Dr. Lewis offers wisdom to nursing home care
in her new book Love and Loss: The Storied Nature of Nursing Home Care. Her
book has received great acclaim since it’s release. I first met Dr. Lewis at my barn office for a
video session. She is confident, sincere, and passionate about living.
From the inside cover: The author weaves between pain,
postponement, and purpose to reveal the intricacies of care in nursing homes
and how individuals, families, friends, and health care providers are affected.
Included are what it means to be a lucid insider, the state of care, nursing
home laws, services, stories from workers and individuals, the necessity of
Bingo and therapy animals, a student’s take on abuse, how nursing homes
responded to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the need for volunteering and advocacy.
Welcome, Dr Lewis!
GM: What is the premise for your new book Love and Loss:
The Storied Nature of Nursing Home Care?
CBL: The thread running throughout is how pain and
postponement can lead to purpose. We rarely know why certain life-altering
events occur. As events surfaced that began to shape and remake my life’s
narrative, causing me to spend time in nursing and rehabilitation, I decided
that my story, unusual and unique as I thought it was, would benefit others
while growing older, dealing with a disability, or being challenged
physically or mentally due to an accident or life’s course. I realized that
what happens to me is not always for me. Seeing through the circumstance and
knowing that my journey might benefit someone else, is the bottom line. Having
spent time in six nursing and rehabilitation centers and seven hospitals over
26 years provided me with the inside story on how to navigate what is
frequently unknown about nursing home care. The waters can be murky and decisions
difficult to make. I wanted to write a book that would bring clarity to nursing
home care — the good, the bad, and the ugly.
GM: What was the catalyst that inspired you to write your book?
CBL: After a series of events — spinal cord tumor, paralysis,
rehabilitation, setbacks, intensive care, life flights, blood pressure drops,
urinary tract infections, high white blood cell counts, bleeding on the brain,
kidney stones, gall bladder surgery, sepsis, blood transfusions, plasma
exchanges, a femur break, and EMS, doctor visits, emergency room, and
physical therapy too numerous to count, I woke up about three one morning,
looked at the ceiling and said “What, Lord?” I was growing weary in the
journey and was seeking answers. My undergraduate and graduate degrees are in
Journalism. I heard clearly, “You’re a journalist, write the book.”
“What book?”
“You’re an insider, tell the story. You’re lucid, write, and tell
your truth.”
So, between setbacks over the past four years, I researched,
interviewed, and wrote — adding to my narrative the experiences of others in
nursing home care.
GM: What do you hope people will take away from your book?
CBL: That much of the mystery of nursing home care and
rehabilitation will be revealed. That people of all ages have a guide to make
informed decisions about nursing home care, how to navigate the process, what
it entails, and how to advocate. I also stress the importance of volunteers,
visits to loved ones in nursing care, and what to look for if one has to decide
nursing home care is best. That life is about purpose as Mark Twain wrote, “The
two most important days in your life: The day you were born and the day you
discover why.” That there are people in nursing care who need support,
visitors, volunteer assistance, or a listening ear. That health care providers
in nursing homes do extraordinary work for minimal pay and support,
particularly nursing aides. That the system needs to be examined and overhauled
to benefit the residents and the front-line providers.
GM: What are you currently writing?
CBL: Hotel Thelma: Its Life and Legacy. A “colored” woman in 1947 getting a loan from the bank, buying
land, building a hotel that would also house a restaurant, a grocery store, and
apartments was unheard of in one of the most racist towns in West Virginia. She
was pioneer of mixed-use development before it was popular. Her hospitality and
food attracted people from all cultures, distances, and walks of life. She took
care of folks in the neighborhood and never turned away someone needing a room
or food, even if they didn’t have money. This was a woman who prepared boxes of
goods each Christmas for those she knew who were in prison and for the needy.
She freely gave to her church and to her community, and also catered meals to
churches, parties, and fraternal organizations.
This woman was Thelma Marion Witten Stone,
“Mama Thelma,” my great aunt who raised me in Hotel Thelma from my age of six months
old. She was actually everybody’s “Mama” – an entrepreneurial woman for her
time. Her business spirit came from her mother Jane Witten who owned Jane’s
Greenleaf Restaurant on Bland Street in the ‘30s.
