4/18/20

I have notes and numbers and papers in boxes stacked in my office; all part of my mother’s caretaking and bill-paying over the last ten years. The stacks keep growing, filled with my dad’s army papers needed for VA benefits, all kinds of certificates and memorabilia, and bill after bill, number after number, document after document in folder after folder reflecting the hours, days, months and years I spent on the phone to get my mother the care she has needed, eventually bringing her back to NYC, into the apartment in a senior building about fifteen minutes away, where she was likely given the Corona Virus by one of her aides.

She has been in the hospital since Thursday evening.

I am unable to get through to the nurse in charge of the Covid Floor. I get that they are busy, I get that they are running from room to room in Hazmat gear, I get that they are exhausted. I want to get information on my 102 year-old mother who has the Corona Virus.

What I am able to do is call Patient Relations and some poor beleaguered soul rife with exhaustion and trying his or her best, will provide some basic information. They do not discuss medical issues, just some brief notes. To wit:

These results sound fairly stable, for now, however, I don’t have a picture of whether my mother can or does communicate. I am supposing that patients are getting what their bodies need but where does the soul come in? Her sitting up was a good sign. Temporal disorientation, I would suspect, is par for the course, I have noticed that before. She likely doesn’t know what hit her. I am hoping her brain fog clears and that she is coping as well as could be and can make her needs known.

It is truly out of my hands.

Last night on the news I saw a video of nurses celebrating the opening of an extended Covid section in my mom’s hospital.
You can read about it and watch the uplifting videos here . Who would think making a cafeteria into a Covid Unit would bring so much joy to the staff? Look at the fabulous video when they release surviving patients! PLEASE, watch the videos.

I hope everyone is healthy and stays healthy and is surviving our new world as best as they can.

Thank you for all of the wonderful, warm, supportive and beautiful comments I have been receiving.

Love and good health until next time. Keep the faith.

This series starts here:
Part 1: And The Band Played On … a mother’s life, a daughter’s journey

The previous post is here

The next post is here