Page 16 - Boca ViewPointe - March '25

Page 16, Viewpointe March 2025

Kindness And Time To Join Pap

Sleeplessness In By Andrea Gralnick Referral Program concerning a possible cancer diagnosis or a
need for another specialist through the University of Miami,

Would you like to meet some wonderful, interesting, and
Miller School of Medicine. As a member, for annual dues of
A Hospital caring people while also making a difference in finding a cure $50 or a lifetime of $350 dollars, you and your immediate
household will be eligible. As you know, normally, it can take
for cancer?
The Boca Pointe Pap Corps, Champions for Cancer

weeks to get appointments at a specialized Institution.
Research, is one of 51 chapters in South Florida with a We would love to have you join our chapter. The Boca
By Robert W. Goldfarb membership of over 22,000 that contributes millions of Pointe Pap chapter is an open chapter, so you can bring your
dollars annually to Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center friends too! You do not have to live in Boca Pointe to be a
The year is still young, but in its two months I’ve at the University of Miami. Sylvester is the only designated member with us.
already spent twice as much time in a hospital as I National Cancer Institute (NCI) in South Florida.
have in the ninety-five years I’ve been alive. I was We like to say The Pap Corps, is an organization that gives If you have questions or want further information call
two years old and had my tonsils removed during my back to you while you are supporting it. Should you need it, you Andrea Gralnick, at (561) 302-9108 or email her at gralnick.
only other hospital stay. I knew nothing about tonsils are guaranteed a speedy appointment through the Physician’s andrea@gmail.com. 
in 1932, but am old enough now to know I had to rush
to a hospital when it was blood, not urine that streamed
from me.
My one memory of that long-ago hospital was that
it was cold, but I had my mother’s embrace to keep me
warm. The hospital I’ve been to twice in the last two
months has also been cold. This time there were no
tender arms to warm me. Nurses whose names I didn’t
know noticed I was shivering and quickly covered me
with heated blankets.
I’m confident I slept in my mother’s embrace, but
the nurses who covered me with blankets didn’t allow
me to sleep. They were required to awaken me twice
every four hours, once to draw blood, once to take
my vital signs. My roommate on the other side of the
curtain was also awakened twice every four hours on
a schedule different than mine.
Lights in our room blazed so often I was certain
doctors and nurses must be taught darkness is
unhealthy. When I later received a questionnaire from
the hospital asking me to rate the quality of the care I
received, I confided I was so sleep deprived I couldn’t
remember anything about my stay.
During one of my work assignments, I interviewed
truck drivers who routinely sped past the homes of If You Now Have Equity In Your
those of us who slept at 3 a.m. They wrestled with
sleep and other natural functions are supposed to occur. Home, Consider Doing A Trust
circadian rhythm, an internal clock that regulates when

They were driving on route I-95 when their circadian
clock told them they should be in bed. Fatigue sat in the By Martin Zevin, Attorney through probate. Remember also that the Trust is called
seat alongside them, always ready to seize the wheel. In 2012, I wrote an article a “Revocable Living Trust.” This means that, as long as
I didn’t fully understand the sleep problems of truck recommending against doing you are alive, the Trust remains with you. You can always
drivers back then, but do now. a Revocable Living Trust if sell your home and buy a new home as Trustee of your
Now that I’ve been sleeping through the night in you were “underwater” with Trust. You do not need to change the Trust unless you
my own bed, the names and attitude of the nurses your mortgage. I wrote that want to change the beneficiaries for the new property.
article just before the housing
You can also buy additional properties, in Florida or out
and doctors who treated me are coming back. A male market in South Florida began of state, as Trustee of your Trust.
nurse in the Emergency Room looked like a wrestler, to recover. Therefore, if you now have equity in your home, you
but cared for me with a tenderness my mother would The last five years have should seriously consider creating a Trust. Transferring
have approved. seen significant increases in your home to the Trust will not change your homestead
A doctor not on call came to my room to reassure property values. This has resulted in many homeowners or your real estate taxes.
me he was going to schedule me for a procedure my age now having positive equity. I read a statistic that, in In addition, regardless of the equity in your home,
ordinarily ruled out. “We can do the surgery because the third quarter of 2015,322,701 homeowners in Palm it is extremely important to have current advance care
you’re a runner,” he said, “and that’s kept you fitter Beach, Broward and Dade counties owed at least 1/4 more directives to protect you if you are incapacitated. These
than the typical ninety-five-year-old.” than the market value. A more recent article indicated include the Durable Power of Attorney (which must
Nurses were quick to tell me when they saw the that South Florida continues to see higher home price specifically include the address of your property) as well
slightest improvement in my numbers and appearance. increases than most of the rest of the country. Therefore, as the Designation of Health Care Surrogate and Living
Will. New Florida laws could mean that your current
most homeowners now have equity in their home.
Their competence and acts of kindness comforted me In the article I wrote in 2012, I advised clients to live documents need to be revised.
throughout both stays. A nurse I saw only occasionally, long enough to see their properties increase in value to Please feel free to call me for a free personal or phone
hurried into my room, calling out, “You’re going exceed the amount of the mortgage; at that time, they consultation regarding any issues pertaining to Wills,
home!” She had extended her shift to expedite could come back to me to discuss a Revocable Living Trusts, Deeds, Probate, Power of Attorney or Health
paperwork that would have kept me in the hospital for Trust. That time is now here. Care Surrogate. I am also available for free consultation
another sleepless night. That I was in her care made Without equity in your home, it does not make sense regarding personal injury claims or car insurance
me more than just the elderly patient in bed 206A. to pay an attorney the fee and costs involved in creating coverage. Call me at 954-569-4878. My address is 3275
Six years earlier, in the cruelest hours of my life, a Trust, since you would be burdening your heirs with a W. Hillsboro Blvd., Suite 204, Deerfield Beach, Florida
another nurse in that same hospital touched our family property that has a negative equity. However, once that 33442. My website is www.martinzevinpa.com and my
with an act of kindness she hoped might soften our equity turns positive, you are doing your heirs a favor e-mail address is martinzevin@netzero.com.
grief. My wife of nearly seventy years was stricken by eliminating the time and money involved in going
with a massive infection and had been rushed there by
ambulance. Late that night she died from septic shock, Paid Advertisement
surrounded by our children and me.
A nurse came into the room, closed the door and B’H
said, “I’m not allowing anyone to enter this room Sabra Wall Decor
while you and your children are here. Stay as long as
you wish.” She then took my hand and said, “When
your daughters leave you can lay in bed with your EstimatEs
wife until my shift ends at dawn.” I spent the rest of
the night embracing my wife, keeping her warm in the
cold hospital. Painting & More ...

Bob’s articles have appeared in The New York Times,
The San Francisco Chronicle and in Next Avenue, the • Popcorn Ceiling • Wallpaper Removal
publication of the Public Broadcasting Service. His
book, “What’s Stopping Me From Getting Ahead?” was • Knock Down
published by McGraw Hill and is in five languages.  • Drywall Repair
12 Office: (561) 395-3057 Licensed & Insured
Cell: (954) 931-4716
CC: 03-11120-P-K