Member Story: Janet Brown
Janet Brown was born on the Caribbean island of Antigua in the late 1940s. Growing up was tough. “I had to wear my clothes for a whole week, and then wash them on Sunday,” Janet recalls. One thing Janet loved to do was knit. “We were always knitting,” she says fondly. “I’ve knitted my whole life.” Things were simpler then.
Janet married and started a family. In 1986, when her marriage ended, Janet decided to move to Boston, where the weather suited her better. She lived in Lynn for a time; after a while, her daughter moved from St. Thomas to nearby Vane Street in Revere.
But Janet’s health was slowly deteriorating. She had diabetes and was struggling to control it. Eventually, her doctor mentioned Neighborhood PACE. The program sounded like something that could help Janet medically—and it even sounded enjoyable. She decided to give it a try. Now, Janet says proudly, “I’ve been here for six years.” And she loves it. “Oh, boy, it’s more than words can tell. The nurses and employees are all so nice. They’re very protective. They always look after me.”
Janet’s PACE team helps manage her diet, exercise, and medications. She’s been able to lose unhealthy extra weight, and her blood sugar levels are much better. “Now I eat cabbage, carrot, and celery,” Janet explains. “And I dance. I love to exercise!” Janet tries to exercise every day. Early on Saturday mornings, she walks for an hour along the beach.
Janet has several grown children who live in the area. “My children are always talking about the program. Always. My son Lloyd always asks and I tell him I love it. If I ever tell my daughter that I don’t feel like going, she reminds me that I’m supposed to go every day.” It’s a relief to Janet’s children that she has a network of support and medical care in the PACE program. They feel safer knowing she’s being so well cared for.
Janet has even had an opportunity to use her knitting skills in the PACE program. Several years ago, PACE participants formed a knitting group as a therapeutic activity that encourages friendship and creativity. A lifelong knitter, Janet is naturally an active participant. Each week the group meets to create squares that are then joined together to form comfort blankets. These blankets are then donated to terminally ill patients at Mass General Hospital’s intensive care unit as a warm embrace during their final days. After the patients pass away, their families are given the blankets as keepsakes of their loved ones.
Recently, the Neighborhood PACE knitting group was served lunch and presented with gifts of thanks from Mass General Hospital staff members who thanked the knitters, some with tears in their eyes, expressing how much the comfort blankets have meant to Mass General patients and their families.
“Neighborhood PACE is more than a hospital,” Janet says resolutely. “Here, if something is wrong, they will sit down and talk about it with you. One time I was upset because someone passed away. When the coordinator told me, I was crying and very upset. I stood by the window crying. Then Sally, a nurse, came and comforted me. Whatever the problem is here, they will fix the problem. I tell everyone to come to Neighborhood PACE.”
