Man’s Best Friend

<sub>Callie and with her owner

March 2, 2023</sub>
Polly Wellbaum is an RN at the Respiratory and Nursing Center of Dayton(RND) whose heart is filled with compassion and love for her residents. Recently, a gentleman brought in his wife for respite care at RND. As his wife's only caretaker, he turned to RND to care for her while he went to the hospital to have some tests run. She was an absolute doll, and everybody loved her.

Once he was done with his tests, he came and picked her up, and they went home. A few weeks later, he brought her back because he had to have a procedure and once again needed her cared for. The gentleman came back to Respiratory and Nursing Center of Dayton afterward and told the staff he was told he had six weeks to live. The realization of this news hit him hard, and he realized he couldn’t care for his wife anymore.

He came every day to see her, but the staff could see him deteriorating. The gentleman decided he wanted to go to hospice because he was tired, and it was Polly who told him he could check into RND for hospice care to room with his wife. He wanted to but told Polly, “I can’t. I have Callie, my dog I have had since she's been a pup. I need a home for her." He did not want to take Callie to the pound. The staff at Respiratory and Nursing Center of Dayton rallied. Amy Monk-Figgins, an RN at the facility, who runs a dog rescue, got with Polly to adopt Callie. Polly brought Callie to work every shift, and Callie would sit in the room with this couple while Polly worked.

The gentleman's wife said, “This is just like being home. I have my family here." Every day Callie came to work with Polly and then took her home with her at night. The husband passed late last week, and his wife asked, “Will I see him again?” Polly said yes, then she replied, "I’m going to go too." This morning she passed.

Callie was with them when they passed.


^{Polly Wellbaum, Callie and Amy Monk-Figgins}

This is Foundations Health Solutions Culture of Care.

Polly and the staff at Respiratory and Nursing Center of Dayton went the extra mile to allow Callie to be at the facility with her family. God bless Polly and the team at Respiratory and Nursing Center of Dayton, kudos to you all for caring and believing, knowing, and living that our residents come first. Polly is still fostering Callie and said, “she’s a great dog! She is well taken care of, and the couple knows their job is done here.”

“When an eighty-five pound mammal licks your tears away, then tries to sit on your lap, it's hard to feel sad.”

- Kristan Higgins

Bob Speelman, STNA