Her name is Effrossini but everyone at Toronto Grace knows her as Effie. She has worked in housekeeping at the Grace for over twenty-one years. She is sixty-one years old.
Thirty years ago, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS). Her MS is termed secondary-progressive. Secondary-progressive MS (SPMS) can only be diagnosed in a person who has experienced relapsing-remitting MS — the inflammation that occurs early in the MS disease process. In other words, SPMS occurs as a second phase of the disease for many individuals. This means that they have alternating flare-ups and periods of recovery but will experience a steady worsening of symptoms over time. Effie’s SPMS is managed at St. Michael’s hospital with yearly imaging and medication.
In August 2001, her husband, Chris, who had been diagnosed with cancer, passed away in the palliative care unit at Toronto Grace. Effie was so taken by the remarkable level of compassion and the quality of care her husband had received that she wanted to be a part of the team. She said, “Being at the Grace felt like you were part of a family.”
After her husband’s passing and the closing of his autobody shop, Effie, who had been a homemaker, needed a job. Her son, Theodore, who was just eleven years old at the time, gave her the idea to apply for a job at the Grace, telling her, “Mom, this would be a good place for you to work.”
She applied at the Grace for a job in housekeeping and began working in November 2001. However, in order to get by financially, she found that she needed another job. For the next ten years, she worked sixteen hours a day in housekeeping, splitting her time between the day shift at the Grace and the evening shift at another hospital. In between, she raised Theodore. Those, she confesses, “were hard times.”
Effie, who has a history of osteoarthritis of the knees, was admitted to the Grace for rehabilitation after having elective knee replacement at St. Joseph’s Health Centre (SJHC) in early August 2022. She chose the Post -Acute Care Rehabilitation program (PACR) at Toronto Grace for inpatient rehabilitation stating, “I work here and I know the quality of care that the health care staff at the Grace provides.” Over the years Effie has witnessed the hospital evolve and changed to meet the needs and demands of the community. “But,” she says, “the care has always been exceptional. I know this because my husband received fantastic care when he was in the palliative care unit here at the Grace over twenty years ago.”
When the rehab team first saw Effie, she was experiencing a good deal of pain in her knee and required the assistance of both a physiotherapist (PT) and occupational therapist (OT) to help her get out of bed. For about a week, she received full care for her activities of daily living (ADL), including assistance with washing, dressing, toileting, as well as transferring in and out bed and into a wheelchair. Her rehab team continued to work with her to help her gain back her independence with her ADL. Interestingly, they believed the most limiting physical problem for Effie was her knee replacement and not her SPMS.
Effie progressed fairly well and was soon able to dress herself and use the washroom with very minimal assistance. Anxious to recover as much of her mobility as she can, Effie has been taking part in the PACR exercise group, working on range of motion exercises aimed at improving her joints to restore full motion. Effie continues to work with the rehab team five days a week as well. Their goal is to improve Effie’s mobility so that instead of needing the four-wheel walker she had been using she will just need a cane. As of now, she has reached a point of physical independence she had prior to her knee replacement.
Theodore, who is now thirty-three years old, is expecting a son. Effie is very excited about the prospect of becoming a grandmother. “It was time to get my knee replacement,” Effie said, “because the pain was getting too much to bear, but I’m also glad I had it done so that I can be ready for when my grandson becomes active.”
Effie is looking forward to being discharged so she can return to work.