Hotel Thelma was a happening place. Squarely built and situated on
the edge of the East End community, the building was across the street from the
huge Norfolk & Western rail yard, approximately 15 miles from the nearest
coal mine, and within walking distance of Bluefield State College. The hotel
and restaurant were never empty during the late '40s, the '50s, and until the
late '60s. In the ‘70s, the majority of the Hotel’s occupancy were regular
roomers and those who occupied the apartments Mama Thelma added on and made
from some of the rooms. Part of the restaurant was turned into a grocery
store.
I
had an inside look and was part of its growth and influence. Railroad workers,
coal miners, college students, various cultures, all, came to enjoy the food,
the atmosphere, and the jukebox. She didn’t believe in processed food.
Everything was fresh from the slaughterhouse, the fish market, and the produce
warehouse. We made those trips every Saturday morning – rain, snow, or shine.
She also had a garden and even scalded chickens and wrung their necks in the
back yard.
Of
course, she could not do everything alone. Many relatives and people lived and
worked there over the years – cousins, aunts, uncles, college students,
neighbors, or anyone needing a job.
We
hosted the entertainers of the day who were on the chittlin’ circuit such as
Ike and Tina Turner, Fats Domino, James Brown, Sam Cook, Bobby Blue Bland, Etta
James, and Little Richard, among others (my Aunt Edith styled Little Richard’s
hair). They all would perform at the Bluefield Auditorium, a venue where
“colored” people could entertain before integration.
Hotel
Thelma was in the Green Book for travelers. Mama Thelma passed away in 1981,
but her legacy lives on.
GM: What are you currently reading?
CBL: Re-reading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.
Henrietta was an African American woman who developed cervical cancer and whose
cells would not die. Her cells have been used for scientific experiments and in
efforts to cure diseases, including polio and COVID-19 vaccines. Her He-La cell
line is one of the most important in medical research. They were used to study
the effects of toxins, drugs, hormones, and viruses on the growth of cancer
cells without experimenting on humans. My regular reading is the Bible and
devotions from Our Daily Bread.
GM: Who is your favorite author?
CBL: It’s a tough call. I like Maya Angelou and John Grisham. Maya for the way she relates and writes about lived experiences. I
first fell in love with Grisham’s The Firm and then I learned he wrote A
Time to Kill. His books have clarity and intrigue. I like novels that are
page turners and keep you engaged.
GM: Do you have advice for novice writers and those looking to
publish their first book?
CBL: Take the advice offered by your publisher because they have
experience. Novice writers might think they know what works and what looks
good, but what novice writers want might not be the best for the book. Keep in
communication with the publisher and work to meet timelines. Review the
contract or agreement carefully so as not to miss any crucial items. Find a
publisher who has a track record for fairness and author support. Talk to
others who have published to avoid any mishaps. Don’t go for perfection as you
write or the book will never get completed. Just write – you can always go back
and fix any problems before publishing as you are going to edit the manuscript
to the nth degree, as well as your professional editor.
GM: List 10 things your readers may not know about you...
CBL:
•I
developed a blister on my finger from writing so much as a teenager.
•My first
job was as a three-year-old wiping off tables in my mother’s restaurant.
•My
second job was managing my mother’s grocery store as a teenager after school
and during the summers.
•My third
job was at a funeral home in accounts payable.
•I was a
friend of PBS’ Fred Rogers and remain friends today with Mr. McFeely (Speedy
Delivery, David Newell) of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.
•I’ve
been to Sesame Street in New York and have pictures with Big Bird, Gordon, and
Elmo; I met Muhammad Ali in 1979 and have his autograph.
•I am an
ordained minister — I can marry, bury, baptize, and give the sacrament of
communion. I’ve married about 25 couples, buried about six people, baptized
about 10, and given the communion sacrament to over 200.
•I danced with James Brown on the stage when he performed in
Bluefield, West Virginia, on the “chitlin’ circuit” in the late ‘50s.
•I love
word games, especially Scrabble and Words with Friends, game shows, trivia, and
sports.
•I play
the flute, the piano, and sing.
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