Marcela
When Marcela talks about Carondelet Holy Cross Hospital, she often refers to it as part of her large family. “I’ve been here quite a few times,” she says, smiling and standing outside the hospital’s chapel. “My son has had stitches here and there. Even my daughter has needed care. I suffer from severe migraines about twice a year. My husband had open-heart surgery. My dad’s diabetic. My brother was sick too.” Then Marcela loses her smile when she mentions her mother.
“When my mother had her stroke it was a major shock. She was a healthy woman. I mean she did have high blood pressure for the last two years but there had never been any symptoms of anything.”
Marcela found her mother soon after her stroke and called the ambulance. At Holy Cross she was given a CT scan, but the stroke had already damaged 75 percent of her brain. She was immediately transferred to Carondelet Neurological Institute on the campus of St. Joseph’s Hospital, a Certified Primary Stroke Center. “I am very grateful to Holy Cross and St. Joseph’s Hospital. The doctors and neurologist couldn’t have done a better job,” Marcela says.
As the executive director of Rebuilding Together, a nonprofit organization that helps rehabilitate homes for the elderly and disabled, Marcela understands how compassion and commitment matter to a community. “This hospital is like my second family. It is definitely a part of the community,” she explains.
The episode has been very heartbreaking for Marcela and her family. Although her mother survived and is undergoing rehabilitation, she has “lost her memory. She does not speak and doesn’t remember any of us.” Tearfully, Marcela finishes, “But she did get the proper care. I can’t say enough about Holy Cross and St. Joseph’s.”