cared for. She had friends and familiar surroundings.
Carson wanted him just to order some physical therapy.
“Shedoesn’tneedthat.She’snotgoingtorememberhow
to do that,” he said.
“Yes she is!” she insisted.
“She needs to be in the nursing home.”
“‘You need to retire,’ I wanted to tell him,” Carson
recounted. Instead, she said to the patient, “Let’s just
changeyourdoctor,becausehe’stoooldtolearn.”She
told the woman’s family, “If I’m going to waste my
energy, it’s not going to be on him.”
IaskedCarsontoexplainherphilosophyforenablingher
residentsto continue to live theirown lives,whatever
their condition. She said her philosophy was, “We’ll
figure this out.”
“Wewillmaneuveraroundalltheobstaclesthereareto
bemaneuveredaround.”Shespokelikeageneralplotting
a siege. “I push probably every envelope and beyond.”
The obstacles are large and small, and she was still
sorting out how best to negotiate many of them. She
hadn’tanticipated,forexample,thatresidentsthemselves
mightobjecttohereffortstohelpotherresidentsstayin
theirhomes,butsomedo.Shesaidtheywouldtellher,
“So-and-sodoesn’tbelonghereanymore.Shecouldplay
bingolastyear.Nowshedoesn’tevenknowwheresheis
going.”
Arguing with them didn’t work. So Carson was now
tryinganewtack.“Isay,‘Okay.Let’sgofindaplacefor