This holiday season, you can help JGH patients like Jenn benefit from outstanding care during critical moments. Until December 31, 2024, your donation will be generously MATCHED by our Board of Directors!
Jenn’s pregnancy took a turn at 17 weeks. Her amniotic fluid leaked, she had signs of infection and markers of a poor prognosis. Jenn and her husband feared the worst, particularly since she had recently lost another pregnancy.
Jenn required three types of antibiotics with five infusions a day. She spent 14 days bedridden at the JGH while she was being treated. She struggled to cope mentally. “I was feeling very down being in a hospital bed daily, away from my daughter and not knowing the outcome of the treatment,” Jenn said.
After two weeks of treatment, Jenn was still at risk. But the hospital stay was taking a toll on Jenn and her young family. She had been living apart from her four-year-old daughter for two weeks. The couple couldn’t see a light at the end of the tunnel. Would they make it through the pregnancy? Or face another crushing loss?
Then came a pivotal moment. Her physician, Dr. Roberta Shear knew that Jenn was feeling critically low and discouraged. She could see the impact that the hospital stay was having on her patient. That’s when she made a game-changing suggestion: the JGH’s donor-supported Hospital@Home program. This program would enable Jenn to be monitored remotely in the comfort of her own home.
For Jenn, going home was a groundbreaking shift in her care, and she was extraordinarily grateful for the experience. She had virtual check-ins with nurses three times a day and took intravenous antibiotics through a peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC). Her husband carefully administered the treatment twice a day for two weeks.
Every morning, she reported her vital signs to healthcare staff using a pulse reader, scale, thermometer, and blood pressure cuff. Her medication was conveniently dropped off at her home every morning.
It was a radical change from her experience of being bedridden at the JGH. “When I got to go back home, I was elated,” Jenn said. “My mood completely changed.” With her daughter close by and her familiar surroundings restored, Jenn felt more hopeful and relaxed.
Six weeks after the initial intervention at the JGH, the threat of infection had passed. Jenn was on bedrest at home for the next six months of her pregnancy, and gave birth to a healthy boy, Lou, in July.
Donors like you empower the JGH to push the limits of research, innovation, and technology to enhance the patient experience. By supporting the JGH annual fund, you give the JGH flexibility to seize opportunities to provide the best possible care.
This holiday season, give back and help us make more tomorrows for patients. Donors like you contribute to initiatives like the Hospital@Home program and other critical JGH priorities.
Hurry! Until December 31, 2024, your donation will be generously MATCHED by our Board of Directors!
*Donations to the JGH annual fund will be matched up to a total of $100,000 until December 31, 2024.
