December 11, 2017
“I couldn’t walk. The doctor told me ‘something else is going to break and it’s probably going to be your spine’.”
Jennifer Sandmann’s life drastically changed the moment her leg spontaneously snapped six years ago. “I was standing and it just broke,” she recalls. The diagnosis was osteoporosis. Her physical condition was so precarious doctors told her she would need attendant care in order to live on her own.
The Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services referred Ms. Sandmann to Meals on Wheels Central Texas In-Home Care. Our attendants assisted her with the activities of daily living, allowing her to recuperate while continuing to live independently.
Although her physical condition has improved a bit over the years, she continues to receive our services two days per week. “I’m still not allowed to lift, push, pull, or sweep,” she says of her doctor’s orders. That means no house cleaning or laundry. Maria Villanueva, her In-Home Care attendant helps Ms. Sandmann, who is 84-years-old, with those chores. “I clean, I do the laundry. She is a nice lady and I like to help people,” says Ms. Villanueva.
She helps Ms. Sandmann every Tuesday from 9am until noon. The two have grown close over the years. “She’s my friend, she takes care of me,” Ms. Sandmann says of Ms. Villanueva.
When asked what life would be like without Meals on Wheels Central Texas In-Home Care, Ms. Sandmann credits the agency with potentially saving her life, “I might be dead because something may have broken by now doing what I used to do.”