Fear and Loathing, a Rat Flu Odyssey

[KQ]

Even if the results come back negative we are probably going to have to do something. He's faded to the point that he really shouldn't be anywhere other than a memory care unit but that's like a death sentence with Covid, they lost 30 residents out of that side and only 2 on the regular side. It also stinks in there so bad that my wife can barely stand it for more than a minute or two, think about how most of them just piss and shit in their pants all the time. My wife has a devastatingly sensitive sense of smell and a few seconds in there and her eyes are tearing and a minute or two later and she has to leave because she can't breathe. One of the times they made us tour the place we walked around a corner and there was an old guy standing in the middle of the hall butt naked and pissing on the floor. Try getting people in that situation to wear a mask, not happening and they keep getting each other sick, we can't in good conscience put him in a place like that. I don't know what we're going to do but the tough guy that made it through Auschwitz and one other camp doesn't deserve to be left alone and crying.

[uglymoney]

Even if the results come back negative we are probably going to have to do something. He's faded to the point that he really shouldn't be anywhere other than a memory care unit but that's like a death sentence with Covid, they lost 30 residents out of that side and only 2 on the regular side. It also stinks in there so bad that my wife can barely stand it for more than a minute or two, think about how most of them just piss and shit in their pants all the time. My wife has a devastatingly sensitive sense of smell and a few seconds in there and her eyes are tearing and a minute or two later and she has to leave because she can't breathe. One of the times they made us tour the place we walked around a corner and there was an old guy standing in the middle of the hall butt naked and pissing on the floor. Try getting people in that situation to wear a mask, not happening and they keep getting each other sick, we can't in good conscience put him in a place like that. I don't know what we're going to do but the tough guy that made it through Auschwitz and one other camp doesn't deserve to be left alone and crying.

That really sucks. I wish you the best. My grandma was in a memory care unit the last couple years of her life at about the same age. It was a really nice place. She had money though. As sad as it was to see them rip through a huge chunk of her life's savings it was worth it.

[4matic]

Administrators at Brigham Young University's campus say they are "deeply troubled" by reports that students may have intentionally tried to contract COVID-19, lured by blood donation centers that are paying a premium for plasma with COVID-19 antibodies.

[tetzen]

That's rough to hear gravitylover. I don't envy your position at all. A lot of families are having to make tough decisions this year, and there definitely is never a truly correct decision, only a decision made with the best information available.

[gravitylover]

Thanks all.

That really sucks. I wish you the best. My grandma was in a memory care unit the last couple years of her life at about the same age. It was a really nice place. She had money though. As sad as it was to see them rip through a huge chunk of her life's savings it was worth it.

It's not about the money and it is a "nice place" but that's all turned topsy turvy this year. I think that the smell is something that she'd get over if it was the only problem but the fact that they're dropping like flies in there is scary. How do you do that to the guy knowing that there's a fair chance he won't come out alive? Even before Covid memory care units like this lose more residents to the flu every year because they just don't understand how to stay away from other people and unless they're in a wheelchair you can't stop them from doing the wrong thing. I'm hearing similar stories about a few of the other facilities around here so moving him to a different place doesn't solve the Covid problem. There's a brand new place opening in our town in March but I don't know if we have that long to figure it out. The only other solution is to get him a couple of full time aides to live in his apartment but that adds another $4-5k/month (on top of the existing 12).

Ahh well, thanks for letting me talk it through folks. It sux and I don't know what to do...

[uglymoney]

Fuck. I feel like I just got a well deserved reality check beat down. Covid has made so many things murky. Sorry gravity.

In other news my daughter was invited to a birthday party this past weekend. We turned down the invite on her behalf. Turns out 65 kids showed up and were at times indoors and unmasked. From a wealthy suburb of Moose that leans right. It is a twisted split world right now.

[The SnowShow]

Fuck. I feel like I just got a well deserved reality check beat down. Covid has made so many things murky. Sorry gravity.

In other news my daughter was invited to a birthday party this past weekend. We turned down the invite on her behalf. Turns out 65 kids showed up and were at times indoors and unmasked. From a wealthy suburb of Moose that leans right. It is a twisted split world right now.

It really is. It’s mind boggling to think someone is that stupid as to host a party that big in this time.

[The AD]

Attachment 343415

My hometown made the list. Concern for my folks grows.

My timing for visiting Glacier National Park last week was great in terms of weather, not so great in terms of coronavirus. Luckily no signs symptoms so far for me or my wife.

[bennymac]

GL thoughts and vibes - that’s a shitty situation to be in

[pureantigravity]

Administrators at Brigham Young University's campus say they are "deeply troubled" by reports that students may have intentionally tried to contract COVID-19, lured by blood donation centers that are paying a premium for plasma with COVID-19 antibodies.

How much do they pay?

[uglymoney]

Billboard near the Des Moines airport ahead of the Trump rally tomorrow. He isn't popular in Des Moines as with most US cities. This should go well.

