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My themfriend is currently in an ICU in Boston. Myself, my fiance, and two other friends have been on a 24/7 discord call, so that someone is there to advocate for them around the clock as they go through COVID-19. It is fucking terrifying.
It started about 2 weeks ago. They ended up at the @MWHealthcare_ hospital in Malden, MA for the first ICU visit.
The level of oversight at this hospital is S T A G G E R I N G. I watched as they left our partner seizing and hitting their head against the railing of the bed.
The level of oversight at this hospital is S T A G G E R I N G. I watched as they left our partner seizing and hitting their head against the railing of the bed.
12 hours earlier, they had been in a different hospital unit with seizure guards. THE HOSPITAL STAFF TOOK THEM OFF.
Our partner has cPTSD, asthma, and osteogenesis imperfecta type IV, among other things. The level of ableism we witnessed was literally the worst I've ever seen.
Our partner has cPTSD, asthma, and osteogenesis imperfecta type IV, among other things. The level of ableism we witnessed was literally the worst I've ever seen.
I watched a nurse grab their face during the middle of a flashback, triggered by beeping and constant light and sound. I was on the computer trying to sign to my partner that it would be okay, that we were here, and the doctors yelled at us and closed the laptop.
When we were able to reestablish contact, the doctor in the room more or less refused care if we remained on camera. We had to get a patient rights advocate to come in, because they were trying to label our partner as a psych patient instead of a respiratory patient.
We had watched the other perform the test for COVID earlier. It was negative for the first test, hence the reason they were treating our partner like they were overreacting and that their symptoms were, in the one doctor's view, "subjective."
My partner was then sent home. It turns out that my partner's roommate, who WASN'T social distancing, had exposed herself to COVID and passed it to my partner. A few days after being released from @MWHealthcare_, my partner was rushed to Boston Children's.
Our partner is a legal adult, but Boston Children's often takes people up to 30 years old and it was the only other hospital that takes my partner's insurance. The difference in care is night and day. They've posted communication, many staff trained in ASL, etc.
The doctors did another COVID test and it came up positive. The first test was administered so poorly that it punctured my partner's sinuses and gave them an infection on top of COVID. They have been in searing, blinding pain that could have been prevented if it (cont)
Hadn't been for aggressive, ableist hospital staff. The staff at @MWHealthcare_ tried to force my partner to walk - they are functionally a paraplegic due to a herniated disc putting pressure on their spinal cord in such a way that they can't walk.
My partner only has partial sensation in one leg- because of this, the hospital staff insisted my partner was faking being a paraplegic even though this has been well documented in their medical history. Nurses and CNAs were refusing transfers.
We have spent countless hours doing our best to remotely advocate for our partner because I'm afraid that if I leave the call, something will happen. I have more faith in Boston Children's, but this whole experience has been a stark reminder that disabled folx (cont)
Going through COVID are going to suffer and die because of the inherent amount of ableism in healthcare. Young femme presenting non-binary folks are not being taken seriously. Queer people are being dismissed. And holy fuck, if they're POC, Indigenous, or trans?
If you think this is a hoax, or a conspiracy by the government, I don't even have the words to begin to express how wrong you are. Over 42,000 people in the US have died. I am currently watching my partner struggle for oxygen and gasping for air.
If you think the stay at home orders are somehow an infringement of your rights, your great-grandparents would be ashamed at your complete misunderstanding of what shared sacrifice is. Your stupidity, your greed, your impatience, and your selfishness will be your undoing.
The takeaway: STAY HOME. Think about someone else other than yourself. Work to eliminate the barriers LGBT/POC/disabled folx face in order to receive life saving treatment. And wash your fucking hands.
