Fifty-five years ago, when Nancy and Dick bought 40 acres of land with their best friends, they never imagined leaving. The two young couples built homes next door to each other and raised their families together. They cut their own firewood for heat in the winter, grew their own vegetables, built a barn, and raised goats, pigs, calves, and chickens. It was lot of work but a wonderful life, Nancy said.
As the years passed, and their son and daughter, and then their best friends, moved away, it was just the two of them with their golden retriever, Murphy, and their cat, Alice. “Now that we were older, all the things we used to enjoy—raising animals, tending to the garden, cutting and hauling wood—were getting too hard for us,” Nancy said.
Dick’s health was another concern. He had survived two cancer diagnoses but had lost a great deal of his former strength. As much as they loved living out in the country, Dick felt it was time to move—before there was a crisis.
In 2022, they started searching for senior living options where they could live independently but also have access to higher levels of care, if and when they needed it. Their goal, Nancy said, was to move just once.
The right fit
On the recommendation of a friend, Nancy reached out to Harrison Bay Senior Living, a Lifespark Community located just five miles from their home. “We had a wonderful meeting with their marketing director, and just fell in love with the place,” she said. One of the biggest selling points was Lifespark COMPLETE, which provides additional in-home services and support, at no additional cost, to residents covered by participating health care plans. As UCare members, Dick and Nancy could take advantage of Lifespark’s onsite medical experts and lab services, including X-rays, blood draws, ultrasounds, and even electrocardiograms, completed right in their apartment.
Although Dick agreed that Harrison Bay was by far the best senior living residence they’d seen, there was still a part of him that hadn’t fully accepted his increased frailty. Not quite ready to make the big move, he told Nancy, “This won’t work for us, because these places only allow little dogs, not large golden retrievers.” To his surprise, Brooke said that Murphy and Alice would be most welcome at Harrison Bay.
To make the transition as smooth as possible for their golden, still technically a puppy, Nancy enlisted the help of a trainer to work with him every day for two weeks. In November 2023, Dick and Nancy, with cat and well-behaved puppy in tow, moved into their new home.
All hands on deck
They settled in quickly, Nancy said, making lots of friends and enjoying the community, but within weeks, Dick’s health started to fail. Lifespark Nurse Practitioner, Amber Rosendahl, MSN, APRN, AGNP, identified several concerning issues, including low hemoglobin, low blood pressure, an open pressure wound, and extreme weakness that made it almost impossible for him to stand or walk.
Given the complexity and urgency of Dick’s condition, Amber took an all-hands-on-deck approach. She brought in Lifespark Chief Medical Director, Dr. Nick Schneeman, to meet with Dick in his home, and together, they treated his pressure ulcer wound, coordinated ongoing wound care through Skilled Home Health, scheduled regular in-home labs to monitor Dick’s low hemoglobin, and arranged for Home Health physical therapy to help him regain his strength.
Conversation about life
A new reality was setting in. “We had some really long and thoughtful conversations during this time—about what Dick wanted his life to look like, whether he wanted to go through surgery, or potentially multiple surgeries, for his cancers, and what that might look like if he did,” Amber said. Dick was still getting injections to keep his cancer at bay, but Nancy was adamant that he not endure anything that wasn’t absolutely necessary or that wouldn’t benefit him.
With Dr. Nick’s guidance, Amber helped Dick articulate his goals of care, asking open-ended questions, such as, “What gives you joy each day?” “What do you want to do more of?” “What should we do less of?” and “What do you want to avoid?” When asked what he enjoyed most about his life, Dick said his family and his friendships, but that it was too difficult to get out to see them.
“We talked about his family and his friends coming to him and bringing him down to activities—whatever would make his life better and easier,” Amber said, adding that one of the reasons Nancy is such a huge proponent of Lifespark is because it makes Dick’s life, and hers, much easier. “Nancy is her husband’s primary caregiver and advocate, but with the support of Lifespark and Harrison Bay’s nurses, aides, and staff, she’s able to stay active and independent, playing pickleball and taking their dog on long walks every day.”
Murphy, now two years old, has become the unofficial mascot of the community, including many residents in memory care. “He’s so kind and gentle with people—they love his sweet temperament and he clearly loves visiting them,” Nancy said.
Grateful for independence and plenty of support
Since Lifespark began working with Dick last November, he’s had hydration infusions, iron infusions, and IV chemo injections, but with the exception of one emergency department visit to treat a painful kidney stone, he hasn’t had to be hospitalized, Amber said.
Nancy can’t say enough about Lifespark and Harrison Bay. “Had we not moved out of our home where we were taking care of acres of land and a huge woodworking shop, Dick would probably have been admitted to a long-term care facility,” she said. “But with Amber’s excellent care and attention to detail, [Lifespark] Pastor Ron Wipf’s friendship and support, and medical services brought right to our apartment, we’re still able to live independently.”
According to their daughter, Amy, the impact of that care and support extends well beyond the halls and walls of Harrison Bay. Speaking on behalf of her brother, her husband, and her sister-in-law, she said, “The peace of mind that comes to us from having our parents in such a caring, loving, safe place is invaluable.”
Recently, when Nancy told her kids that if she ever needed memory care, her first choice would be Harrison Bay, her daughter-in-law, Mary, responded, “That’s a wonderful tribute to the staff and care.” Nancy couldn’t have agreed more.
As she wrote in a letter to the Lifespark leadership team, “In the end, it’s the people—the staff, the residents, and our Lifespark team—who have made this place feel like home, where we can spend this final chapter of our story among people who care for us and whom we grow to love more each day.”
To learn more about Lifespark’s approach to complete senior health, visit Lifespark.com or call us directly at 952-345-8770.