Re: living alone during the pandemic

Jordan2 · ‎03-16-2010

@jubilant wrote:
Who knows what's right for everyone. I tend to look at things as " I do what I gotta do and try to bloom where I'm planted". My mother will be 91 next month. I have observed these motto's in her life and am inspired by them. I doubt I can do as well as she does (she's got 20 yrs. on me!!) but I've made up my mind to try the best I can. It just feels better.

@jubilant God bless your mother, may you both stay well.

kivah · ‎03-11-2010

@AuntG wrote:
I do not live alone, but @Jordan2 mentioned my biggest fear of ever being alone and that is having a sudden medical emergency and not being able to get help. Once when I was single, I got ill in the middle of the night and had to call a relative to come over and take me to an emergency room. It was awful being alone at night while I recovered.

In 2006 I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. I had a total hysterectomy and was in the hospital for 3 days - then transferred to assisted living for 3 weeks. Then I went home and had to go to a doctor's office for chemo - 20 minutes away - over the following 5 months (I took a cab paid for by my insurance). Then a home health care nurse came to my house over the following few months to give me injections. I had minimal help from a neighbor. A few different people drove me to doctors' appointments. I wasn't able to drive for 9 months. It took me 1-1/2 yrs to completely recover. I took care of myself. I've been cancer-free since then.

RetRN · ‎10-01-2013

@kivah , so glad you are doing well. That had to have been a difficult time. I had a stoke in 2002 and if it weren't for my family I can't even imagine what I would have done.

kivah · ‎03-11-2010

@RetRN wrote:
@kivah , so glad you are doing well. That had to have been a difficult time. I had a stoke in 2002 and if it weren't for my family I can't even imagine what I would have done.

When I read about people getting seriously ill and family/friends helping out -- I realize how lucky they are. I had a few friends stop by but I took care of myself. After I spent 3 days in the hospital, they told me I could go home - but I was fearful that I couldn't take care of myself - so I elected to go to assisted living for 3 weeks. What I realized afterward was that they drug u - and I never left the bed. My neighbor picked me up and drove me home - and I felt better. I was even able to run up/down my stairs and spend lots of time on my computer. Staying at assisted living was useless. Maybe for very ill patients, assisted living works out - but it didn't for me.

Glad ur doing well---I think a stroke has even more challenges.

embgm · ‎07-02-2014

@luvmyteddy4 wrote:
@Jordan2 wrote:
So getting back to living alone, does anyone else ever worry about something happening to them (falling down stairs or just falling) and not getting help (yes I know they have those services that alert a company)? Sometimes I think no one would know something happened to me for days.
I love living alone but went thru some tougher times a few years ago and found that those services needed an emergency contact number and I don't have one.
I made a deal with a neighbor to take turns calling each other every day but she really didn't want to do it so I stopped.
So back to square one and I try not to think about it.
I do have that fear for my mom. I speak to her a few times a day and my siblings keep close contact also. My girlfriend's mom was locked in her bathroom for 12 hours. The lock latch broke and she couldn't open the door. Her alert necklace was on the kitchen table! After that experience, they decided that her mom needed to move in with them. So a few weeks later they were on their way to pick up her mom for her to move in and they received a phone call. Her mom had passed away 2 hours earlier!

Lipstickdiva · ‎03-10-2010

I have relatives who had a terrible time being by themselves 24/7. They were no longer going into their office. Everything was done via Zoom if they needed to do a meeting or they were in their houses working by themselves.

I really feel for nursing home residents who were and are stuck without being able to have any family visit them. The toll this has taken on some of them makes me want to cry. I'm sure there have been some deaths related to that as they just got so lonely and depressed and gave up.