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No hospital beds in the state, and my BFF's dad has covid pneumonia- Update 2/1

DawnM

By DawnM,
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DawnM

DawnM

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UPDATE:

He passed away at 4:30am Pacific Time today.

 

Original message:

UGH.   He is in the hospital but there are no real beds to give him in the entire state!

He has covid related pneumonia and is not expected to make it.   My friend and her siblings are all coming to town to be with her mom.

And her dad is alone in the hospital and confused and very, very sick.

So hard.

Edited by DawnM
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Scarlett

Scarlett

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7 minutes ago, DawnM said:

UGH.   He is in the hospital but there are no real beds to give him in the entire state!

He has covid related pneumonia and is not expected to make it.   My friend and her siblings are all coming to town to be with her mom.

And her dad is alone in the hospital and confused and very, very sick.

So hard.

That is just…a nightmare.  I am so sorry.  

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melmichigan

melmichigan

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25 minutes ago, DawnM said:

UGH.   He is in the hospital but there are no real beds to give him in the entire state!

He has covid related pneumonia and is not expected to make it.   My friend and her siblings are all coming to town to be with her mom.

And her dad is alone in the hospital and confused and very, very sick.

So hard.

I am so sorry.  That is awful!

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TravelingChris

TravelingChris

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1 hour ago, DawnM said:

She has asked me to pray that they allow him to come home on hospice.   He has dementia so this has got to be completely and overwhelmingly confusing for him.

Yes, hospice or even if they can't get that done, since he has pneumonia- anti-anxiety medicationi is warranted, because having severe breathing problems is extremely frightening and with dementia and pneumonia and in his condition, the humane thing is to make him comfortable till his passing.

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livetoread

livetoread

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41 minutes ago, TravelingChris said:

Yes, hospice or even if they can't get that done, since he has pneumonia- anti-anxiety medicationi is warranted, because having severe breathing problems is extremely frightening and with dementia and pneumonia and in his condition, the humane thing is to make him comfortable till his passing.

Yes, this. Dying at home of covid pneumonia sounds better than the reality. If hospice can snow him enough to keep him somewhat comfortable, that's one thing, but I can't imagine it's an easy death if you aren't already very, very sedated. 

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Faith-manor

Faith-manor

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41 minutes ago, livetoread said:

Yes, this. Dying at home of covid pneumonia sounds better than the reality. If hospice can snow him enough to keep him somewhat comfortable, that's one thing, but I can't imagine it's an easy death if you aren't already very, very sedated. 

I agree. Sadly, we have no hospice here. With the massive nurse shortage and hospital overwhelm, the hospice nursee, CNA's, etc. all took high paying jobs with hospitals and traveling nurses. Some folks have returned their loved ones to the hospital because they are in such pain, and can no longer get pain meds since hospice collapse.

I am just overwhelmingly heart broken by what is happening. So much freaking trauma, and much of it did not have to happen IF this country as a whole had been willing to row together from the very beginning.

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Spryte

Spryte

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23 minutes ago, Faith-manor said:

I agree. Sadly, we have no hospice here. With the massive nurse shortage and hospital overwhelm, the hospice nursee, CNA's, etc. all took high paying jobs with hospitals and traveling nurses. Some folks have returned their loved ones to the hospital because they are in such pain, and can no longer get pain meds since hospice collapse.

I am just overwhelmingly heart broken by what is happening. So much freaking trauma, and much of it did not have to happen IF this country as a whole had been willing to row together from the very beginning.

That breaks my heart, that there is no hospice available.

Hospice here was sort of on pause, for a time, for people in nursing homes. We managed to get MIL on what the home called “comfort care” so at least we had an alternative. She’s on hospice now, and wow, what a step up. 

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Tap

Tap

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2 hours ago, TravelingChris said:

Yes, hospice or even if they can't get that done, since he has pneumonia- anti-anxiety medicationi is warranted, because having severe breathing problems is extremely frightening and with dementia and pneumonia and in his condition, the humane thing is to make him comfortable till his passing.

My mom has gone thru this several times and it is terrifying to her. She has COPD and gets pneumonia and mucous plugs periodically. They recommended hospice several times to her but she refuses because she wants to be able to go to the hospital. When she has been home, going thru this, she says it is like being strangled just to the point of dying and then being allowed to live. Over and over. 😞

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DawnM

DawnM

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10 minutes ago, Tap said:

My mom has gone thru this several times and it is terrifying to her. She has COPD and gets pneumonia and mucous plugs periodically. They recommended hospice several times to her but she refuses because she wants to be able to go to the hospital. When she has been home, going thru this, she says it is like being strangled just to the point of dying and then being allowed to live. Over and over. 😞

My mom had COPD.   She died right before covid started, I can't even imagine going through this with Covid.  She died Dec. of 2019.

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Frances

Frances

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2 hours ago, livetoread said:

Yes, this. Dying at home of covid pneumonia sounds better than the reality. If hospice can snow him enough to keep him somewhat comfortable, that's one thing, but I can't imagine it's an easy death if you aren't already very, very sedated. 

With the help of hospice and oral morphine, my dad was able to die at home from fungal pneumonia brought on by cancer treatments. It was less than a week after he left the hospital and probably only the last 36 hours was he completely out of it. Now covid pneumonia might be quite different, but after being there for it, short of dying in my sleep, I would hope for a death like my dad’s.

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  • DawnM changed the title to No hospital beds in the state, and my BFF's dad has covid pneumonia- Update 2/1
DawnM

DawnM

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I have fond memories with him.   I was just telling someone today about driving from Laughlin, NV to Burbank, CA with my BFF and he was a few cars behind us and kept calling us with silly questions, and then we got stuck in a wild fire and were on the freeway for almost 4 hours, just stopped.    He missed his flight, got lost in LA a few times, he was a mess......but we all had a good laugh about it for years and years.    

He was a funny guy.

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Lanny

Lanny

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@DawnMI am sad that your friends dad passed away and I hope that he did not suffer. More so that they did not have a hospital bed for him. I do not understand that, but I was born and raised in California, so possibly I do understand that.  And I remember that you have a connection with California, so probably you also have an understanding of why no hospital beds.

Here in Colombia, I read (a day or 2 ago) that 64% of the ICU beds are occupied. I think approximately half of those are related to COVID-19.

My condolences to  your friend for the loss of her father.

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Happy2BaMom

Happy2BaMom

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Posted (edited)
6 hours ago, Lanny said:

@DawnMI am sad that your friends dad passed away and I hope that he did not suffer. More so that they did not have a hospital bed for him. I do not understand that, but I was born and raised in California, so possibly I do understand that.  And I remember that you have a connection with California, so probably you also have an understanding of why no hospital beds.

Here in Colombia, I read (a day or 2 ago) that 64% of the ICU beds are occupied. I think approximately half of those are related to COVID-19.

My condolences to  your friend for the loss of her father.

There are *many* states that have had no hospital beds at times during this pandemic, including my own midwestern state (twice so far & counting). It is a function of how overrun the health care system in the US has been and is and will continue to be, not your personal experiences (from years ago) with that particular state. 

My condolences, OP. I hope his family is able to find peace, as it's a difficult way to lose someone.

Edited by Happy2BaMom
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