. Mary demonstrated that the “help, I’ve fallen” bracelet was not the answer.
At 95 the question was when would there be a need – not if. SentinelCare was created.
Mary remained independent until her passing just before her 107th birthday in April, 2015. She credited much of that time to the SentinelCare system keeping an eye over her. In the three years prior to her passing SentinelCare alerted family members and, in turn caregivers, of overnight incidents on nine separate times. Mary’s overnight use of the restroom typically was one time per night; sometimes two. In these incidents, though, the frequency and interval of overnight restroom visits were substantially higher. Erring on the side of caution, her daughter took Mary to be seen by the doctor. Seven of the nine events turned out to be urinary tract infections – detected early stage. One of the nine turned out to be deep vein thrombosis – a silent killer. Each of these events afforded the family the opportunity for early diagnostics and intervention. This is the power of SentinelCare. For Mary and her family SentinelCare afforded Mary the opportunity to see great grandchildren born overseas and her eldest great grandchild through his sophomore year of college. It was Mary’s wish that SentinelCare be shared with others.
