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My mother lives in a Memory Care ALF. Her doctor called me about 10 days ago to install a care plan in case she contracts the virus; what to do? Have her taken to the hospital or call in hospice and have her isolated in her apartment & given comfort care? I chose option #2; at 93 with lots of health issues and a daily plea to die, it'll be hospice and stay in the facility for my mother, should an outbreak happen and she contract the virus. We'll allow nature to take it's course in such a scenario, which I hope does not happen.
Doctors should be calling POAs to install care plans for those who live in residential care communities. Unless a decision is made to take a parent out of a facility BEFORE an outbreak occurs, it would be nearly impossible to do so once there IS an outbreak, unless you're okay having everyone in your home exposed to the virus, not to mention caring for a potentially infected elder with lots of OTHER issues!
It's really a terrible situation we all potentially face here with the residential care home loved ones. There's no 'good' answer, is there? Sending prayers for all of us, and asking for God's mercy at this difficult time.
Every day I read the updated list of facilities here in Colo that have outbreaks, praying I don't see my mother's Memory Care ALF on there. Of course, they will let me know if such a situation occurs, and they've been hyper-vigilant............but it's SUCH a contagious virus, that it's very hard to keep out of care homes.
What would you do differently? If you knew no one was positive would you not wear a mask? would you not wash your hands? Assume that you have been infected by the person that opened the door minutes before you did, the one that took that jar of mayo off the shelf at the store then decided they did not want it and put it back.
Due to HIPAA laws they can not inform anyone about anyone's condition.
Interesting but where I live a judge just ruled that the Health Department is to notify 911 dispatch of positive people so that it can be flagged if a 911 call comes in so responders are aware. However the information is purged after the quarantine time has passed.
Years ago, way back in the 80s I asked my new Dentist when filling out a medical history form why along with the questions, are you diabetic, have you had Rheumatic fever and all the rest why not ask are you HIV positive. His response was..."I assume everyone is positive I take the same precautions with all my patients"..... Maybe take the same approach and assume more are positive for COVID19 than not. I am sure many people would test positive but have no symptoms, I bet there are people that may have thought they had the flu but may have in fact had mild cases of COVID19.
I am his POA and notified all his kids, who never call or visit. I felt maybe they will now and that would make my brother happy. So, my nephew started calling the nursing home demanding information on my brother's status. When he didn't get his way he put his mother on the phone to the nurse! We are talking about a man in his 30's... anyway, The nurse called me to tell me and ask for permission to give out his info. I said no. She thanked me and said she was hoping I would say that. They can not handle the calls coming in. The nurses have to shed their protective gear to answer the call and it takes up a lot of their valuable time. The nurse said it is best to have one person call and they can relay the information. I completely understand this. It is difficult to get through to anyone there. Now they hired a person to come in on Tuesdays and Thursdays to just connect people to their loved ones rooms.
My brother is in a private room and they said that is to his advantage. He is used to being restricted to his room because of his leg infections - so he is able to cooperate on that level.
This is a horrible, fearful time. My biggest pain is knowing if my brother's condition goes south he will be alone and I won't be able to be with him. He will get scared. So, I am praying for everyone to get through this.
Good luck to everyone, stay safe and well.
In the meantime, what would you do if you found that your family member lived in a facility with a known coronavirus patient? I think we should all assume that if it isn't true right now, it will be true sometime this year. This virus spreads easily. What will you do when it happens?
Or move your LO in with you.
Our family is facing this situation, too. There are no good answers.
The number of infections and deaths in facilities are not being reported anymore on our news. I believe that the last report that I read in our newspaper stated that it is in over 90 of our facilities now.
We now have over 21,000 cases and over 1000 deaths reported in our state. I hope and pray that the end is near for us. We have many people being treated with this horrible coronavirus.
I am praying for all of us everywhere to see an end in sight soon. Blessings to all 💗.
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