On the Road with Caris: Kansas City
Your Life, Our Mission

By Norman McRae

(Kansas City, MO, September 28) — This week in Kansas City I heard a heartwarming Three Most Important Things  story from Ryan Phillips, Caris Representative. Here’s what Ryan told me:

“We recently admitted a patient who had to relocate to a nursing center. Unfortunately, she had become depressed about relocating. So depressed she had started refusing to eat. One of her Three Most Important Things is animals. The patient’s granddaughter told me that the patient specifically likes kittens. She and I  began discussing ways to help cheer up our patient. I thought about the kittens and asked the patient’s daughter if she would be OK with me bringing some kittens to see her mom. She thought it was a great idea! I called Hidden Valley Animal Hospital in Independence, MO, where I take my own dogs for veterinary care. They just happened to have two 8-week-old kittens up for adoption and they let me take the kittens on a road trip to see our patient at her nursing center. I wish you could have seen how her eyes lit up when she heard the kittens meow from their carrier. She said, ‘You brought me kittens?’ I said, ‘Yes ma’am.’ She said they were her favorite. She played with those kittens for at least two hours. Her daughter and granddaughter were so grateful.”

Ryan, the dog owner, happily reports that the staff at the nursing center now refer to him as the “Cat Guy” when he goes there.