2 minute read
Melissa Thompson
After recovering from COVID-19, Melissa Thompson continues to rely on her 1199SEIU health benefits to keep both herself and her family healthy.
Melissa Thompson, a certified nursing assistant at Livingston Hills Nursing and Rehabilitation Center for the past 27 years, has done everything at her job from helping residents get dressed to ordering supplies to driving a bus to take residents to their appointments. But she had never faced a challenge like the COVID-19 pandemic. As some residents became ill or died, many staff members left out of fear of catching the virus.
But Melissa never thought of quitting, not even when she developed a cough, aches, and a loss of smell and taste due to COVID-19. Two weeks later, after she had recovered and a negative COVID test cleared her to return, she was back at work. “I love my job,” she said. “I’d feel guilty if I didn’t go in to help. Our residents needed us more than ever.” Melissa has developed a close bond with many of them, explaining, “They tell you not to get attached, but sometimes you just can’t help it.” And although she’s been vaccinated, Melissa still wears a mask when she’s around residents to make sure everyone stays safe.
Although Melissa recovered from COVID-19, she has other medical conditions she needs to monitor, including anxiety and high blood pressure, both of which require medication. Fortunately, her health benefits cover the cost of those treatments, as well as for cortisone injections for knee pain and regular check-ups to avoid developing diabetes, which runs in her family. “My benefits are excellent,” Melissa said. “I tell that to everyone!” And while her knee pain has kept her from exercising as much as she’d like, she knows that making time for herself is important – and she’s working on it. “I really need to get myself back to the gym for myself, physically and mentally,” she admitted.
As the mother of five children—two of whom work with her at Livingston Hills—Melissa is even more grateful for her 1199SEIU health benefits. In 2019, her youngest daughter, Mariyah, was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia and needed life-saving treatments, including a stem cell transplant, spinal tap procedures and chemotherapy, and she takes over a dozen medications each day. “My benefits allow my daughter to be treated in a place where she is considered family; she’s sometimes there for months at a time,” Melissa explained. “It’s wonderful how my benefits are there for everything—I don’t know what I would do without them.”
What Do Your Benefits Mean to You?
You count on your health benefits to support you in your efforts to stay healthy, whether it’s by getting regular checkups, keeping a chronic condition under control or just improving your lifestyle in general. But has there ever been a time when your health coverage literally saved your life or the life of a loved one? If so, we’d like to hear from you. To share your story with your fellow members in an upcoming issue of For Your Benefit, please contact the Funds at Communications@1199Funds.org.
