Thank You Letter From a Grateful Rehab Patient
Recent letter sent to Allen Brown, Witherell’s executive director, from Lorraine C. Scarpa, Ph.D., Greenwich, CT:
June 5, 2014
Dear Allen,
Please forgive the delay in writing to you about my truly superb experience at the Witherell after my total knee replacement on April 28. You were totally and unselfishly kind to have been with me with 24 hours after my arrival, and therefore I owed you a much more timely response.
Suffice it to say that the 5-star rating you have for nursing care is overwhelmingly deserved. While I know there were other folks whose care I wasn’t able to identify as they deserved, I still feel I should point out the long list of staff whose help and personal concern for me was both material to my well-being and surprising at the same time. I’m just going to list some folks because over the course of a week’s stay there are just so many examples of great care that you’d not have time to read the letter. So let me “call out” the following:
William Lowe and Evette Aarons really saved my sanity the first night I was there, and they continued to care for me with respect and good humor for days and nights thereafter;
Erika Ferguson was my “tour guide” through the important ways to be physically comfortable every day;
Rose Velasco, Chantal Tate, Christina Placensia, and Elizabeth De Freitas kept everything going, in spite of construction and other demands; and
I’d not have made it out the door without Lorenzo Masterangelo keeping me going (or without Frank Walsh, M.D., understanding my need to avoid certain painkillers). Megan Bodeur kept me on the straight and narrow in PT, as did Kinjal Gala in the all-important OT skills. Her student, Samantha Akerson, will be a terrific addition to the Witherell one day.
As I’m an “experienced” short-term rehab patient (this being my third major joint replacement), I feel qualified to express my unconditional gratitude and respect for the work your folks did to help me. If I can be of service to you in return, please call.
Cordially,
Lorraine C. Scarpa, Ph.D.
