At Meals on Wheels of the Greater Lehigh Valley (MOWGLV), we consider all of our clients to be like extended family. Each client is treated with kindness and respect because every client is someone’s mother, father, brother, sister, grandparent, aunt or uncle. For MOWGLV staff member, Melinda Mayer, family turned client after her Grammy, Barbara, suffered from a diabetic shock episode that sent her to the hospital.
Barbara, a widow, lives alone in her own home. After her husband passed away, she discovered how emotionally difficult it is to be alone and that cooking for one person was just not a priority. Her lack of proper nutrition not only led her into the diabetic shock, but while hospitalized, it led doctors to discover that her kidney function was very poor. The outlook was not good and so she was prepped with a port for imminent dialysis treatments. Fortunately, having a granddaughter on staff at MOWGLV led her family to sign Barbara up to receive the renal friendly meals we provide.
Over the next few weeks, both Barbara’s kidney and sugar levels evened out and became controlled. Barbara’s daughter, Dawn credits the MOWGLV meals for teaching her mother how to eat, “maintaining a renal diet is not easy and can be confusing because so many foods are omitted from this diet”. Dawn continues, “without MOWGLV, my mother would have given up and probably would not have eaten”.
Today, Barbara is thriving and healthy. She looks forward to her daily meal delivery and to the friendly volunteers who take the time to chat with her. Both Dawn and Melinda are grateful for MOWGLV and for how it has allowed Barbara to have more years with her loving family.