Just got a call from my father’s nursing home in Mississippi. 7 residents have Covid. 2 have died. 6 nurses have it. The numbers keep growing. They are doing all they can to separate residents and keep them safe. To no avail. Feels like a time bomb. I just called him. Grief.
2/ Praying. Trusting God. When we moved out to California, the plan was for me to go back several times a year to see him. My sister is there now. But, I can’t. Can’t go back. We just talk on the phone. This virus should have been over. He’s in a small town in South Mississippi.
3/ When we moved, my Dad was still in his house. Driving. Getting around. Had a heart attack last November. I went to be with him. Complications put him in rehab. 30 days. 100 days. He couldn’t walk. Then, nursing home. Supposed to be temporary. Now permanent. Then, Covid. Ugh.
4/ None of this was the plan. I feel helpless. Wish he was here with me or I with him. He’s in that place and one resident after another gets the virus. Now, they are dying. And they are doing all they can to stop it. Separating, separate wings, separate staff. Still, it spreads.
5/ And anger grows toward all those who said this was a hoax, it’s nothing, just let the elderly in nursing homes die if they get it. Like they don’t matter. I wrote this back in March with my father in mind. They are not expendable. https://thebulwark.com/our-parents-are-not-expendable/
6/ But, to God I go with this helplessness. I pray that they will isolate people, get it under control. But, it is in the town. It’s all over South Louisiana and South Mississippi. Nurses have to go home. Total isolation isn’t possible anywhere. God, have mercy on those people.
7/ Like, how do you protect them? A nurse is okay, cares for the resident, goes home, her husband works in New Orleans, catches Covid, doesn’t know, gives it to her, she brings it in. And, no one in my hometown is wearing masks or distancing because they were told it was a hoax!
8/ All over South Mississippi people go on like life is normal. Not wearing masks, not distancing. Refusing to listen. Their rights. Their convenience. For months, my Dad’s nursing home was protected. Then, one case. 2 cases. 4 cases. A death. Now 7 cases. 2 deaths. And on and on
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