A version of this article was previously published in the journal Connecticut Medicine.

I have some chillies with a story to tell – that of a warrior fighting the odds.

I was given the chillies on a recent visit to a patient’s home. As part of our geriatric outpatient rotation for the VA Connecticut Healthcare System, UConn medical residents accompany VA nurses on home visits. It provides a valuable service for disabled veterans and their families in the form of medical care, health supplies and assistance with home safety evaluations. It also saves patients a lot of money that would have been spent on transportation costs to and from the clinics.

While driving to the house of a Vietnam War veteran suffering from advanced stage Parkinson’s disease, we reviewed his health status. Reading from his chart, it came to my attention that the veteran has been in and out of the hospital with multiple complaints ranging from infections to weakness and was discharged recently to a nursing home. The VA nurse driving the car told me that the veteran’s wife, Anna (not her real name), fought the nursing home in order to bring her husband back to the house they’ve lived in for 20 years.

Anna argued that “the nursing home staff moves him around with lifts and does not encourage him to walk or move on his own and, as a result, he is losing his function.” The nurse explained that Anna is now her husband’s primary care giver. She has no family nearby to help run the house or share in the care of her nearly bed-bound husband.

We parked in front of a beautiful home with a well-maintained lawn and trees full of cherries and peaches. It was difficult to believe the owner of this beautiful place was gravely ill. The door was opened by a 5 foot tall, stout Italian lady who greeted us with a warm smile. She took us inside so we could examine her husband and told us every minute detail about his health and medications.

She had just seated him back in his chair after a trip to the bathroom, in which she had injured her own back while helping him. He shuffled along while using a walker and she followed closely behind with a wheelchair in case his legs gave out. Anna has a lift-device to assist her with the transfers but she never uses it stating, “It will weaken his muscles and spirit further.”

She cooks for him and feeds him by hand, changes his diapers, cleans him and wheels him to their garden every day.

While we were examining him, Anna asked us to check her blood pressure. My colleague politely stated the VA care is only for veterans but I volunteered to do it. (Back home in India, it is not unusual to provide free health care for bystanders).

Once we finished the examination, Anna – who had been closely observing our work – asked me if I would like a couple of tomatoes from her garden. I politely declined the offer, remembering from my training that no gifts should be accepted from patients. But she persisted, offering me chillies (red hot Indian varieties), squash and basil. My colleague, who overheard the offers, assured me it was alright to accept non-expensive gifts. I finally gave in and accepted the offer of the chillies and also asked her for a tour of her garden.

As she showed us around her garden full of chillies, tomatoes, parsley, grapes, melons, squash and basil, she beamed with pride and happiness. She told us that working in the garden is a huge stress reliever for her.

During the tour, Anna opened up and told us her biggest concerns about taking care of her husband. Every time her husband needs to see a physician, it costs over $500 in ambulance transportation. His neurologist and cardiologist do not make house calls. A home health aide to help with his care consumes $5000 a month.

Because his illness is not related to his war service, there is a $15 co-pay for each house visit by a VA nurse and for each of his 10 medications. The VA does not offer medical coverage to veteran’s spouses so Anna has to pay for her own insurance.

Her husband’s dementia from the Parkinson’s disease prevents him from understanding these issues, and from realizing their once two-acre vegetable patch has shrunken to 15 feet. But Anna hopes he experiences less confusion by being cared for at home rather than a nursing facility.

When it was finally time to say goodbye, I touched Anna’s shoulder and reassured her that she was doing a great job managing her husband’s illness. She seemed moved by the gesture and gave me a tight hug, as if trying to lighten the burden of her problems.

Despite her financial concerns, Anna has been fighting valiantly to keep her husband healthy. “I cannot give him back his health, but everything else I can. If he was to live in the nursing home, he would be totally paralyzed by now,” she says.

I cannot agree more. Hats off to the true warrior whose services go unseen.

For me, the sight of red hot chillies will always be a reminder of that brave, tireless, and devoted woman.

Follow the UConn Health Center on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.