A New Tool for Dad

When dad experienced some health issues, this family needed all the help it could get. Not only did Companion 24/7 connect them to help. It helped them connect with each other.

My name is Kelly, Joe Murphy Sadr, and I am 48 years old. My family and I live in Valencia p._a, which is just outside Allegheny County. I am a nurse and a social worker. I have a daughter who's 32 in our home currently. It's me, my husband and my father, Edward. And I don't know. So my dad. It's it's very interesting. We're very different. My dad's a very non-emotional on the outer surface kind of guy. I'm a very emotional person. And so he worked a business his whole life. And he managed hotels. He worked in a bank. So he always had to be very practical minded. He would always tell me, as I was my younger days, trying decide what kind of career I was going to have. He would always say, don't go into business. You will lose your shirt because you will give it all away. But my dad has always been so supportive of our family.

My daughter developed a brain tumor when she was eleven. And so, you know, he was very supportive and there for us all. You know, when she could be almost as much of it as a business man. He was. We always came first.

My dad retired in January of nineteen, and then in March, he did start develop some symptoms of abdominal discomfort and was officially diagnosed with kidney cancer in August of nineteen.

I remember the night that we actually found out and I was. We had just finished dinner and I was in the kitchen doing the dishes. His cell phone rang and I can only, of course, hear his side of the conversation and it was a lot of ha. Okay, I understand. And me being a nurse in the I can imagine what the other part of the conversation was. So after he gets off the phone, I kind of finish up the dishes. I went in and I said, so what was that about, dad? He said, well, come in here and sit down. Of course I tried to because I know it's common. I'm trying to hold the tears back and everything. And he he said, look, he's like, it's going to be okay. And that's what he said. What I really need right now is I need you to be a nurse. And I say I'll do my best.

Yes. So we have been very lucky to be able to use the voice activated devices and his little resistance at first, because there's all this like speculation out there. All it's there. Listen to me. And they're gonna know what I'm saying and they're going to spy on me. And so when we talked about how the technology works and the encryption and everything. So instead of watching Jeopardy the other night, we play trivia on the Alexa. And to see him when he realized, you know, some of the answers and forgetting how things were back then, it also so you have that device and you can do this fun things. But then the conversations that it sparks, my dad's on a real talkative person. So getting him to engage, you know, using that with him and getting him to engage, it gives a lot of peace of mind to to myself and our family that at he can just ask for help. He can he can say, I need help or Alexa, you know, call for help. And there will be someone who can respond and either assess the situation or either call me or if my dad says I need medical assistance, that they would be able to call 9-1-1 for him. You know, access the paramedics makes me being able to go to work and spend eight and a half hours at work during what I need to do to serve my population. It has so lifted a burden. I definitely think using the voice technology is a tool. You know, I'm a nurse and I'm a therapist. So I believe in having a tool box full, all different things.

I think the first piece of advice that I would offer to family members who are dealing with either health crisis or just natural journey of aging. Use every resource you can, everything that you can to not only help the person you're caring for and your loved one, but to help your own quality of life.

I would definitely recommend Companion. Absolutely. Why not?

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