Community Chat

[shy bobcat]

... because I worry about being a caregiver for family if they test positive for Covid 19.  I'm thinking of persons who would be alone without help.

I've tried to be very careful myself but, see reckless behavior from family members who, I know, would need my help if they became sick.  I wish I had sufficient PPE like the front line workers.  I've heard caregivers succumb to the disease. 

Are you worried about this as I am?

[GoneButNotForgotten]

No, but I sure don't blame you for being worried. I would be too.

[tansy]

It certainly crosses my mind as to how I would protect myself while caring for my husband if he were to contact the virus and vice versa.  

[Annabellethecat66]

My youngest daughter was one of the first people to get the virus way back.  Her friend and friend's husband and her boyfriend all got it early on.  The friend is a virologist and works with that lady that was talking about the virus on TV.

Anyway, the only thing I worry about is if I get it my daughter having to come back here to help me.

She rearranged her life over and over since March.  I broke my back in March, she worked from my house (she lives in Denver) for about 1 month, then quit the job.  

She drove back here in June (I've lost track) with her dog and stay for a few months, then drove back to Denver.

Two weeks later she flew back here to Va. to help me.  I had to have my vertebra cemented.

This is now October.  She was going to go to help her sister in Florida move but now is going to head home back to pick up her dog (from boyfriend's house) and go home and start studying for classes she's taking.

It would be terrible if I got the virus and was very sick with it.  I'm almost 74 and a little overweight.  I also have IGG (it's an autoimmune disease.  

I'm being very careful but often it's hard to track where and how you got it.

Fingers crossed.  My granddaughter at VaTech found out she got it so my daughter (who saw her right before) was tested.  Granddaughter had virus daughter (older daughter) didn't have it.

The Virologist friend has told my daughter people are getting it again who had it before.  So no one is immune from it.

[tansy]

Maybe you should consider moving closer to one of your daughters, @Annabellethecat66.

[itsmagic]

Just as @tansy  said - I’ve thought about if my husband got it and caring for him or vice versa.  I’m thinking once either he or I get it the other will get it.   That happened to my sister - her husband got it and 3 days later she came down with it.

[Drythe]

@shy bobcat 

I do understand your feelings.  I have loved ones who are front line care workers, THEY ARE EXHAUSTED.

~Be Safe - Be Well~

[Annabellethecat66]

@tansy  I do live about 1/2 hour to 45 minutes from my oldest daughter (she's 47).

She manages all of my business matters, takes care of taxes to accountants, etc.  I often go over to her house for dinner, etc.  She has 4 children and a husband.  3 of her children are teenagers and a 9 year old.  She's a stay at home mom but is very busy.

In an emergency she's there to help me.  My youngest daughter is the one I was speaking about.  She lives in Denver.  I couldn't live in Colorado due to arthritis.

She will never leave Colorado.  She skis, hikes, runs for charity and leads a very full life.  If I need anything she flies here in a minute.  No questions asked.

The middle one is in the throes of a divorce.  She has 3 young daughters and is very busy with them.  She's getting ready to move to Miami.

I've always prided myself about being independent.  I have good friends who are there if needed quickly.

I will probably have to sell this big house because it's too big to keep up.  They want me to hire a housekeeper but I like living and being alone except for them.

[Porcelain]

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@shy bobcat wrote:

... because I worry about being a caregiver for family if they test positive for Covid 19.  I'm thinking of persons who would be alone without help.

I've tried to be very careful myself but, see reckless behavior from family members who, I know, would need my help if they became sick.  I wish I had sufficient PPE like the front line workers.  I've heard caregivers succumb to the disease. 

Are you worried about this as I am?

---

Very worried. DH cannot afford to get this, healthwise and because of the very vulnerable people he has prolonged contact with every week. If he got it I don't know how I would avoid getting it too. And if I got it, I would never forgive myself if I gave it to him.

I feel awful for all the people on their own who would not have anyone to check up on them to ask how they were feeling -- and encourage them to call an ambulance if they had a hard time breathing. They would just die in their homes and no one would know.

I have an older relative who lives by herself far from me. And I don't know who would take care of her if she got sick. I might offer to go help, having to quarantine from DH when I got back, but I can almost guarantee she would turn me down. That's how she is. She doesn't "fear" Covid. It would probably be too late by the time she would be concerned enough to accept help.

Regular people do not have round the clock medical care available to make sure they get exactly the treatments needed to keep Covid from turning fatal. Most people would not have access to all the latest treatments either, if they could afford them. It's a very scary thing and no one is looking out for us right now.

[Laura14]

I am alone without help and all you can do is be careful.  What happens will happen sometimes in the best of circumstances and you just get through it as best you can.  It's my and other people's reality and I find that fighting it is often the worst thing you could ever do.