On the Road with Caris: St. Louis
Your Life, Our Mission

By Paul Saylor

(St. Louis, MO, November 2) – As Chief Operating Officer, I try to visit every Caris office at least once during the year. Making these visits is one of the most rewarding things about my job because I am inspired by and reminded of our Vision, Mission and Values. Unsurprisingly, our Three Most Important Things program is the vehicle for these inspiring stories. In the St. Louis office I heard a gratifying Three Most Important Things story from Patient Care Manager Jan Radcliffe. Here‘s what Jan told me:

“I visited a patient after hours at a nursing center. As his health declined he grew agitated and restless. I remembered one of the patient’s Three Most Important Things is classical music. I asked his wife if he might like to listen to music. She began to play music on her cell phone. I told her I had a blue tooth speaker we could use to amplify the sound. We played works from Italian musicians Andrea Bocelli and Luciano Pavarotti. Upon hearing the music the patient became calm, smiled and gently giggled as he spoke to his wife. We talked about his faith in God, his comfort in prayer and his journey through life. The patient became so tranquil his wife felt comfortable enough to go home and rest. She leaned downed, kissed him goodnight, smiled and waved from the door.

The next morning I received a call with the news of the patient’s passing. The nurse at the nursing center called the wife, but did not tell her of the news. I immediately went to the center, turned Pavarotti on in the patient’s room and waited for his wife in the lobby. She was happy to see me. I took her aside and told her that her husband passed peacefully. She cried and I comforted her as she cried. She expressed how she did not want to see him. She wanted to remember him smiling, giggling and happy. She said, ‘I always want to remember him as I saw him last night.” She then looked at me and said, ‘You know, classical music was number one on that list of his favorite things.’ I smiled and told her that I was glad I could enjoy that favorite thing with them.”