Background: my Mom went to the hospital for an outpatient procedure. She needs a bone marrow biopsy, as her bones have apparently stopped making blood. This is very bad, as not even Punkin the Great can go on for long with water in her veins, not even holy water. When she arrived for her biopsy, she had a fever and a cough, was tested for everything and five days later, her Covid 19 test came back positive, much to the shock of everyone involved. They had to test her twice because the first test sample was lost in an earthquake in Utah, where the lab to which they'd sent the sample is located.
You might ask why the sample had to be sent to Utah, since Minnesota is home to several of the best medical centers, hospitals and universities in the world, including the Mayo clinic, which is less than 90 minutes away. The answer is nobody knows. It's illegal to buy health insurance across state lines but apparently standard procedure to send life saving test samples many states away. This strikes me as stupid but what do I know?
Mom was admitted to the hospital on a Monday. By Wednesday, Jay had developed a slight fever. It wasn't alarming, it was just over 100 but enough to make him feel awful. He spoke to his doctor on the phone every day. His doctor is also a friend, so they actually talk pretty often even when Jay's fine. Jay didn't tell me this, but Dr. B. apparently told him right up front that he probably had this bug but since his underlying health was good not to worry, what symptoms to look for (seventeen days ago no one knew much) and when to become alarmed. Jay's fever was gone by Friday. Saturday evening, my Mom's test results came back.
My sister Katie had been staying with Dad since Mom went into the hospital. We'd hired overnight care so Katie could at least go home to get some sleep. With Mom's positive test result, the home health company bailed on us. Saturday was also when Katie woke up with a fever. She'd been living in Mom's apartment for days. I'm sure she has it. Her fever has been gone for a week now and she's regaining her energy. With Katie out of the picture but Jay doing much better, I decided this was a hill worth dying on. No one else was healthy enough or free enough to go take care of Dad. Not only did I have no one I was responsible for (Jay was FINE by Saturday!), my job is my own and can wait for me.
I'm not the only one; Andy spent a night taking care of Dad. My son Zack volunteered two sleepless nights. Josie and Alex each dedicated at least an afternoon to taking care of their Grandpa. It wasn't easy. Dad is good company but he's deaf and decades of dependence on a C-PaP have ruined his vocal chords, so communication is difficult and often hilarious but always worth the effort. But since the fall that broke Dad's neck, he's been a high functioning quadriplegic. His injuries were such that in a young person with a healthy regenerative system, recovery would have taken a year. In a 90 year old, he should have died. He didn't and he's been recovering with a lot of work and time. If he lives to be 100, he may recover completely but he'd still be a century old and most likely pretty feeble. My point is simply that he needs help. He can get himself to the toilet but he can't clean himself up, he doesn't bend far enough any more. And although he can get himself there, we prefer he have help, so he doesn't get wobbly and fall. And if he should fall, someone needs to help him up. And he falls out of bed every night. The problem there is that his legs flex constantly in his sleep. I think it's a function of his nerves healing. He told me that sometimes he wakes up to find his leg bent so far that his knee is on his chest. Well, every time he flexes and straightens his legs, they inch closer to the edge of the mattress. Every hour or so (or less), his leg slips off the edge of the bed, he startles awake and thinks there's a reason he's trying to get up, so he assumes he has to use the bathroom.
He doesn't. He just fell out of bed. Sometimes we catch him in time and sometimes we don't. No matter what, no one gets a good night's sleep.
I'm sure anxiety over Mom in the hospital added to his restless nights.
As I posted earlier, after the first home care company ran for cover from the Bat flu, Heidi worked tirelessly to find one with the dedication to their calling and the courage to come stay in the Zombie Flu Bat cave. Enter Lena the Great and Wonderful.
Lena arrived on Thursday. In that time, Andy, Zack and I had rotated taking care of Dad at night so that I could be rested enough to hang out with him during the day.
For the first four days that I was with Dad, I spent many hours a day on the phone, as did several other members of my family. Heidi coordinated with us and the home health care providers. Andy and our cousin Annie (Dr. Annie that is) ran point with the hospital and what was going on with Mom. Heidi also brought us bags of groceries, my sister in law Kathy made us a huge pot of absolutely delicious beef and barley soup she'd made and my brother Woody delivered some more groceries when we ran out of a few of Dad's favorite things. Everyone played as big a part as they could. I had many long conversations with the state department of health over whether Dad should be tested. He'd lived with slept beside and eaten meals prepared by someone who tested positive right up until the moment she'd been hospitalized, so he was ground zero for infection. Two weeks ago, everyone was making it up as they went and DoH decided that since Dad had no symptoms yet he need not be tested. Same with me. They did request that Dad be monitored for the remainder of his quarantine (he hadn't left his apartment since the day Mom was hospitalized.) Every morning and evening, I took Dad's temperature and every morning the DoH sent me an email with a list of questions for Dad, such as whether he had muscle aches, a temperature, any stomach trouble etc.
The diarrhea he suffered in the first few days after Mom's hospitalization was due to the treatment he'd received for his diverticulitis the week before. It was completely over by the time I moved in on Saturday. He never exhibited any symptoms and neither did I, despite the fact that I'd been with my Mom just before her symptoms hit and with Jay until his fever was over.
Dad's quarantine and monitoring was over by last Monday. Neither he, Andy, Zack, Josie, Alex or I ever exhibited a single symptom, after not just being exposed but basically marinating in the virus for hours or days.
Dad and I talked to Mom three or four times every day that she was in the hospital. She never felt particularly sick but she was bored nearly to death. In isolation, she only saw doctors and nurses. After the first day, no visitors were allowed in the hospital.
Now that Mom is officially over it and back home, Lena is there taking care of Dad so Mom can rest. Andy and I have been going over in the daytime to make sure Lena gets some sleep. Two things have happened to improve the situation; Dad's doctor got back to us with a new anti anxiety medication to help him sleep and Katie got a new bed rail that prevents him from falling out of bed.
What this whole episode has taught me is that sleep is of paramount importance.
Since I've been back home, I've been sleeping ten hours a night.
May you sleep well.