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There is little debate that nursing homes have been the hardest hit by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
From the first days that authorities in the greater Seattle area realized that Life Care Center residents were dying at an incredible rate from the novel coronavirus, it became horrifyingly obvious that those who were in nursing homes were sitting ducks for the virus.
In the effort to contain the virus and protect the elderly, most nursing homes went into lockdown. The only people who could get in or out were employees. The residents of nursing homes were cut off from the outside world in the effort to keep them from catching the virus. The touted “15 days” or “30 days to flatten the curve” did not apply to them. Nursing homes were now Hotel California – you could come in, but you can’t leave.
Families tried to understand the realities on the ground as they were separated from loved ones. After all, no one wanted to be a carrier for the virus and wipe out a nursing home’s population en masse. And then we saw the horror being forced on New York, New Jersey, and Michigan, as COVID-19 patients were sent back to nursing homes in a warped version of Typhoid Mary. And yet somehow, the governors of those states – Cuomo, Murphy, and Whitmer – keep slipping out of any kind of accountability for their orders to send coronavirus patients back to nursing homes.
Understandably, families who have lost loved ones are livid. Fox News meterologist Janice Dean lost both her in-laws in New York nursing homes, and has routinely pointed out the failures of Governor Cuomo, whose administration tried to memory-hole his order that coronavirus patients had to go back to their care facilities. And now she is assuming the role of comforter for so many families, who are now horrified that mass protests for politically correct causes are okay, but holding their dying loved one’s hand as they passed was forbidden.
I have received so many messages from families that were not able to see their loved ones before they died or have funerals to mourn them because of the pandemic. They are beside themselves watching the thousands of people that are out today protesting together.
— Janice Dean (@JaniceDean) June 6, 2020
And yet, those of us with family members inside nursing homes can do very little but wait and pray, even as the federal government tells the states to deal with the issue, the states and their governors issue orders that are disasters, and the nursing homes themselves are at a loss to keep their residents, as well as their employees, healthy and functional while being cut off from the outside world. And absolutely no one has any answers, or any accountability.
My beloved grandmother, who will turn 96 this summer, is locked inside her nursing home. My family has FaceTimed with her, even though her short-term memory is gone and she can’t remember that she talked to anyone five minutes later. She took a fall inside her room recently and was found by staff on her floor. My uncle took her for a medical evaluation to make sure there were no broken bones or other injuries. As a result, she now has to be quarantined in her room – a room the size of a college dorm bedroom, with attached bathroom – for two weeks because she left the facility. Before this pandemic started, we saw her in-person once a week. It has now been three months. This woman, who graduated from high school in internment camp during World War II, is now locked in her room – and even when she is allowed back out of her room, she will still be locked in a virtual prison called a memory care facility. Three months ago, she knew who I was, and who my children were. I have no idea if, when she is finally allowed back out into the real world, if she will know who any of us are. She is alive, but she isn’t living. What the virus and the lockdown has cost her, and thousands of other elderly residents of nursing homes, cannot be quantified in a chart. If I stormed the care facility with my entire family and claimed it was a social justice protest, do you think we could get in to see her, and get out without being arrested?
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jm usa says: here in penna, trans ‘health’ secty took his mom out of a facility but left everyone else to fend for themselves…
after 60 days i took my mom out, but her mental capacity has diminished greatly… they’re telling us that our tyrannical gov says aug or sept before they even think about allowing family to have contact…
they’re killing people in order to ease their pocket books so they can spend more $$ on Banned Parenthood & Antifa…
Del Varner says: You beat me to the point. The swap, other than Ezekiel Emmanuel, want s to get rid of old people. After all, their life experience means nothing; they have living memory of the rise of the National Socialists in Germany and the Fascists in Italy, and that must be supressed. Additionally, you are only useful to the state if you can work to support the state. Once you cannot work, you have a duty to die and make way for those who can work.
nomen nescio says: Remember also that old HUHWITE people vote for Republicans too much. They’ve got to go.
