“I got my CNA [certified nursing assistant] license and started working at an all-boys CPS [Child Protective Services] facility. I went in there with a good mental state a year ago. I thought I could handle it and make a difference. But it didn’t work out.

“These kids who had been abused began abusing me. They would hit on us, punch us, bite us, spit on us. I kind of just dealt with it for a while. When our facility was hit with COVID, I had to stay there with everyone. That was a lot to handle. The kids didn’t understand why we weren’t moving anywhere, like not going to school. So they did everything possible to abuse us as caretakers.

“After a 14-year-old hit me, I called the cops. But they didn’t do anything. There was no parenting and no consequences for these kids. That’s when I was like, I’m done. I can’t do this anymore.

“Now I work for a health care provider, taking care of the elderly who can’t do things on their own. I go to their houses and help with things like baths, preparing food, and making sure they take their medicine.

“It can be challenging in some cases. I took care of a lady in hospice who just passed the other day. She was 91. She told me that her life fulfillment was complete. She had no regrets. She was ready for God to take her. Being that a lot of people are afraid of death, I thought that was so interesting. Because I was her care provider, I’m going to her funeral.

“I also work with military veterans and others who have seen a lot and experienced so much in life. I think I can learn some life lessons from them that will help me as an adult. Plus, it just feels nice to help them. When I enter my car after being at someone’s home, it feels like I really accomplished something important.”

— James Rodgers

The post Caregiver redirects efforts to help elderly appeared first on The Baytown Project.

“I’m thinking about officially quitting nursing. I’m just tired. I’ve been at it for 43 years. I started in doctors’ offices in hospitals. Since then, I’ve done everything known to mankind.

“I worked for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice at their women’s prison farm in Texas City. I was a case manager at UT Medical Branch in Galveston. I’ve run two adult daycare centers, which was my favorite job. And 12 of my years in nursing were in psych. Harris County Psychiatric Center had a position open in admissions, and they needed somebody pretty quick. So I thought, what the heck. I’ll give it a try. Oh, man, it was something else.

“When I started, guys would come in wearing aluminum caps. They said it was keeping the government and satellites from zapping their heads. Every year we’d get a visit from a guy who told us he was Tupac Shakur, and he needed to be admitted. We saw a lady who claimed to be the mother of Michael Jackson’s daughter. She said, ‘Michael Jackson was my husband.’

“There were times when people were truly psychotic. But typically, it was all drug-induced stuff. One time a woman came in from the streets and said, ‘I’m a vampire. I feel like sucking blood tonight. So I thought to be safe, I’d come here.’ I tried breaking her. I acted all dumb and said, ‘I remember when I was in nursing school, we learned there were like three main types of blood.’ She said, ‘No, there’s four.’ And I said, ‘Right, there’s four. So do they all taste alike?’ I mean, I tried to get her to crack. But she was into it. She was really character driven. I tried to get her to a place where I could tell this was all just so much hooey. It was during the time of those ‘Twilight’ movies. The work there could be pretty challenging, but I found it fascinating.

“Now, after all these years — I graduated from Lee College’s nursing program in 1978 — I’m just tired. I think I’m ready to try something else besides nursing. But I’m not quite sure what. I’m still curious about stuff. I’m not ready to say, ‘OK, I’m done. Give me the first shovelful.’ I just haven’t found what I want to do with the rest of my life yet.”

— Jan White

The post After 43 years, nurse ready for something different appeared first on The Baytown Project.

“My mother works for the county. She’s been at Stallworth Stadium several weeks now, where they’re testing people for coronavirus. They’re open every day, and she only gets one day off. So it’s been physically and emotionally exhausting for her.

“They’re testing about 250 a day, and just hearing the stories of people makes for some very hard days. The first week, a woman who tested positive was really worried and scared. Not only because she had coronavirus, but because her mother was dying. Since she had the illness, she wasn’t going to be able to see her mother. My mom said her heart was just breaking for this lady, so she started praying with her. Then there was a 12-month-old who tested positive. The test is pretty uncomfortable because they have to stick a cotton swab down your nasal passage. So you can imagine how incredibly tough that is for someone so young. There are many more stories like that.

