Too close to home

I have a Sister (72 y/o) who has early onset Alzheimer's and is in a local nursing home. This particular nursing facility was lauded for the way it protected its staff and patients from the COVID-19 bug...

...until two weeks ago and the virus is now ravaging the staff and patients, including Pati, who tested positive yesterday.

Ten months without an infection and now; one dead, three on ventilators, eleven in hospital and nearly twenty testing positive. Fortunately, Pati is asymptomatic, but in her lessened state of wellness...

My Brother-in-Law was given instructions of how to arrange for hospice care when the time comes nearer.

Damn, damn, damn, damn!

Oh Miki,

I am sorry. I do hope she remains asymptomatic. It is a dastardly virus, but many do shake it off. May this be the case with your Sister.

Celia xx

My BIL was able to get her into one of the better local long-term care homes and they had managed to stay virus free up until late last month.

The management of the home sends out little report cards on how their charges are doing and Pati is doing well - fingers crossed!

Hi Miki,

That sounds good news, my Mother too seems to be asymptomatic after testing positive four days ago. Apparently, the tests are not 100% accurate and though I speak to her every day, I have not heard anymore from her care home.

I could phone them directly, but as my Mother sounds very well herself and knowing that the home is very professional, I am supposing no news is good news from them. In fact my Mother was more cognitive this morning than ever. I asked, surreptitiously, her health and she said everything was fine but she was not enjoying food so much.

Well, that worried me, but she went on to say she liked the puddings but not the main meals. I asked her if it was the taste, but she said no, it was that none of her favourites were on offer! Fingers crossed for your Sister and my Mother.

Very challenging times Miki....

Celia xx

Yes Celia, the tests are not 100% accurate. I speak as a partner of an actual expert. She's a Microbiologist and Laboratory Manager. Imagine how reassuring it is to live with an actual expert. But if anything it's better to be overly cautious than the other way around.

Judging by what you said your Mother is fine but you can't just relax.

I lost my last paternal Aunt this week from Covid. OK she was very old and in a nursing home and I never knew her but me and all my family were sad. Last of the line. Even more sad is that we couldn't go to the funeral even though I live less than an hour's drive away.

I feel for you and Michaela.

Apart from Aunt Rita, we as a family have escaped so far.

With the vaccine kicking in we can only hope we've crossed a sort of rubicon.

I m sorry to hear about your Aunt, Marie. It doesn't matter if someone who is old is lost to us; it doesn't matter if they spent their last days in a nursing home.

What matters is we have lost the memories and wisdom and love of someone who beat the odds and got to live a long life, even if the life was still shortened by a horrendous scourge on humanity.

I am glad for Celia's Mother not succumbing to this virus. I am glad my Brother-in-Law can still laugh at what Pati does, even if she can't remember who she, or Mike or her children are.

I just got back from my pulmonologist who says he is not ready to punch my ticket. He has given me some exercises to strengthen my diaphragm and to not expose myself to the virus.

We got through 4 years of Trump and we will get through this worldwide scourge - if we try and do not give up hope. Remember:
Hope if the thing with feathers:

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops - at all

And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm

I’ve heard it in the chillest land
And on the strangest Sea
Yet - never - in Extremity,
It asked a crumb - of me.

Emily Dickerson

Hi Miki and everyone,

Well, the latest is that my Mother seems to have escaped the virus completely, if the test was correct and she actually had it. That was weekend before last and it has now been ten days so I am confident she should be fine. Especially so as she complains of other silly things not related to health and has had zero symptoms, in fact she complained her cushions were not comfortable, so I bought two and took them round there yesterday.

I liked he poem Miki. I am not a big one with poetry, I quite like Burns. More so his songs though, which I like. It was Burns night Monday, that used to be a bit of an event in my twenties, the landlord of my local pub was Scottish and would make a big thing of it. I played some of the tunes last night!

Times are very quiet for me at the moment, my retirement was ill timed as I thought this would be over now and I would be doing my antiques. I could sell on line, but I don't like doing that, so I am taking each day as it comes with my artwork my main focus now and buying the odd piece on line at auctions, but because so many others at home, bargains are far and few between. I have managed a few crafty snips though.

Glad to hear that you are bearing up Miki, yes, we will pull through this nasty bug and better times beckon, Hope Is The Thing With Feathers.

Celia xx

Celia Eriksson wrote:Well, the latest is that my Mother seems to have escaped the virus completely, if the test was correct and she actually had it.

My Sister is also symptom free (as of today) and that is good. This is a strange bug: it is not very discriminating in who it takes.

Celia Eriksson wrote:I liked he poem Miki.

I don't know if you are familiar with Woody Allen. He is a film maker focused on irony of some repute, but he is also misogynist who married the adopted Asian daughter of Mia Farrow, who Allen was dating at the time - such is the New York scene. BUT, he published a book of his quips/quotes in the late '80s titled 'Without Feathers'. I had to look up the reference, before the internet. One of my few trips to our local library.

Celia Eriksson wrote:Times are very quiet for me at the moment, my retirement was ill timed...

There is never a good time to retire. Hang in there, girl - it will get better.

Sad to see it took Captain Sir Tom Moore. 100 years old, who survived the war and everything. A real old school hero. It's crap.

He was always vulnerable as many older people are. Like my aunt. It's very dangerous to be in a nursing home right now although he wasn't in one.

Here in Ireland we had the worst day for deaths today. 101 plus 17 in Northern Ireland. We're one island. That seems low but we're a little island about the same area as Maine or Lake Victoria apparently. However the new cases are dropping.

A source of hope. Plus the vaccines. Just moved into a another bigger house so we're definitely staying at home because we're surrounded by boxes. We're definitely isolated. In a way the covid is good because we're not distracted by multiple visits from relatives so we have time to make the house nice. Of course we have a lot of of relatives being Irish.

Can't wait for summer and freedom.

But we're not free of it.

No one wants to be the last casualty of the war.
..

mariehart1 wrote:Sad to see it took Captain Sir Tom Moore. 100 years old, who survived the war and everything. A real old school hero.
He was always vulnerable as many older people are. Like my aunt. It's very dangerous to be in a nursing home right now although he wasn't in one.

He became sick with the 'old man's friend', pneumonia, and died quickly from COVID-19 complications.
My Sister, who is young at 72, is out of quarantine but won't get her vaccinations until 2/17 and 3/14.

mariehart1 wrote:
Here in Ireland we had the worst day for deaths today. 101 plus 17 in Northern Ireland. We're one island. That seems low but we're a little island about the same area as Maine or Lake Victoria apparently. However the new cases are dropping.

The U.S. had 2,400+ deaths yesterday.

mariehart1 wrote:No one wants to be the last casualty of the war.

It is of little recompense that being the last one, is being the last one.

Charles McMahon and Darwin Lee Judge were the last two U.S. servicemen killed in my war, the Vietnam War. We are currently over 8 times the number of U.S. dead from COVID in just one year

Yes, dear old Tom, brave old soul. I do think a lot of people are making a little political gain from him over here though, they want to have a clap for him tonight at six O'clock. that is people stand on the doorstep and clap like seals. Well, I never knew Tom, so I will simply think yes, he was quite the good guy, but no I shall not do happy claps, I am pretty certain that was not his style.

He was a contestant on a game show, Blankety-Blank, quite a popular show over here. I watched a snippet last night, he seems like he was a nice guy.



Celia xx