Assessment Visit 2
1/7/11

        A lot had changed in the Avalon building when I made my second assessment visit after three weeks. The Avalon building with its handrail lined walls and its grey carpeted floors was still the same, but the occupants were not. First of all, when I walked in, I noticed that many more rooms were vacant and I only saw three of the same people. I saw Alice, my white haired friend from the last visit, sitting in her wheel chair watching a Broadway on TV shaking a little more than last time, and I saw Tom, a big man always waiting in the lobby for his son, a man of about seventy, to come play Yahtzee with him. Sadly, the third man, the one I saw last time with pneumonia, now has airtubes in his nose and can barely open his eyes while he lays in his hospital bed. There were also some new residents in the Avalon. The first man I met of the day was obviously a big Boston sports fan because he had on a Red Sox jacket and a Patriots hat these weren’t even enough as he had Red Sox memorabilia on his side table too. Another New visitor I met was Joan. Joan was an old woman with a yellow wheelchair who laughed for about three minutes and then stuttered her next sentence out for another three. A lot had changed in me too as I seemed much more nervous for this visit then for the first. I am mostly nervous because it makes me sad to know people are dying. For example one room still had the signal for a patient in bad condition, but there was no nametag and the lights were out; they died. I am very nervous while walking in, but, when you bring a smile to a face that hasn’t smiled in a long time, it is a great feeling. Although a lot changed, this pet visit produced as many smiles as the first.