“When my mother comes home each day, she’s so tired. Her back hurts really bad from standing on the concrete all day.

“Me and my siblings have been extremely careful, making sure we practice social distancing, because we know whose life we’re risking when we don’t follow what the CDC asks of us. It’s our mom, you know? As soon as she gets home, she takes a shower and makes sure she’s all clean. She doesn’t even touch us because she’s scared of possibly infecting us.

“It’s been pretty stressful. But I admire my mother a lot. She has such a great heart, and she has really stepped up to help. I know that the people who stop by to be tested are getting the best care possible with her.

“But I won’t lie. It is worrisome that any day we could get a call from her saying, ‘I’m sorry, but I can’t be with y’all now because I have coronavirus.’ That’s pretty scary to think about.”

— Kaelyn Anaya

Kaelyn’s mother, Kimberly Anaya, is a senior client specialist with Harris County Public Health.

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The post Her mom on coronavirus testing front lines appeared first on The Baytown Project.

“My daughter was on Instagram or YouTube, and she was watching this video showing someone utilizing a homemade mask. She came to me and said, ‘Let’s do this, Mom. We can do this.’ I didn’t have much fabric on hand. So I called up a friend who works on a lot of projects, and she was able to bring me some extra fabric. We found a pattern online, and we started making medical masks for anybody in need.

“I posted about it on Facebook. Just through that network of social media, I’ve been connecting with all sorts of people. Because the current supply of masks is so low, we’ve had a huge outreach from local medical professionals: respiratory therapists, nurses in assisted living facilities, and even a nurse working seven 12s at a prison right now. There’s a shortage of masks not just in the ERs, but across the entire medical platform.

“Those that I’ve spoken with are really welcoming our masks. For a lot of them, the masks that they’re issued may have to last all shift. So they’re going to wear our masks over the issued ones as an added layer of protection.

“We’re trying to spend a few hours a day working on the masks. My son even sewed a few straight seams the other day, and he wants to learn how to use my sewing machine. My daughter has kind of taken the reins for the project. She’s really involved in service. She loves to volunteer her time when she can. She isn’t one who wants to sit idly and do nothing. So during this time when we’re having to stay home because of the coronavirus, it’s kept her pretty busy. I’m really proud of her. Plus, it’s been fun for me to work with her on it.”

— Holly Carraway

Holly and her daughter, Cori, also were asked to help make masks for Chambers County Sheriff’s Office and Mont Belvieu Police Department. Anyone interested in getting the pattern can contact Holly on Facebook.

The post Mask makers provide extra layer of protection appeared first on The Baytown Project.

“When we arrived at the hospital in Baytown, they rushed me into the emergency room. One of the doctors said they would need to run some blood work and also do a spinal tap. But based on my symptoms, he believed I had GBS (Guillain-Barré syndrome).

“He said that you can get it from a flu shot, mosquito bite, food poisoning — all kinds of stuff. It’s a very rare condition that affects about 1 in 100,000 people. It strikes your nervous system, and you become paralyzed.

“After the spinal tap, the doctor confirmed that it was GBS. It was attacking my body very fast. It began in my legs and was working its way up. He said that in time I would recover, that my nerve system would build itself back up. But every person is different. He said it could take weeks, months, or even a couple years.

“By that point, my lungs were collapsing. I was having a hard time breathing. He said that other organs would start collapsing as well. Because of all that, he wanted to intubate me and induce a coma so that my body would have a chance to relax and recover. He told me that I could be in the coma for days, a couple weeks, or maybe even a month or two — however long it took for my body to come back.

“It was a very scary situation, not knowing what was going to happen to me. I asked the doctor, ‘Is there any way you can wait? I want all four of my kids to be here. I want to see them before you do this.’ He said, ‘OK, but you can’t take too long because your body is collapsing.’

“Finally, when my son and three daughters were all there, everyone was crying. My whole family was in tears, along with the nurses. Even the doctor had to walk out. It was so emotional. I felt like I was having to say goodbye.”

— Jaime Aceves

After coming out of the coma sooner than expected, Jaime began a long road to recovery. It has included several stints at TIRR Memorial Hermann in Houston. From not being able to move his legs and arms, to not being able to speak, he slowly regained those abilities and continues building up his strength.

