I had an elderly man on my NTMC caseload whose personal hygiene was very poor. The odor in his home was so bad that you could smell it from the curb.

I had talked to the client about this problem, but it didn't do much good. It had gotten so bad that I couldn't get anyone to work for him.

One day the APS supervisor went with me to visit this man. The male supervisor asked to speak to my client alone. He knelt down and the two talked. After the conversation the old man smiled, asked for some clean clothes and wanted to be moved to a nursing home.

Needless to say, I was in shock. I asked the supervisor what he had said to my client. He related, "I asked him, ‘Buddy have you had a hamburger lately?’ and he said "no." I told him we would get him a good hamburger first and then get him to a nursing home where he could get some care.

The whole time this elderly man had women and nurses baby-talking and fussing at him, and all it took was another man to talk to him like a man.

When I next visited that nursing home I passed a patient who said "Hello there, nurse." I stopped and looked at him closely before I saw that it was that same elderly man.

He looked like a different person. He had a whirlpool bath twice a week and smelled like a rose. He even gained 10 pounds. But most of all, he was happy. He is still there, and last time I checked he was elected King for a day in the home.

From Sheila, a retired nurse from OKDHS