WORCESTER, Mass. - From being a nurse, to becoming a patient​. Juliet Okyere takes care of others and knows what it feels like to be sick and in an unfamiliar place.

"At the hospital, you don't get that," Okyere said. "So much restriction and it brings you depression."

Doctors found an abscess on Okyere's fallopian tube and admitted her to the hospital. Two days later, she got a call telling her she could go home. 

"When I got home from the ambulance, this beautiful nurse was already here," ​Okyere said. "I was like 'What? You guys mean business. You're on top of the game.'"

Okyere is a patient in UMass Memorial Health's Hospital at Home program. A nurse checks in on her three times a day and when they're not there, a wearable monitor is keeping an eye.

"They call me and say 'Juliet are you okay? Can you breathe? We can tell from what we see here that you're not comfortable'," Okyere said. 

What You Need To Know

  • UMass Memorial Health treats patients at home through Hospital at Home program
  • Juliet Okyere has been receiving treatment for a abscess on her fallopian tubes from home
  • Okyere​ said getting care at home has boosted her mental health
  • She is a nurse herself and knows how it feels to be sick and in an unfamiliar place

Okyere is getting care from the comfort of her couch. She's surrounded by family and gets wear her own clothes.

"I look beautiful this way," Okyere said. "If I'm in the hospital, just tell me, I'll be ugly. I would be ugly."

Okyere said the best part about being treated at home is getting to eat whatever food she'd like.  "I can eat my own food," Okyere said. "My mom cooks. It's all thanks to her."

Okyere said the diagnosis is hard to deal with. While medicine is making her feel better, laughing at home with family is just as effective.