Nurse rebuilds family as Kinmen’s first home care nurse
Today we’re visiting a very special and resilient family in Kinmen that is headed by 40-year-old nurse Chou Ya-hui. Both Chou and her husband worked at the same hospital in Northern Taiwan at one time: she as a nurse anesthetist and he as a surgeon. In 2012, the husband had a stroke after being on duty for 32 hours, and the responsibility of the family fell on Chou’s shoulders. By chance, the family of four relocated to Kinmen, and eventually Chou became the first home care nurse on the outlying island. Here’s her story, in our Sunday special report.
In Jinhu Village in Kinmen, Chou Ya-hui, a home care nurse travels from one door to another.
Carrying a nursing kit, she’s on her way to the home of a 99-year old patient surnamed Kuo.
To the patient’s family, Chou is their savior.
They have high regards for Nurse Chou, who’s taken care of their grandma for almost two years now. Once the old lady injured her toes, and it was Chou who helped tending to her wounds.
Ms. Wu
Family member of patient
Grandma’s toes had a fungal nail infection. She said they need to be cleaned and disinfected, then carefully trimmed. She sat here on this tiny stool for two hours trimming grandma’s toenails, and she helps us with that every couple of days. She’s really kind and patient. She’s someone who’s changed our life for the better.
Chou usually treats patients who have just been discharged from inpatient care but still have various catheters inserted, or score lower than 60 for their ADLs, abilities of daily living. Conventionally speaking, Chou would only be required to visit each patient at their home 1 to 3 times per month. But she goes above and beyond that, trying her best to show up whenever she’s called on.
She’s known across the Kinmen archipelagos. For a time locals thought she had to be born and raised in Kinmen, being so dedicated to the elderly patients.
But Chou is in fact from Taipei, and only moved across the Taiwan Strait to Kinmen eight years ago, due to a family tragedy.
Chou’s husband Chang Hao-cheng’s right side is completely paralyzed. He can only walk with a four-legged crutch. Now 45 years old, Chang had a stroke 12 years ago, at the age of 33. Through all these years, Chou was by his side for rehabilation.
Chou ya-hui
Home care nurse
He has hypertonia from the stroke, so he has to have something to hold, otherwise he’ll get spasms.
Apart from training motor skills, Chang is also in speech therapy.
Chou ya-hui
Home care nurse
We did a follow up IQ test. His cognition wasn’t compromised.
Before he got a stroke, Chang was a colorectal surgeon at a well-known hospital in Northern Taiwan. Chou was an anesthetic nurse at the same hospital. There is great affection between the couple.
Chou I-chu
Chou Ya-hui’s brother
Hao-cheng really cared for her. Even in the middle of the night when she really needed to go he’ll carry her to the bathroom. Can you say the same for most other men?
The couple lived comfortably as medical professionals, until 2012. Chou was pregnant with their second child when tragedy fell on the young family.
In July that year, Chang had just gone off duty at noon before rushing to ER, not to see a patient, but for a searing headache.
Chou ya-hui
Home care nurse
He collapsed right there then, and was rushed to the surgery room. I made a quick change into surgical scrubs. My hands were shaking while I was about to inject him with anesthesia. I remember it was Dr. Lin, the anesthesiologist, who held my hand to stop me, and said he’ll take over for that instance. So I retreated to the room next door, I couldn’t stop vomiting while there.
Chang survived after two craniectomies, but he was in coma after the surgeries and was in intensive care for two whole weeks.
Chang Wen-hsin
Chang Hao-cheng’s father
When we found out, it was the day after, we immediately went to see him. He was already in the ward, and seemed to be almost gone, not making any sound. His mother and I were absolutely devastated.
Chang miraculously awakened, but in a vegetative state.
Chou ya-hui
Home care nurse
The doctor told us it was no longer worth putting in more resources or undergoing more treatment, because it’s likely he’ll remain in that state. But one day, I asked him if he could hear me, and to blink if he could. And he did blink.
Under Chou’s meticulous care, Chang went from being able to blink, to regaining movement in the fingers, and gradually his memory. The recovery was clear by the day, but by then Chou was on the verge of a breakdown, and even thought of giving up their unborn second child.
