Maizi Avihayil from Kiryat Arba was one of the first patients in the corona in Israel, and was hospitalized at Hadassah Hospital.
"I suddenly belong on the therapist's side and it's amazing."
Maisie Avihail
Photography:
Hadassah Spokeswoman
Maisie Avihail, 63, from Kiryat Arba, was one of the first patients to be treated in Corona in Israel, and was hospitalized at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in the Corona Hospital.
After recovering, she began volunteering in the corona ward at the hospital and even received a certificate of appreciation for her dedicated work in the various wards for the patients.
Maisie says that she has been able to work from the other side, and a patient who needs treatment around the clock - has become a shoulder and support for others, thus discovering how important and beneficial the Hadassah volunteers' project in the wards is.
"I have no idea where I got infected in Corona," says Maisie.
'This was the very beginning of the plague, we did not yet know what the corona was and how it manifested itself.
There were a few days I felt like a very strong flu and stayed home.
I have not had a fever and I have been coughing for many years and it is difficult for me to breathe, so it was not new.
I saw a doctor but thought it was not corona since I had no fever.
I attended an international conference and had to go into solitary confinement as a result, and because I was an elementary school teacher, the superintendent asked me to do a stick test for safety.
So I found out I was actually positive about Corona. '
Maisie describes that: "The day after the diagnosis, I was taken to Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital.
This was the beginning of the plague, everyone who was found positive with real signs was taken to the hospital.
Even if he felt well he had no option but to be at home in isolation.
I spent several days at Hadassah Ein Kerem in the first corona ward that was opened.
I must admit that with all the pressure it was very interesting, most of us were in good and stable condition, in fairly full functioning.
When the staff members were not in the ward - we sometimes made measurements for ourselves of stasis, fever and blood pressure.
We helped each other and supported each other.
It is another very interesting and different experience, which is very close to all of us, so that to this day we are connected. '
After five days of hospitalization she was evacuated to a motel, where she stayed for six weeks until she recovered and was virus-negative.
After returning home, Maisie decided that she wanted to volunteer at the hospital and do something for the patients in the corona wards: "After several months, to my great joy, I saw an advertisement for the first volunteer project in the country in the corona wards - which started at Hadassah.
I immediately ran to the hospital.
Despite the distance from the house where I live, I knew I had to do something and since then I have been volunteering through the Ezer Mitzion organization in Hadassah Ein Kerem.
Maisie has been volunteering for the past few months, coming to any Corona ward or room where they need help, even on Saturdays and holidays: .
I have experience, I too was sick with the virus and when I tell patients that I was hospitalized in the ward they are in today, they are very encouraged by it and it is easier for them because they see someone who has been through this experience.
They have a real horizon to wait for. '
Maisie says volunteering fills her heart and her day: 'I live alone, my children all live out of town, and today I teach elementary school science.
Volunteering does very well for the person who performs it, it is fulfilling and very important to give and give to another.
There is no shortage of people to help nowadays, my children also volunteer according to their abilities and my parents have volunteered in the past.
I have been taught all my life to find where I can do good to someone else every day, that's how I was raised, that's how I educate my children and my students. '
Orit Meridan, director of service and patient experience at Hadassah Ein Kerem, says: “Hadassah Ein Kerem is attentive to the needs of patients, families and staff.
Knowing the condition of the patients, who desperately need a supportive or attentive ear - beyond the great care of the staff, we decided to set up a group of volunteers who recovered from Corona.
These are those who have been in the place of the sick, of dealing with Corona, and understand the great need for these little gestures that change the experience.
In collaboration with the charities Yad Avraham and Ezer Mitzion, we set up a group of about 50 active volunteers, who staff several-hour shifts within the corona wards, for direct contact with the patients.
'By virtue of the nature of coronary heart disease, which results in disengagement and isolation of patients from family members, we have identified a growing need to provide an ear, mouth and heart envelope in the connection between patients and their distant family members.
Also, due to the heavy workload placed on the care staffs, reinforcement is required in providing a humane response, an attentive ear and assistance in serving a cup of coffee, water or help with eating and simple daily activities.
"I saw a patient who was too weak to get out of bed and charge a phone, pointed to the luggage and whispered her desire to talk to a family member. Before the meal and hardship, he enlisted the help of a volunteer who fulfilled his wish. Patients talk about restoring a sense of sanity and connection to the world from which they have disconnected. Examples of the wonderful volunteers who work at the hospital. Endless dedication, cooperation and endless giving ability. Maisie was hospitalized with us and knows the feeling so that her strengths are doubly strong, she comes to volunteer at the hospital despite the great distance from home The hospital felt a special need to thank her. '
Maisie concludes: 'I am part of a blessed venture.
The medical and nursing staffs are lovely.
While I experience the "space outfit" twice a week, they work sheltered every day, for long hours.
No one understands how hard it is, how hot and cumbersome.
The volunteering project at Hadassah is very organized and tidy and from the first moment they gave me a feeling that I was very important and really needed and that was amazing.
Today when the hospital allows family members to enter we have seen how important it is for patients, but still the families do not enter every day and we fill the missing space with true love.
Patients become part of our family and we are part of their family. '