Touched Lives – Zee, A Caregiver Extraordinaire

At Saint Therese, we talk about “touching lives,” and making a difference for people, one person at a time. In fact, we measure ourselves in this way. But, to fully appreciate what this means, we need stories.

Zayeefa Bacchus, (known as Zee), a registered nurse at Saint Therese of Oxbow Lake, has made an indelible impact on Vonny Padrnos and her family. Vonny lives in the care center at Oxbow Lake and recently wrote a letter to Dinah Martin, interim executive director, to praise the care Zee provided her late husband, Dan, and herself.

Dan and Vonny moved into Saint Therese in 2018 – they started in independent living, eventually transitioned to assisted living, memory care and then Dan moved to long term memory care in 2022, which Vonny said was hard on him as well as the rest of the family. Now in her own words:

“From the start, Zee gave Dan the respect and comfort he needed during this difficult time and he quickly bonded with her. Zee was also there to support our children and me emotionally throughout this process. When Zee was with Dan, our family knew he was in good hands and was being cared for as we would care for him. If he was having a challenging moment, he would always respond to Zee and he could be redirected. He cared for her deeply. For as long as we have known her, Zee has always been there to help the residents of the unit with the dignity they deserve through this challenging time of their lives.

Dan died suddenly on July 18, 2024 and Zee was so kind and compassionate and guided my family through the process of what would happen up until the point Dan left the building in the procession.

A few days later, Zee came up to my room to check in with me to see how I was doing. It meant everything to me that she did, and we spent time reminiscing about Dan and what a special man he was.”

On August 15, while at a barbeque event in the care center, food became lodged in my throat, and I began choking. While a staff member did her best to dislodge the food, she was unable to do so…my daughter and another staff member went to get help from Zee. She immediately came to my rescue and after many Heimlich procedures, she cleared my airway.

I have no doubt that if it wasn’t for Zee, I would not have survived. My family and I will be forever grateful for what she has done for Dan, my entire family and me. She is a caregiver extraordinaire.”

As for Zee, she humbly states, “I am the blessed one for being able to care for these residents.”