Patient Stories
'A really good crew': St. Luke's team steps up to celebrate a special patient's 40th birthday
Christina Thongdee, a St. Luke's licensed social worker, helped organize the 40th birthday party for Carmen Koehn, dressed up in the middle like Cruella de Vil. Her guardian, Robyn Dayley, stands to the right.
By Kelly FransonLast Updated July 10, 2023
On a stormy Thursday afternoon in June, a small crowd gathered in the waiting room on the second floor of St. Luke's Magic Valley Medical Center.
The reason for the crowd? A 40th birthday party for a special patient.
The dress code for the party: all things Disney.
Among princesses, a pirate, a mermaid, an evil queen and quite a few friends in mouse ears or character T-shirts, the guest of honor held court dressed as Cruella de Vil.
That was Carmen Koehn.
While Cruella — the character — is a villain who should not be allowed anywhere near puppies, Carmen-as-Cruella was smiling ear to ear as she held a happy dog on her lap.
Koehn had arrived in the hospital a few days earlier with her guardian, Robyn Dayley.
Robyn runs a certified family home for developmentally disabled adults, and she takes the words “family home” to heart, noting she started the home in 1999.
Carmen Koehn has a laugh while holding Kika, whose owner, Pam, drove up to Twin Falls from California.
William (dressed as Captain Hook at the party) was the first to move in, with Carmen and then Danielle (in costume as Elsa) arriving in the early 2000s. Debbie (known to party guests as Maleficent) became part of the family in 2017, though she had grown close to the group for several years prior to moving in.
“This is their forever home and that's how I always said it and always saw it,” Dayley said. “Santa Claus comes, the Easter bunny comes, Halloween is 24/7.”
It's a family that loves to celebrate, so when Carmen was hospitalized just before her 40th birthday, there was concern that a party wouldn't be possible.
Carmen's palliative care team at St. Luke's stepped up to the challenge. She had a palliative care consult after a terminal cancer diagnosis last year, but in June, the timing was more urgent.
“It was a little unclear how things were going to go in the short-term, so we thought ‘ let's take advantage of people being able to come,’” said Dr. Daniel Pruecil, director of St. Luke's Palliative Care Program. “The answer is always ‘yes.’ Can we do the party early? The answer is ‘absolutely’ and if you have two parties, fantastic, but you don't want to miss out.”
Christina Thongdee is a licensed clinical social worker who can now add party planner to her resume after a heroic effort to make sure Carmen was properly celebrated.
“It was a collaborative effort,” said Thongdee, recognizing St. Luke's catering, nursing staff and hospital gift shop among many others. “We have a really good crew here at St. Luke's to make everything happen.”
“This was truly a group effort,” Dr. Pruecil echoed. “We always talk about how in difficult situations, take advantage of people doing well and celebrate when you can.”
St. Luke's team members joined Carmen's family and friends to sing “Happy Birthday.” Carmen smiled and laughed in a room filled with decorations, presents and carrot cake — her favorite.
