John and his wife Joan have been married for 57 years and live in Exmouth. John has cared for his wife Joan for thirty eight years. Joan has had long term mental health problems including depression. John is in good health himself but previously had health problems having suffered a massive heart attack a few years ago and a further attack since, resulting in him having a pacemaker fitted. Added to this, he has had deep vein thrombosis for which he now takes warfarin daily.
Up until recently, John had been cutting both his own toe nails and Joan’s but lately he was finding it increasing awkward and uncomfortable and had thought that he would have to contact a private podiatrist. Instead, after seeing a poster advertising the My Life, My Choice Foot Care service available in Exeter, John contacted them straight away.
John said, “It was like a ‘bolt out of blue’ when I saw the poster and I jumped at it. I had noticed that my sight was not as it was and I was getting worried about cutting mine or Joan’s skin. Cutting my skin could be dangerous as I take warfarin every day and cutting Joan’s skin would be horrible as I would never want to cause her any pain. Having an affordable option was a huge relief to me.”
John and Joan do not drive and, with Joan’s medical problems, getting into Exeter was a problem. Luckily Karen, a volunteer worker for the service, lives in Exmouth and agreed to visit them in their own home.
John went on to say, “Karen was absolutely brilliant; she was professional, very pleasant and friendly. She asked us all the important questions and then she cut our toe nails there and then - which was super and they felt so much better. I have been very impressed with the whole service from start to finish and already have our next appointment booked in.”
Karen said, “We mainly offer the foot care service at Glass House Lane and Chapel Platt in Topsham but as Mr and Mrs Crawley were unable to travel into Topsham and I live in Exmouth I was more than happy to pop around to their home to cut their toe nails. It was really lovely to see just how pleased they were that I was able to do it for them, saving Mr Crawley struggling to do it himself.”
Please note that not all the foot care schemes being set up as part of this project offer home visits. Usually patients attend a local clinic for their appointment.
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Mr & Mrs John Crawley