Li-chiu
Chou ya-hui’s colleague
I asked her why she didn’t get an abortion, and she said she was actually already going to. She’s already gone to the doctor. The doctor did an ultrasound and it was probably at that moment that she reconnected with the baby, and regained her courage to go on.
Chou decided to continue keep fighting because she wanted to hold the hospital accountable for her husband.
Why would an otherwise healthy individual at the youthful age of 33, suddenly get a stroke?
Chou ya-hui
Home care nurse
The day before the incident, he’s been on duty for 32 hours. Once I got the record, I passed it on to a senior colleague in occupational medicine, and she showed it to the physician, who took a look and said the hours isn’t normal at all.
It turned our Chang had collapsed under an immense workload. Chou then filed a lawsuit against the hospital. She won on the first ruling, but during the appeal, the hospital settled with Chou. They were compensated, but lost their jobs at the hospital.
Chou ya-hui
Home care nurse
I got a fraudulent call, they told me that I owe money to Chunghwa Telecom, and that I’m going to be sued. I looked at the bank account balance, and said, I had no money, my husband had a stroke, and now this? I broke down in tears, even the fraudster ended up consoling me. So then I thought, I couldn’t carry on like that. My life, my children’s future will be ruined. I had to go back to work.
A new opportunity came. A medical lab scientist who’s about to set up a health check clinic in Kinmen learned what the couple had gone through, and invited them to join the team.
Chou ya-hui
Home care nurse
I looked up how things are in Kinmen, and found that you don’t have to pay tuition in public schools, at most NT$200 per semester. What’s more, healthcare is also free of charge, including registration fee. So I thought Kinmen was a good place for us to make a living at the time.
Even though they’d never been to Kinmen, Chou believed it was the opportunity of a lifetime, so she decided to uproot the family and move there.
But the great start to her new life did not last long. After several months at the clinic, the owner could not afford to pay her, so she had no choice but to quit. Her husband still had to do ER runs every so often, and the kids had not yet reached school age. Family obligations meant she couldn’t work full-time, so she made do with various odd jobs.
Chou I-chu
Chou Ya-hui’s brother
When she first got here she was really lost. She’s done insurance sales, and part-time minimum wage work, as long as there’s money to be made she’ll do it.
One day, a friend working at the county health department told her about a new way to really settle down.
To meet demands due to the rollout of the long-term care 2.0 policy and community care, in 2016 the Ministry of Health and Welfare introduced two in-home care initiatives. With encouragement from the health department, Chou began her practice as the very first home care nurse in Kinmen. Coordinating with the health department and local clinics, she began providing nursing services at patients home.
Yang Ta-wei
Lieyu Township Health Center
In the past it was difficult to travel to Lieyu, so health practitioners are less willing to practice here, so we need more in-home care. In the beginning Chou had to take the ferry here when she worked with me. Sometimes the patient’s catheter will fall out, and with a phone call, she has to take the ferry here immediately after.
The greatest advantage of Chou’s new work is the flexibility. When there’s no one to take care of her husband or the kids, she can take them along.
Chou ya-hui
Home care nurse
I think people here are all so kind. I’m supposed to be the service provider, but often it’s the patients’ family that ends up helping my husband and encouraging us, saying he’ll eventually recover.
Mr. Huang
Family member of patient
Whenever I need medical advice, I think of her first. I think she’s even more capable that a doctor. It’s really great that someone from Taiwan is willing to come to Kinmen.
Being a family member of a long-term patient herself, Chou easily gained the locals’ trust.
Chou ya-hui
Home care nurse
I’ve met a grandma, her husband also had a stroke, a year or two later than my husband. She would sometime say, “why wouldn’t my husband die already? There are so many bills to pay: the migrant worker’s salary and the baby formula.” I’d tell her about what I’ve gone through, to let her know that my husband also had a stroke, and she’s not alone.
With her words of encouragement, the patient’s family pulled through. Chou had rebuilt her life. Her parents-in-law had also moved to Kinmen to help care for her husband and two daughters. The family is now doing much better.
Although the tragedy that had befallen her husband was once a great trial, with perseverance she’s changed the fortune of her family, and touched the hearts of elderly patients in Kinmen, too.
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2024-12-08
