My mom is in assisted living. She lives on an island that hasn't been as been as affected by Covid as other areas. Luckily no one in her facility has been positive throughout this whole ordeal. I visit my mom regularly and notice that she and other residents in the facility seems to have aged 10 fold since this started. She is in a wonderful facility and they haven't had as many restrictions as other places, however there has been a large decrease in activities. At any rate I wondered if others have experienced a more rapid decline in their loved ones.
I don't think there is any question as on both news programs and anecdotally here we are seeing enormous changes. My brother died in May, but I could see already at his ALF the changes. They all delighted in gathering in the main lodge, even had a wine hour some evenings, and always donuts and coffee and visiting in the a.m., the proverbial bingo games, art classes. Now there is more isolating in place at their own and other places. In some facilities seniors are confined to their rooms.
Think of this honestly as Jail. With no real visits that are quality for many.
I hear that Moderna now has a vaccine as well as Pfizer. They are supposedly 90 and 95% effective. I hope, if safe, they go to seniors and their caregivers and families, along with our first line personnel first. It will be well into spring or summer before we have delivery systems even if deemed safe.
It is heartbreaking, but not everything has another choice. Joel, who is a regular here and who lost his wife in the first surge, tells us all to get our seniors out of facilities and care for them at home. This just isn't an option for most. It is so disturbing.
Yes. My mom is 95 with Alzheimer's and was living in an ALF. She could walk on her own even though I decided to buy her a rollator last Thanksgiving just to have on hand and get her used to using one. Also, she was able to dress herself.
After the lockdown on March 13, one month later I received a call from an outside mobile doctor's nurse who said she was near death from severe dehydration and had COVID. I called the facility and told them to have an ambulance take her to the ER which was right around the corner. They said she also had bi-lateral pneumonia and a severe UTI. She survived and was only in the hospital about 3 days before being transferred to a rehab facility where she was for three weeks. That gave us time to find a new facility and put her in their memory care wing. She's been under hospice care ever since, can no longer walk or dress herself and wasn't eating. I brought protein shakes, ice cream and rice pudding while she was in rehab. She was 145 pre-COVID and weighed 114 in September. She now weighs 126 and hospice may have to take her off their services but, I don't think she'll ever walk again.
The original facility where this happened to her had an 85 resident capacity and around 45 residents got COVID and over 22 died.
I wish you and your mom the best where she lives!
Best wishes to you and your mom.
Much to my surprise, when I saw her after 4 1/2 months of quarantine, she was pretty much as she’d been before getting ill, but had lost several pounds. I was quite surprised that she remembered me, but she certainly did, and called me by name, and asked for other family members.
The thought had occurred to me before seeing her that at 92, she might have slipped farther.
We are once again in a hot spot, and she is again in quarantine. I have no idea when my next visit might be. I am very grateful to have been able to tell her, after her victory over Covid, that I love her and look forward to seeing her again “soon”.
I look at all of us as having been affected by this damn virus. ALL of us. Not just the elders in residential care, but every human being who's been subjected to the fear mongering and media circus that's known as Covid19. Not that it isn't real or dangerous, just that it's been overblown to the point of insanity. And it affects us ALL. The elderly get hit harder b/c most of them in care settings can't see their loved ones in person. My mother's ALF has been in 'lockdown' mode since last March, so we can only do window visits with her where we sit outside in the elements (in Colorado) and she sits inside the conference room on the landline (we are on my cell phone).
Hopefully, the elderly will be first in line to get the vaccine(s) when they're rolled out and then life can get back to being a bit more normal. Whether a person is 'anti-vax' or not, I think most of us would be agreeable to getting our elders vaccinated so they can go about their daily lives again, you know?
Good luck!