Taking Care: After a Lifetime Caring for Others, Frank Babcock Lets HomeCare Return the Favor

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Frank Babcock of Danielson, CT has taken care of many people throughout his life. He and his wife Rita cared for eight foster children, raising four of them as their own. And near the end of their 56 years together, Frank found himself taking care of Rita, too.

 “In her last couple years she was sick and of course I took care of her, but that ran me down a lot," Frank said. "When she passed, I had a really hard time for a while. Then it was me who needed help. "

"It was tough to see him in a position like that, where he couldn't get around and had a hard time taking care of himself," said his daughter, Mary Rhodes. "He always worked so hard," she said, recalling how even after retirement he chose to work a part-time job as a school custodian. "He loved that job."

For a while, Mary says, she and her sister did their best to take care of him. 

"We would help him remember to take his medication and arrange his doctor's appointments, and my sister would drive him to the appointments. But I don't drive, my sister doesn't live close by and we have health problems that we're struggling with, too, so it was very hard. We needed help," she said.

It was then that Frank's primary care doctor, Dr. Catsam, referred him to Day Kimball HomeCare.

"My doctor set me up with HomeCare and they’ve really helped a lot," Frank says. "They do an excellent job and treat me so well. I call Marilyn at the office every day to check in with my vitals, and Pat, my HomeCare nurse, comes every other week. It used to be once a week, but now I’m doing better so I was able to cut down my visits."

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The HomeCare staff are just as fond of Frank as he is of them. Jennifer LeDuc, a HomeCare manager, describes him as "a very sweet and gracious man." 

Frank's nurse, Pat (pictured with Frank above), helps to monitor his health conditions and relays that information back to Dr. Catsam, as well as Dr. Bradbury, Frank's cardiologist. This provides better continuity of care, helps to catch developing or potential health problems earlier, and cuts down on how often Frank has to have transportation for an office visit. Pat also coordinates in-home lab services for Frank as well. 

With this closer monitoring of his condition and help ensuring he's taking his medications as prescribed, Frank says his health has improved.

"HomeCare has really helped me to take better care of myself,” he says.

His daughter Mary says she couldn't be happier.

"I'm so happy with the difference HomeCare has made in his life, and thankful for the stress it has taken off of me and my sister," she said. "He's done so much to take care of everyone else, he deserves to be taken care of, too."

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