GWB says: you are only useful to the state if you can work to support the state
But once you’re dead, you can vote for the state. So, win-win!
nomen nescio says: It’s not COVID19 I’m worried about. There are other things in nursing homes that can kill you. Like this guy:
Note, by the way, that he planned his attacks against patients he knew to have memory and/or cognitive problems, who could not or would not make complaints that the site staff would take credibly. Note, furthermore, that he felt so little fear of the law and so little fear of consequences that he did this for months, filming himself with a cell phone video camera, and posted the videos to the Internet for the entertainment of his equally loathsome friends.
No one cared until some anonymous person from one of those horrible, horrible *chans found out, posted links to his videos, unleashed the weaponized autism of the *chans, and got a matching face on Facebook, and forwarded his name and address to the cops. Those horrible *chan racists saved that old man’s life. What monsters. Of course, someone claiming to be the perpetrator’s father is already claiming a mental illness defense on his behalf.
Does anyone wonder whether he’ll do time? Does anyone wonder whether he’ll do this again?
Does anyone wonder how many more like him there are out there, whose OPSEC and PERSEC are a little tighter than this one’s? Does anyone wonder how often this happens when the perpetrator is cautious enough to refrain from posting gloating videos to the Internet for “street cred?”
If you have a strong stomach, go look for videos of “elder abuse” in the US. You will see an awful lot of very old, weak, defenseless white people being beaten and worse by “diverse cultural enrichers,” who, likewise, have so little fear of the law and so little fear of consequences that they post video of the beatings, rapes, and killings on the Internet.
It’s something to ponder, for anyone reading this, before you commit to putting Mom in that “nice” nursing home with the “polite” attendants. It’s something to ponder, for anyone reading this, who’s deciding not to have children–because if you don’t, guess who takes care of you when you get old? Jaydon Hayden and his homeboys, that’s who. Choose carefully. Choose wisely.
cthulhu says: Given the fact pattern that is known, every governor that sent diseased patients into nursing homes should face a charge of First Degree (Premeditated) murder for every death resulting from their action. If I’m on that jury, I’ll listen to arguments — but appearances are pretty clear.
My parents are in their 90s. I sold my home in GA. To move to Fl, close enough to them. They have an ast who comes a few times a week. They are fragile, but can still live on their own. It is important to make decisions based on their health and capabitie, but NO NURSING HOME!
Spike says: I am completely with you, but I am wondering how you would advise someone like a male who is taking care of his mother, who needs assistance with showering, toileting and dressing. That means 247/7/365 of dealing with mom’s most intimate activities. Do you think there is a way for son to maintain his and her dignity outside of a nursing home, other than to hire a female to be there all the time? How does he go to work and leave mom at home?
wheels says: If you can’t be there yourself, and she can’t be left alone, then you need to get a female attendant. The best places to check are the at-home care services, but you may also be able to obtain help through volunteers from your local place of worship.
Otherwise, you manage. Don’t think of it too much in terms of dignity; think of it in terms of expressing love and care.
I’m currently in a similar situation. I’m doing all that and more for my girlfriend, who was diagnosed with a rare dementia a few years ago that is also causing her to go blind (her eyes are fine, her visual cortex is the problem). I still work from home, but it’s sporadic, and only for a few hours at a time, at most. Luckily, I’m set up to work from home, and I can take her along when I need to go to a supplier or go shopping.
Rick Caird says: I am concerned about the elderly dying alone. I would not let my dogs die alone. We are killing our elderly.
Deb the Bee says: Same here. After being “allowed” out of her nursing home to attend my father’s funeral, my mother is now on Day 9 of her 14-day in-room quarantine. However, we are blessed that she is in a wonderful facility with a truly caring staff that is doing their best to keep the residents engaged. We can Facetime, and she calls me every day. Having visited her almost every day since she was admitted over three years ago, before the lock down, I can attest to the fact that this “home” is doing the best for it’s residents. I wish that every nursing home resident was as lucky as my 94-year old mom. But as she said, “We’re losing time.” I lost time with my dad, who also resided there. I did not get to see him the last two months of his life.
[…] the above again. The deaths of wonderful parents, grandparents, and relatives in those nursing homes are being blamed SOLEY upon the […]
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