Deconstructing with Della: Be the calm in someone's storm
May 29, 2017 |
| Peoples Drug Store in Washington, D.C. (1920). |
When a loved one is ill and in the hospital, communication as an advocate becomes all consuming. Half the time you don't know what to ask, you can make erroneous assumptions and above all you only hear through stress-filtered ears.
When someone helps you
and adds valuable clarity and information, you are more than grateful. You want
to give that person due recognition.
This sets the scene for
my story about Jovan. Jovan has a People's Pharmacy in North Vancouver. I met
him the day before my husband, Smitty was coming home after a month in Burnaby
Hospital. For those not familiar with our local municipalities, Burnaby is a
bridge away from North Vancouver. It is not far, but people in this part of the
world rarely access medical services outside their own area... especially if a
bridge is involved.
I had stopped by the
hospital to visit Smitty and get the final details of his pending discharge. It was a
busy day as I was attending a funeral that afternoon. The fabulous nurse in
charge, Raj was helping me through the final logistics. Everything seemed to be
going like clockwork, all falling into place, until we got to the drugs. Smitty
takes a lot of medication and it is complex. We had about $500 worth of meds
from his last prescription. They needed to be bubble packed and provided to him
four times a day. I work full time which makes this a huge challenge. Raj said there was
a pharmacy that might be able to help. Not everyone in that world delivers to
your home. She got Jovan, the owner on the phone for me and he said if I could
get the meds to him (he apologized for not having anyone who could come to me
that day!) he would help me out.
I did a mad dash home
to change for the funeral. Of course, the elevator was not working and I needed
to use the loo. As I bolted up the stairs I swirled past my condo
manager lamenting the broken elevator stressing my concern about getting my not-so-mobile Smitty home the next day. I did my business and googled the pharmacy
address. The timing was tight but I thought I could get across the bridge and back
and still make it to the funeral in time. The service was in Cloverdale - a
municipality in completely the opposite direction, and about an hour away.
So you can imagine my
state as I ran into the pharmacy talking way too fast and reeling from concerns
about putting these life saving meds into the hands of someone I did not know.
Enter Jovan, a most affable, calm man with the sweetest smile. He patiently
explained the process and how they would start coming to my home the next
afternoon. His reassurances and murmurings of compassion for my situation were all
I needed to chill out and relax.
Jovan and his associate
Ryan have been coming to our home twice a day ever since and they continue to
be a steady, reassuring presence in our lives. And, get this - Jovan, on his
own initiative, checked with our insurer and found out we had 70% coverage for
the delivery charge ($30 a day) and he decided to waive the other 30%. He said
he wants us as a customer. Sold!
This man has gone above
and beyond from day one and has patiently explained the process and our new
meds. He has even given me his cell number so I can call him anytime. He is not an
overly talkative man but seems to say all the right things at the right times. To deconstruct, Jovan never fanned the flames. He knows how to present sensitive information to people who are stressed. We could all take a lesson from him and be the calm person when others are going tilt.
Jovan gets a gold star
in my communication book.
BTW, our condo elevator
worked the day I brought Smitty home but finally went kaput a few days later as
we were going to see our doctor. I texted our manager and we
precariously started to make our way down the stairs. Before we got to the
bottom, there was our manager who had raced down five flights of stairs to help
us.
#grateful #beautifulpeople
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