June 28, 2016

An uplifting story from PharmD’87 alumnus, Danny Crudo: 

The College of Pharmacy advancement team sent me a Michigan Pharmacy Pin last year after I posted on Facebook about a visit to Ann Arbor. I wear it on my lab jacket every day. Last week I was in a skilled nursing facility in Naples, FL, coordinating two referrals that were being discharged. Medication reconciliation, enrollment in MTM services, skilled nursing, physical therapy, etc. On the unit, a man in his late 90's in a wheelchair starts rolling up to me and pointing at me saying "that's Michigan, that's the University of Michigan, I went to the University of Michigan."

So I went and sat down with him and he proceeded to tell me that he was on the Michigan golf team from 1946 through 1950, he fought in World War II, he was in Okinawa, and he went to the University of Michigan on the GI Bill, and graduated from the College of Engineering. His favorite Michigan cap was the one worn by Bo! Navy blue with a gold block M.

Afterwards the nurse from the nursing unit told me that this man was admitted to skilled nursing confused, not knowing who or where he was due to dehydration from SIADH. The next day I brought him a Bo style cap that I had at the house. His daughter is in town seeing him from Grosse Pointe, Michigan. She called me last night and told me that her father has his memory back and thanked me for having played a role. He knows where he is and he knows why. She said, "I asked my father what happened, how did he get his memory and cognitive ability back"? She told me he responded to her, “sometimes you need to be reminded of who you really are." He grabbed his Bo style Michigan baseball cap and told his daughter “let's go out for some air”!