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The post ‘I felt like I was having to say goodbye’ appeared first on The Baytown Project.

“I was working in Louisiana as a subcontractor for a power company. For lunch one day, I went to eat at a Subway. But it was packed, so I went across the street to Popeyes. I was doing so well on my diet — I had dropped 42 pounds — that I figured it was OK to eat some fried chicken this one time.

“That evening I got diarrhea really bad. The next morning it was the same. Then around lunch time, my legs started getting weak. I thought it was just from working 12-hour days. But the next day, it was even worse. I was very wobbly. I had to hold onto everything because I couldn’t walk very well.

“At the end of the work day, I decided to buy some Benadryl on my way back to the motel. I thought maybe it was some kind of allergy or something. So I took a shower, took the Benadryl, and I went to sleep. I woke up at 1 a.m., and I needed to go to the restroom. But I had trouble getting up. I had to roll onto my side, and I could barely sit up. My legs were not responding. From my waist down, it was just numb. No response. Nothing. I was like, what’s going on?

“I’m the kind of person who, if I’m sick, I’ll still go to work. I’ll tough it out. I’ll walk it off and continue with my daily routine. But this was different. I knew something was seriously wrong.”

— Jaime Aceves

After Jaime was taken to a hospital in Lake Charles, Louisiana, staff there wanted to transfer him to a facility in Lafayette for further evaluation and treatment. Jaime insisted he be taken home, so family members drove him to Houston Methodist Baytown Hospital.

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The post ‘I knew something was seriously wrong’ appeared first on The Baytown Project.

“Everyone in my immediate family, except for me and one of my older brothers, is in health care. My mother has been a nurse for the elderly for 50-plus years. My two older sisters are nurses. I have a niece who just graduated from Prairie View A&M with a bachelor’s degree in nursing. My sister-in-law is a nurse. And I have a brother in health care on the business side. So I’m surrounded by people who have a passion for taking care of others.

“My mom is 70 years old, and she’s still at it. She’s a live-in nurse right now, Monday through Friday, for an 85-year-old diabetic who has Alzheimer’s. I asked her why she does it. She said it’s mainly for two reasons. One, her birthday is 9-11. Because of the 911 emergency thing, she feels that she was born to do something in the medical field. Two, she just loves people. She loves taking care of people when they can’t help themselves. She has always felt like this is her calling and her blessing to others, and she is an amazing person to do it.

“In my younger days, I didn’t quite acknowledge all she was doing as a single parent. Now that I’m a mother of two, I realize what a commitment that was to not only take care of us, but to also take care of so many others as a nurse.

“My mom never complains. If she has an issue, you would never have a clue. When she is with her patients, it’s all about them. It’s all about what they need and how she can help them. She’s just a big inspiration to me.”

— Maureen St. louis Nelson

Maureen’s mother and her husband, who was a caregiver for his grandparents, inspired her to write a book. It will highlight stories of people in the health care profession and others who are caregivers. If you are in one of those roles and would like to share your experiences for the book, email Maureen at bluemsnelson@gmail.com.

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The post She’s surrounded by a family of caregivers appeared first on The Baytown Project.

“Learning that he would need a bone marrow transplant was probably just as scary as finding out he had leukemia. Not because of the procedure, but because you don’t know if you’re going to find a donor, especially within the Hispanic community.

“Joey’s dad is from Puerto Rico. So because I’m white and his dad is Hispanic, that meant his opportunity to find a donor was only about 20%. We went into this with our hopes very low.

“But after running the initial lab work to find a donor, we were blessed to learn that they found over 1,000 9-out-of-10 (human leukocyte antigen) matches and 10 10-out-of-10 matches in the country. That’s very rare because there’s a lack of donors in the Hispanic community. Therefore, there’s a lack of opportunities for these kids. We see so many kids up here who don’t have a good match. It almost makes me feel guilty that my son had so many matches. All these kids deserve a chance to live their lives.

