News from Care Wisconsin

January 29, 2010

Cheryl's Story

In September 2009, Care Wisconsin member Cheryl Depp had a unique request for her team RN, Tammy Coplien. She asked for permission to nominate her for Fox 47’s monthly “Nurses Touching Lives” segment. Tammy was honored, and the local network chose their story to spotlight on the November 29 nightly news.

Since she joined the Partnership Program in July 2008, 52-year-old Cheryl Depp has a new lease on life. She calls Tammy her “guardian angel” and credits her with not just saving her life, but greatly improving the quality of it.

When Tammy met her, Cheryl could only get up to take medicine before returning to her couch. She had never smoked, but her lungs looked like those of a 20-year smoker at three packs a day. The pressure in constricted arteries to her lungs was elevated, causing additional stress to her heart in order to pump blood into the lungs. Even on constant oxygen, Cheryl had to remain sedentary.

When Cheryl was diagnosed with primary pulmonary hypertension, Tammy recommended infusion therapy using Flolan, which required surgery. Tammy came over daily for two months to help administer the medication, which Cheryl is now able to mix, adjust and give herself; the daily treatment has been hugely successful.

Tammy integrated all of Cheryl’s health issues into her care plan, going along and asking questions at doctor’s appointments. Within a week, she detected that Cheryl had diabetes. To help manage apnea, Cheryl now uses a sleeping wedge and CPAP. And Tammy also consulted with durable medical equipment staff to make Cheryl safer from falls in her home.

Tammy works closely with the team to provide the best care for Cheryl. The blood-thinners Cheryl need to be carefully monitored—and she was once hospitalized with a life-threatening clotting issue. Every time Cheryl required urgent attention, Tammy either came herself or sent someone familiar with her case. “Tammy held my hand, but she made me do the work of getting better,” Cheryl says.

Now receiving only laundry assistance at home, Cheryl rides Care Wisconsin transportation to the organization’s physical therapy clinic twice weekly. There, she’s increased her stamina and lung capacity to the point that she can do 30 minutes of aerobic exercise with constant monitoring of her pulse and oxygen levels. She’s lost 70 pounds and is 25 pounds away from discontinuing daily insulin shots.

Cheryl’s team social worker, Jackie Krohn, has connected her with many community resources, and accompanies her to her psychiatric appointments for a bipolar disorder. But there are fewer appointments, now that Cheryl is more stable and happier than she’s been in years.

While Care Wisconsin has cared for Cheryl’s “mind, body and spirit,” she too has helped the care team work as it should. Her honesty about a previous morphine addiction helped her care team safely manage her neuropathy (nerve pain). And Cheryl has followed the instructions for her infusion therapy so carefully that her doctor asked her to help a 68-year-old patient get through the difficult post-surgery adjustment to Flolan. Cheryl says, “It’s great to be giving hope to somebody, instead of being on the receiving end.”

Cheryl says that she’s never met someone who cares as much as Tammy: “It’s beyond my comprehension that she could be this good to everybody.” And while Tammy understands how important clinical experience and professional relationships are with members, she also feels a personal connection with those she helps. It seems Cheryl has picked up on that.