Home visit becomes emergency rescue effort for one nurse hero

After unsuccessful phone calls to check on her sick patient, a WellMed nurse is shocked at what she finds during her home welfare check.

Registered Nurse Barbra Faux helps take care of the sickest patients at WellMed at Midtown Austin. One of those patients – we will call her Mrs. B to maintain her privacy – has metastatic breast cancer, which she has bravely battled for 20 years. Mrs. B also takes care of her husband, who has advanced dementia.

In the advanced stages of cancer now, Mrs. B has multiple other health issues, which require her to be followed closely. According to Barbra, clinic staff had talked to Mrs. B several times about the possibility of hospice care. Barbra recalled, “Any time we brought it up she would firmly tell us, ‘I’m not ready for that.’”

One recent Monday Mrs. B called Barbra and said she was not feeling well. “We had a talk again about hospice. She was scheduled for paracentesis and chemotherapy that week, and she told me she would agree to hospice if she was too ill to make it to those appointments.”

Mrs. B told Barbra she would call her after her appointments. When Barbra did not hear from her, she became concerned. “I was concerned for her welfare, so I called her, but she didn’t answer” Barbra said. Over the course of a few hours, Barbra called her twice more. No answer. “I called her sister, and she hadn’t heard from her, so I decided to go to her house after work to make sure she was ok.”

When Barbra arrived at the home, the patient’s husband answered the door. He said Mrs. B was napping in their bedroom after a busy day of shopping. Relieved, Barbra thanked him and headed back to her car. As she walked back, she heard a knocking coming from a truck. It was the patient trapped inside. Her husband had forgotten about his wife and their day altogether. She had been too weak to get out of the car on her own, and it took all her reserves just to get the door unlocked.

Barbra immediately contacted EMS, and by that evening she was admitted to hospice. The couple’s nephew cares for Mr. B while APS works to find care for him.

“Mrs. B’s tenacity is extraordinary. She has fought and survived much to the surprise of all her physicians, including her oncologist,” Barbra said. “She is still fighting, but her decline has been rapid.

Barbra began her nursing career 14 years ago because she says she wanted to care for people and make a meaningful impact on people’s lives. Mission accomplished, Barbra.