Ken met Judy while recovering from Vietnam War injuries. She was a nurse—strictly professional. Two months after his discharge, she gave him a chance. Now, 55 years later, he’s caring for her—and Fisher House is caring for them.
Ken MacMillan met Judy while being treated for injuries sustained during the Vietnam War. As a nurse, Judy wouldn’t talk to him as anything other than a patient, despite his best efforts.
“I was in the hospital as I met her before we even talked to one another. I kept going back and trying to talk to her. She wouldn't talk to me as a patient, except as a patient. She wouldn't come near me.”
It wasn’t until two months after he was released from Active Duty that she finally was open to getting to know him. Now, the couple has been married for 55 years, and Ken is caring for Judy through her medical journey.
Initially, Ken was to serve in the intelligence community, but due to frequent travel to care for his mother who was being treated for cancer, he transferred to the Military Police. He served as an MP and a courier in Vietnam because of a high clearance that he received during his initial training in intelligence. Much of his time was spent doing convoy escort missions. As a Vietnam-era nurse, Judy cared for many patients that had been through extremely difficult injuries. During her service, she developed PTSD. Ken also has had many memories resurface in recent years, especially as he witnessed the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Ken is proud of his wife’s service which he feels had even more challenges due to the attitudes that women in the military have had to face, especially at that time.
For many years after they left the Army, the couple used private healthcare, but in the 90s, Ken and Judy decided to try the VA as they felt the private healthcare system had become more of a business and gave less personal treatment. They were pleasantly surprised by the care they received through the VA health care system. They used the local medical center in Morrow Bay, California unless more specialized care was needed. Then, Ken and Judy would either take the bus or drive to the Greater Los Angeles VA Health Care System which was several hours away.
In mid-December 2023, Judy was referred to LA where she was seen for migraines and backaches that led to more tests including a CT scan. They discovered swelling and blood on her brain that required drainage and other emergency procedures. When they learned she would need follow-on physical therapy and recovery care, they knew that the day trip would be a much longer stay. That same day, Ken was contacted by Fisher House thanks to a hospital social worker.
“At that point, it was just to me, a temporary rest stop because I wasn't sure what was all involved. And so when I went over there, and again, being the holidays, it was kind of interesting, really the best way to say it, it was very embracing,” he explained. “They checked me in, and they had just had a Christmas party. It was all this leftover stuff. Anything I needed. They were just so cordial. People were sitting in the living room watching tv, talking to each other. They were in the kitchen making food, talking to each other. And that was very nice. And that in itself was a good feeling.”
“They accommodated pretty much everything that I asked for, and I didn't ask for much, but I appreciated that it was all there,” he continued. “I could walk to the hospital to visit my wife. I mean, I had the car, but I could walk over. That's how nice it was. It was a good feeling.”
Ken was grateful for the cost savings but also for the intangibles that come with a Fisher House.
“It saved me a ton of money, and it did. I mean, because you're not going to get a room down there for less than four or $500 a night in that area,” he said. “So, it saved me a lot of money while I was down there. But it wasn't that as much as, like I say, it was just the feeling. It was like a cocoon feeling.”
Fisher Houses foster a community where guests can lean on each other if they need it, but they also offer a private refuse where guests can have their own personal space to decompress. While Ken did talk to other guests, he also had his privacy in the comfort of his own suite.
“I made it what I wanted it to be for me. I ran into one guy who was a Vietnam veteran. He was also from a similar part of the country that I was, and he was there because of his wife, too. And we'd just have occasional conversations,” he said. “It was there when I wanted to, and it was there when I didn't want to, and I go up to the room and do what I needed to do.”
As a dual-military couple, he reflected that the situation could be reversed.
“But if I had been in the hospital as a veteran, and she were the one staying at the Fisher House, I would feel so relaxed knowing the environment she was staying at, having known what it was like,” he said.
“So, I mean, that's good for the person in the hospital to know also that the people are there with them are staying in that kind of an environment.”
