Tony Lucarelli

“It was the night before the Super Bowl, and I took a nasty fall. Hip fractured on both sides, pelvis fractured twice, and a cracked coccyx. So they took me to Yavapai Regional Medical Center. I was there for four or five days, and then they transferred me here to Mountain Valley. When I got here on the sixth of February, I was an unholy mess. I could hardly move for the pain. Here we are on the 22^nd. I’m ready to go home.

The therapists here are nothing short of miracle workers.

They have a vocation much the same as a priest or a nun. Theirs is to help, and help they do. They get up at some ungodly hour in the morning, every single morning, to come in and help us. We’re the ones who benefit from this. In order to work with them, you show them that you want to go home. Your goal is to be able to do things here that you need to be able to do at home.

Now, I hope none of you ever winds up here, but if you ever do you need to understand that you are in the best of hands. These folks are nothing short, as I said, of miraculous. They don’t harangue you, they don’t tell you you’re not working hard, none of that. They’re the most pleasant people in the world, the most patient – talk about deep wells of patience my goodness every single one of them! I can’t say enough for the administration, for everybody here. Dr. Nambiar is a fine doctor, the nurses are all wonderful.

There isn’t one person working here who isn’t working for me and for every other patient here to get us out of here, home and on our own. We had a home visit just the other day with one of the occupational techs. Everything was found fine. I was able to do everything I need to do at home. I flopped myself into bed, I worked in the kitchen, I did everything I needed to do and it all worked out well.

I’m here probably two more days, after which I’ll be on my own once again and one happy, independent soul. I will have outpatient home healthcare. I’ll be going through their agency for that, why would I want to switch horses in the midst of a stream?

There are no superlatives of which I can think–and I love this English language of ours I’ve always loved it–but I can’t think of a superlative that really fits. These people are that good. I wish you, as I said, never have to come here. But if you do, know you’re going to get well.”