Our first experience with Functional Lifestyle Solutions started before it was even an agency. I needed help caring for Kathy at home, knew Andrea from her work as my wife’s physical therapist, and asked her, and then later Carrie, to provide care to give me a break from the 24:7 care that I had been doing. Initially I was naïve as to how much of an impact caring for my wife was having on me, and just how much help I really needed. Andrea and Carrie provided the advice I needed to get past the “I can do it all by myself” attitude that I had, and thankfully so. For over three years FLS staff helped me with home care for my wife, and they have continued to provide care following her to stays in the hospital, Hospice In-Patient facility and now at a memory care facility. And FLS serves as an integral part of my wife’s care team alongside the memory care facility staff and administration.
Some of the advice provided by FLS staff may seem unimportant or unnecessary to some but is meaningful, and often critical, to someone who has no children, no local relatives, and little other assistance, for the most part. For example, suggestions/advice concerning appropriate clothing and sizing, medication considerations, recommendations/resources for dementia-related household and personal care items, etc.
Due to the care provided by FLS staff I have been able to once again get a good night’s sleep knowing that Kathy is well-cared for and safe. And I have found the time and motivation to renew some of my social interactions. But, most importantly, their help has decreased my stress level.
FLS continued to provide care to my wife after I had to move her to a memory care facility. No memory care facility has the staff necessary to provide the on-going care that I felt my wife deserved/needed, and so I asked FLS to provide 24:7 care for her. And they did just that, lovingly and effectively, until her death.
FLS is very flexible with scheduling, and, I believe, quite unique in not requiring a minimum number of hours, or a deposit, and not requiring a contractual obligation. The invaluable support, advice and counsel from Andrea and Carrie, and the care provided by all of the FLS caregivers (whom I call “My Earthly Angels”) have, quite literally, saved my emotional life, and quite possibly my physical life.
I wholeheartedly and unreservedly recommend FLS.
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