That’s how I came to a woman in her nineties in those days. She lived with her son who did a lot, in fact everything, for his mother. Because I knew that they were both positive, I provided care to the lady in a yellow suit, and with a face mask and large plastic glasses. The lady hardly recognized me and the care was difficult. I doubted if everything was still going well at home. The lady had already fallen a few times that night. She also had no strength to sit down and I found her short of breath and stuffy.
I called my colleague for help and together we performed some checks. The lady appeared to have a fever and her saturation was lowered. After consultation with the general practitioner and a home visit, it was decided that the woman had to be admitted. Because her son himself was so tired and sick of covid that he could only lie in his bed.
Died at the covid recovery site
A covid recovery location had now been set up in the region, but at that time there was no space available. We called the hospital. Mrs. would be admitted there for one night to go to the covid recovery location the next day. When the ambulance came to pick her up, my colleague and I helped the lady down. She could react quite violently to unknown men. The ambulance staff suggested whether it was worth waiting a day after all, but in consultation with the GP it was decided that the lady would go to the hospital for a bridging. Even if it meant that she had to be transported twice and ended up in a different environment. The lady was put on the stretcher, entered the ambulance and transported to the hospital.
We never saw Mrs. She passed away at the covid recovery site a few days later. The gentleman who had recently lost his wife to covid has gone from the hospital to a rehabilitation clinic. But he did not recover and came home after a few weeks to die there.
Two dear clients with whom I had built a beautiful relationship had died in quick succession from a terrible, highly contagious virus.
Read part 6 next week: ‘Difficult to share experiences with colleagues.’
Read part 1 here: The country is going into lockdown, but Talitha has to keep working.
Read part 2 here: ‘I felt brave, but also anxious and insecure.’
Read part 3 here: Talitha has a mild sore throat after a home visit to a client.
Read part 4 here: ‘I found that loneliness extremely intense to see.’
2023-08-03 09:02:23
#Corona #day #part
