The COVID Question
Jan. 25th, 2022 09:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sabotloursThere's a question that has been bouncing around my brain which I really don't want an answer to. It's a moot point, but I have been wondering if COVID played a role in my Mom's death. Both of her caregivers eventually tested positive for the virus. Since they are in contact with the elderly, they have to test constantly. Before I had even arrived they had said that one of the caregivers tested positive, but it was after Mom had shown some mild symptoms like coughing. Since she had advanced COPD, however, coughing sort of goes with the territory. The company even suggested the possibility that Mom had passed it on to the caretakers since there had been some guests between Christmas and New Years. There is debate whether they were masked or not.
The key to this whole thing is Mom's doctor. She specializes in geriatric medicine. She knew Mom's condition very well, having treated her for years. She knew it was terminal. She had the DNR Order in place. Mom was adamant that she wanted to die at home. I believe that all of these factors were in play during Mom's final days. The company had wanted Mom tested. Her doctor balked. I think she knew that if Mom HAD tested positive, it could have opened the floodgates to a tidal wave of shit that could have set things in motion that nobody wanted. Would Mom's caretakers be forbidden to keep visiting? Would there have been some mandatory hospitalization involved? Would that have then affected the funeral? I know when her brother died last year during the initial outbreak, only a small number of immediate family was allowed at the final service. I don't know if the rumors were true about mandatory cremation. I'm not sure about mandatory closed casket either. But once again, that's neither here nor there. It's over. It's done. She went the way she wanted to go. Her quality of life was diminishing quickly, and she checked out before she entered that horrible bedridden stage. The timing was right all the way around. All of the puzzle pieces came together in the best way it could have happened even though no one wants that puzzle to be completed. But guess what? That puzzle awaits us all. I loved something Mom said a few time last year, "I'm in no hurry, but I really am curious as to what is on the other side."
The key to this whole thing is Mom's doctor. She specializes in geriatric medicine. She knew Mom's condition very well, having treated her for years. She knew it was terminal. She had the DNR Order in place. Mom was adamant that she wanted to die at home. I believe that all of these factors were in play during Mom's final days. The company had wanted Mom tested. Her doctor balked. I think she knew that if Mom HAD tested positive, it could have opened the floodgates to a tidal wave of shit that could have set things in motion that nobody wanted. Would Mom's caretakers be forbidden to keep visiting? Would there have been some mandatory hospitalization involved? Would that have then affected the funeral? I know when her brother died last year during the initial outbreak, only a small number of immediate family was allowed at the final service. I don't know if the rumors were true about mandatory cremation. I'm not sure about mandatory closed casket either. But once again, that's neither here nor there. It's over. It's done. She went the way she wanted to go. Her quality of life was diminishing quickly, and she checked out before she entered that horrible bedridden stage. The timing was right all the way around. All of the puzzle pieces came together in the best way it could have happened even though no one wants that puzzle to be completed. But guess what? That puzzle awaits us all. I loved something Mom said a few time last year, "I'm in no hurry, but I really am curious as to what is on the other side."