“When you don’t know your donor — when it’s not a family member or a friend — you’re not allowed to see that person for a year. All we know about our donor is that she’s a 31-year-old female. That’s a very big deal to me because I’m also 31. It’s like she’s his surrogate mom. She is doing something for him that I can’t do. That’s so special and meaningful to me.

“We have absolutely no clue where she lives. She could be anywhere. For all we know, she’s our next-door neighbor. Joey’s hope is that she lives in New York City. He would love to take a trip there one day to meet her and thank her in person.”

— Jillian Presley (with son, Joey)

Joey underwent cranial and total body radiation prior to his transplant on Jan. 25. Because of some complications, he remains at Texas Children’s Hospital. “We’ve been told so many times that they’re going to get us out of here in the next two weeks, that I don’t pay attention to that anymore. One day, it will happen.”

Every year, thousands of people of all ages are diagnosed with leukemia and other life-threatening diseases. Many of them will die unless they get a bone marrow or cord blood transplant from a matching donor. Seventy percent of people do not have a donor in their family and depend on the Be The Match Registry to find a match to save their lives. Jillian urges everyone who can to register to be a donor at BeTheMatch.org.

(Note: Joey Santiago passed away on May 29, 2019.)

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The post ‘All these kids deserve a chance to live their lives’ appeared first on The Baytown Project.

“It began with strep throat, and it just wouldn’t go away. The doctors thought it was my kids passing it back and forth. Then he started having bloody noses. It got to the point where his pillowcase would be covered in blood. The doctors kept telling us it was seasonal allergies and that the air was too dry. But then he started getting tired a lot. He was on a road trip with my sister to go tubing in Austin. She said that he slept the whole way there. He was even falling asleep while they were tubing, and he slept the whole way back. The following weekend he went water skiing with my cousin, and he came back covered in bruises. They said that he fell a lot, so that’s what we attributed it to. 

“He was with his grandmother one weekend, and he started throwing up. We thought it was a stomach virus. She called to say that she was taking him to the emergency room. I had to go to work the next morning, so she told me, ‘Don’t worry about it. I’ll handle it.’ I got a phone call at 2:30 in the morning, telling me I needed to come to the hospital. When I got there, the doctor pulled me into a room and told me that they thought he had leukemia. I was leaning against a bed, and I literally fell off it. And I started crying. It’s like you hear those words, and while you can see everything in the world continue to move all around you, you feel like time is standing still. It’s one of the worst feelings you could ever imagine. 

“They took him to Texas Children’s Hospital. He was in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit for about a week. His potassium level was so high, his calcium level was so low, and his white blood cell count was something like 350,000. They told us that if he had not gone to the hospital when he did, he would have been dead that week.”

— Jillian Presley (with son, Joey)

Joey received chemotherapy to treat his T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. He was in remission, and seemed to be doing well, when he relapsed. That’s when it was determined he needed a bone marrow transplant.

(Note: Joey Santiago passed away on May 29, 2019.)

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The post ‘It’s one of the worst feelings you can ever imagine’ appeared first on The Baytown Project.

“Me and my brothers took care of our parents before they died. They were both in their 50s. It was tough to watch them deteriorate. They didn’t have all the money in the world, and they had to spend loads on insulin. I’ve told my doctor that I cannot get on insulin because I just don’t have it.

“Besides uterine cancer, I’m dealing with diabetes, heart problems, high blood pressure and a low thyroid. But I can’t even afford the prescriptions I have right now. To be honest, I think the low income die early because it’s not easy for us to get help. And the help that’s out there, it’s like an act of Congress to get it.

“I had food stamps, but they put a sanction on me because I wasn’t getting enough hours at my job. I worked at Walmart for 20-something years, but that ended. Now I’m working part time as a receptionist during tax season. I’ll need to find a second job for the off-season.

“But it seems like fewer employers want to hire older people part time. The younger people are the ones who usually get the job. And when they see the word cancer on your job application, it’s almost like you have leprosy. I feel like there’s a stigma out there with cancer. They may not speak it. But I think the discrimination is real.”

— Glenda George (Anahuac)

(Note: Glenda George passed away on April 7, 2020.)

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The post Cancer, age work against her when job hunting appeared first on The Baytown Project.