FCP Live-In Offers The Best Possible Outcome: How Jon Underwood Found Independence and Family with FCP Live-In Caregiver Jose
For 86-year-old Jon Underwood, life in Manchester, New Hampshire, changed drastically in August 2024. While vacationing in Maine, Jon experienced a series of strokes. He required an ambulance transport to Portsmouth Regional Hospital before eventually moving to Elliot Hospital in Manchester for an extensive rehabilitation stay. As his discharge date approached after seven weeks in the hospital and rehab, the critical question arose: where would Jon go next?
The answer, initially, seemed difficult. Jon was a fiercely independent man, an “avid fly fisherman” who loved to hike in the woods. However, the strokes had limited his mobility, making him ambulatory only with assistance, requiring constant supervision for transfers, and placing him at serious risk of falls. His health needs were complex, involving multiple strokes, hypertension, and Type 2 Diabetes. The family, including his son David and daughter Terry Underwood, faced a daunting realization.
From Chaos to Crossroads
Terry Underwood reflected on the turmoil that preceded finding FCP Live-In. She described the period following the medical episode as “very chaotic and confusing and overwhelming”. For the family, the options were limited, and a nursing home was “really the only option that we had in our mind”. When the possibility of a live-in caregiver arose, Terry admitted she thought the option was “really unattainable. Just really out of our price range, just really not understanding how that can happen, where someone [a live-in caregiver] you don’t know doesn’t know the situation”.
Working with a hospital caseworker, the family was connected with FCP Live-In. Dan Ray, FCP Live-In Strategic Account Manager, remembered the urgency of the case, noting that they needed to get Jon home “fairly quickly”. Dan and FCP were committed to making sure Jon could stay in his home, as that was “the place he wanted to be versus being in a nursing home or an assisted living”. The goal was to ensure Jon had the necessary safety precautions, including medication reminders and assistance with transferring, making sure he didn’t fall.
“I couldn’t stand a nursing home or anything like that. I like my independence, it would be disastrous for me.” –– Jon Underwood
Jon himself knew institutionalization was not an option. Losing his freedom was unthinkable; he stated, “Oh, I couldn’t stand a nursing home or anything like that. I like my independence”. He stressed that losing his home environment, “it would be disastrous for me.”
FCP Live-In initiated care in October 2024, providing live-in caregiver assistance for all Activities of Daily Living (ADLs), ensuring he adhered to strict dietary rules (sitting up straight and taking small bites to prevent aspiration). Jon was home, safe, and receiving therapy, noting that the company “has been very pleasant and polite and helpful”.
The Arrival of FCP Live-In Caregiver Jose: “A Gamechanger”
While Jon settled in, the actual transformation occurred with the arrival of his caregiver, Mildreed Jose, often referred to as “Josie”.
The key factor that elevated Jon’s quality of life was Jose’s ability to drive. Upon meeting her, Jon reported to his field supervisor that he was “very happy to have this caregiver [FCP Live-In Caregiver Jose] in place as she is a driver. Jon reports that he feels like he has his independence back now that he can get out of the house”. Jon emphasized the importance of this capability, noting that while he had three other caregivers previously, “clearly I needed somebody who could drive and experience what I experienced, and Jose’s done that perfectly. So it’s all going well”.
“I drive him around. We go to the lake. I’ve been at the beach with him on vacation. We went on the grand camp. We do a lot together, and we are a great match” –– FCP Live-In Caregiver Mildreed Jose
The relationship flourished beyond mere logistics. Jose became a companion, facilitating Jon’s love for the outdoors. Jon often sits on his back screened-in porch, where he watches the birds, rabbits, and squirrels, calling it the place “where I have a lot of my outdoor dreams”. Jose enabled him to turn his daydreams into reality. Jon shared that they have traveled, saying, “I have gone up into northern Maine with Josie, who has been very helpful, and I have relaxed up in the Rangeley region of Maine”. (The Rangeley Region of Maine is a scenic area in Franklin County known for its lakes, mountains, and outdoor activities) Jose confirmed their active life: “I drive him around. We go to the lake. I’ve been at the beach with him on vacation. We went on the grand camp. We do a lot together, and we are a great match”.
