Last year, I wrote 3 posts about my 87-year old father (FYI, he is going to turn 88 soon):
https://saidit.net/s/whatever/comments/406m/my_87_year_old_father_has_cornoavirus_i_would/
https://saidit.net/s/whatever/comments/46zk/update_on_my_87year_old_father_with_covid19/
https://saidit.net/s/whatever/comments/4p7f/update_2_on_my_87year_old_father_who_had_covid19/
The TLDR of those 3 posts is that he was infected with COVID-19, but was an asymptomatic carrier. Despite the fact that he never got sick, he was forced into a nursing home against his will for 3 weeks. In the nursing home, he was severely neglected. His muscles atrophied, leaving him unable to walk anymore. Medicare provided PT for a while, and thanks to PT, he can stand up and take about 3 steps, so he is able to get in and out of bed/go to the bathroom by himself. But, he is still mostly wheel-chair bound as a result of the nursing home stint.
TLDR of this post is that he was coerced into getting the COVID-19 vaccine and he is now in the hospital. And his girlfriend is being held prisoner.
Full story:
My dad’s assisted living facility was on lock-down for 6.5 months, from mid-March 2020 though the end of September 2020. He was only allowed out for essential doctor appointments. Sadly, cortisone shots to control arthritis pain are not considered essential because they can substitute pain meds. My dad HATES the pain meds. He says they don’t work and doesn’t like being fuzzy headed.
While on lock-down, he went over to his girlfriend’s room every day. My dad was having a hard time with being isolated from his children and friends, but he was coping thanks to his girlfriend. As soon as lock-down ended, she moved to another facility that offered a small apartment for the same price she was paying for just a room at the facility she and my dad are in. She was furious with me and my sister because we refused to move my dad to be with her.
It turned out that the trade-off for a bigger apartment was less staff, so every time she needs something, it takes a lot longer for someone to come and help her. This includes picking her up when she falls, and she was starting to worry about them getting her to a hospital fast enough if she took a severe fall.
Lock-downs for assisted living facilities went into effect in early December. Once lock-down started, it was harder than ever to get help and she decided she wanted to move back to the facility my dad is in. The facility told her that she was welcome to move, as long as she – as an 84-year old woman – can move all her furniture out all by herself as no one is allowed to come inside to help her move. She is distraught at being trapped someplace where she does not feel safe.
Meanwhile, my dad didn’t leave his room or have a visitor for all of December and January. My dad commented daily that even prisoners are allowed to go outside for an hour a day – that he was worse off than literal prisoners. The isolation took a serious toll on his mental well-being. Also, in the winter, his pain is worse than in the summer, and he his arthritis pain was intense. He was desperate for cortisone shots.
In late January, his assisted living facility contacted my sister (his power of attorney) and asked for permission to give him the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. My sister refused because he has a history of anaphylaxis reactions to certain medications, and Moderna themselves does not recommend the vaccine for people with this kind of history. Plus, he’s already had COVID, so he has natural antibodies and doesn’t need the vaccine, anyway. My dad wholeheartedly agreed.
The facility played hard-ball. They basically said that they wouldn’t ever let him out of his room again, have a visitor again, or get a pain shot again without the vaccine. My dad’s desire to be let out of his room and be freed from pain overshadowed his fear of an anaphylaxis reaction and they acquiesced. He got the vaccine on Thursday, January 28, 2021.
That day, his only reaction was a sore arm. The next morning, Friday, he told me that his arm hurt so bad that he couldn’t sleep the night before. On Friday, he felt really crappy and dizzy and stayed in bed all day, and his arm still hurt. On Saturday, he felt better, but still not good, and his arm hurt worse. On Sunday, he felt ok, but his arm was really red and swollen around the elbow. It is the same arm he got the injection in, but the injection was up near his shoulder, so the infection wasn’t at the injection site. The facility’s nurse bandaged it up and the facility’s doctor put him on an antibiotic based on the nurse’s recommendation, without going to see him for herself.
On Monday morning, his entire arm and hand were super swollen and hot to the touch. The facility sent him to the hospital via ambulance. The hospital admitted him. Family members are not allowed into the hospital at all, so we aren’t 100% sure what is going on. What we know is:
• My dad has been on IV antibiotics this whole time and the infection has improved a little, but not much. I guess it has stopped oozing, but is still very swollen and red.
• They are trying to determine if the infection is in the bone and if surgery is necessary.
• He was breathing fine when he went into the hospital, but each day, his breathing becomes more labored and he’s wheezing pretty loudly now.
My guess is that he was probably already fighting off bacteria in the elbow when the vaccine was administered, and the vaccine lowered his immune system to the point where he could no longer fight it off. Someone told me that given his history of anaphylaxis reaction to drugs, it’s likely that the vaccine also made him swell in response to a bacteria much more-so than he would have naturally.
Anyone who has read my previous posts knows that I am not pointing the finger of blame at anyone. I know that everyone involved was doing their best given the state’s rule. The purpose of last year’s posts was to point out that the system that we have in place to care for our elderly is very broken, and we as a society need to go back to the drawing board. In our zealousness to protect the elderly “for their own good” we are literally tormenting them. There has to be a better way.
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