A Bond of Trust and Laughter
The core of their successful partnership is the strong personal bond they formed. Jose quickly felt accepted by the family, stating, “I feel like this family is my own family”. She referred to Jon warmly: “Jon is my sweetheart. Oh, I love him very much”. Their days are filled with mutual enjoyment and laughter: “We joke around all the time. We laugh. We don’t have any sad times over here”. Jose even shared a heartwarming anecdote from her vacation: “Every day he and I talked on the phone for one week. He said, ‘Are you coming? Are you coming? When you coming, sweetie? When you coming?'”.
Jon relies on Jose for his essential care, including bathing, dressing, and meal preparation. Jon complimented her skills, noting that she has a “fashion idea” for dressing him and that she is “an excellent cook”. He particularly enjoys her chicken soup, which “is basically soup with noodles, and the noodles are wonderful”.
Beyond the daily care, Jose provides the constant physical safety Jon needs, given his tendency to push his limits due to his independent spirit. Jon confessed: “I feel very independent and I’m not used to having anybody wait on me, and I so I always want to get up and try it myself, and sometimes it’s disastrous”. He recounted a moment when he was going backwards after standing up on his porch: “I said, ‘I’m going.’ And she all of a sudden was there right behind me, and she kept me from falling. He recognized the severity of the danger: “I’d be down. I could break a bone. I didn’t want to do that ever”. Terry underlined Jose’s constant vigilance, saying, “She’s got eyes on the back of her head and she makes sure that he’s safe and cared for.”
A Return to Progress
Jon’s improving demeanor was recognized by Dan, who noticed a significant change: “I did notice a lot more of a positive, you know, positive energy coming out of you than when I saw you in the hospital… And I’m sure Josie has a lot to do with that”. Jon agreed: “Oh, she does. She has everything to do with it”.
The stability provided by Jose allowed Jon to focus on recovery goals, exemplified by his request for physical therapy to “improve his balance”. When Jose was on a break, Jon clearly felt the loss of her comprehensive support, reporting that he had missed two weeks of physical therapy because his regular caregiver/driver had been gone, and he was eager to have her back.
Terry concluded that the live-in care option provided by FCP has allowed her to simply be a daughter, rather than a caregiver, enabling the family to “relax and know that he is well cared for”. She summarized the outcome, moving from a period of intense crisis and confusion to stability: “We went from chaos and being overwhelmed and what to do, to a year later it’s the best possible case scenario that we could ever have hoped for”. Jon, living safely in his own home and enjoying life with Jose, affirmed his recovery path: “As slow as I may be progressing, at least it’s progress rather than regress, so everything seems to be going a lot better.”
The Benefits Of FCP Live-In Over Other Options
A central part of Dan’s role as Strategic Account Manager for FCP Live-In involves hospital to home programs, which was essential in the case of Jon Underwood following his stroke and subsequent hospitalization at Elliot Hospital. FCP Live-In is prepared to “drop everything that we are doing to try to facilitate” placing a caregiver quickly, says Dan, emphasizing the urgency and commitment required, while ensuring a “good match between the caregiver and the client because that is very important.” This dedication allowed FCP Live-In to expedite Jon’s return home, which was critical because being at home was “the place he wanted to be versus being in a nursing home or an assisted living”. The primary focus of the service, implemented by caregivers like Jose, is to guarantee a smooth transition while securing the necessary safety measures, particularly providing medication reminders and assisting with “transferring, making sure he didn’t fall”.
Dan highlights the unique value of the FCP Live-In model by contrasting it with his own family’s challenging experience with fragmented care. When his grandmother needed support, only hourly caregiver services were available, forcing his family to “piece mill together” care through multiple caregivers who “came and went”. This hourly model resulted in unpredictable scheduling, “call-offs,” and caregivers whom his grandmother didn’t like, ultimately leading to a catastrophic fall that broke her hip and necessitated a move to a nursing home—an outcome Dan deeply regretted. The clear difference, according to Dan, is that FCP Live-In provides a reliable, all-encompassing option “to be able to place one caregiver for one client in a home, allow them to age at home, and allow them to live independent and happy,” a commitment successfully fulfilled with Jon Underwood.