Sent from my SM-G981U using Tapatalk

[old goat]

Even if the results come back negative we are probably going to have to do something. He's faded to the point that he really shouldn't be anywhere other than a memory care unit but that's like a death sentence with Covid, they lost 30 residents out of that side and only 2 on the regular side. It also stinks in there so bad that my wife can barely stand it for more than a minute or two, think about how most of them just piss and shit in their pants all the time. My wife has a devastatingly sensitive sense of smell and a few seconds in there and her eyes are tearing and a minute or two later and she has to leave because she can't breathe. One of the times they made us tour the place we walked around a corner and there was an old guy standing in the middle of the hall butt naked and pissing on the floor. Try getting people in that situation to wear a mask, not happening and they keep getting each other sick, we can't in good conscience put him in a place like that. I don't know what we're going to do but the tough guy that made it through Auschwitz and one other camp doesn't deserve to be left alone and crying.

Anyone who survived a death camp should get a pass on anything else bad happening to them for the rest of their lives. Unfortunately it doesn't work that way.
Is there a social worker or similar person at the facility that might be able to help you figure out if there are any other options besides the memory unit?

[Benny Profane]

Welcome to October.

[Benny Profane]

We're doing so well compared to the third world.

[billyk]

Ahh well, thanks for letting me talk it through folks. It sux and I don't know what to do...

Vibes man. I experienced living with a mentally ill family member, and it was not a pleasant situation at all. I have stories, but that would just bum people out, so no need to go there.

Hope you find a solution that works for both your father and, equally important, you and the rest of your family. Good luck.

[tetzen]

Welcome to October.

Damn, fuckity-fuck. If we thought that mid-summer wave was bad, November and December are going to be a shit-fuck circus. We barely made a dent in recovering from the 2nd wave and never even made it below the 1st wave's peak.

[bennymac]

We're doing so well compared to the third world.

Trump couldn’t find those “shithole” countries on a map.

[Buster Highmen]

Ahh well, thanks for letting me talk it through folks. It sux and I don't know what to do...

My dad passed away a few years ago and left my dementia wracked mom in their condo 3200 miles away from us.
That blew musaceous chunks.

I ended up just forking heavily for in home care and left her there at the advice of hospice and social workers. I racked up some air miles on Southwest.

But one plan we had, if she'd been able to move, was to buy a trailer and set her up in there on our property. I don't know if that's an option for you, but it's a lot cheaper to have a travelling nurse come by and clean them, feed them and you could visit more easily.

That kind of end of life purchase is difficult, so condolences and I hope you find a solution.

[LongShortLong]

Attachment 343415

My hometown made the list. Concern for my folks grows.

Those top 10 are smaller sized communities. Their numbers certainly aren't good, but statistically we expect small populations to be outliers. Without more information, it could be simply noise (e.g. variation in testing/reporting) putting these communities top of list.

New York City is not looking good with 10% growth week over week. If they can hold it to 10% for 28 weeks, they'll be 16 times worse off in daily new cases by May. And 349 other metros and micros are worse.

Anybody seen a chart that tracks average daily new cases per population. E.g. 7-day rolling average of new cases per 100k pop? <-- This is a useful metric for "where is it bad now?" Almost all the charts track total cases, which isn't a useful metric for seeing where the pandemic is currently raging. E.g. New York had lots of cases early, but not so many now. I'd like one that tracks countries, and one for states (or counties, cities). Will settle for either.

What's the over/under for 2nd lockdown?

[bodywhomper]

Isn’t the 7-day rolling average the metric being used in California? LA County is using it for some of their main dashboard reporting: http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/med...data/index.htm

[Meathelmet]

Soooo...around here in Scandiland, the second wave is going on strong..

Stricter measures have been passed (Read: Restaurants close at 23.00hrs) but otherwise only mask recommendations in the public, be it transports or spaces. The general vibe is that the gov & media is taking a "serious" fatherly position but no one, even them are taking this as "seriously" as in the spring. This mainly due to the death rate staying so low and reluctance to jeopardize the economy that has been ticking along surprisingly well, considering everything.

It seems that everyone is just trucking along with this NewNorm.

Current 14 day average : 2607 --- Deaths 2
Spring Max: 14 day average : 1932 --- Deaths 142

[gravitylover]

Anyone who survived a death camp should get a pass on anything else bad happening to them for the rest of their lives. Unfortunately it doesn't work that way.
Is there a social worker or similar person at the facility that might be able to help you figure out if there are any other options besides the memory unit?

That's who is pushing us to move him in to the memory care side. They keep telling us that the extra attention and activities will help him. I don't think they could ever understand the ptsd he deals with, he can't even stand in a line without getting twitchy and they think putting him in a locked ward is good.

[gnarbro365]

Those top 10 are smaller sized communities. Their numbers certainly aren't good, but statistically we expect small populations to be outliers. Without more information, it could be simply noise (e.g. variation in testing/reporting) putting these communities top of list.

I’m not really concerned if they are outliers or statistical noise in relation to the country. My concern is that my older parents live in the outlier.

[old goat]

That's who is pushing us to move him in to the memory care side. They keep telling us that the extra attention and activities will help him. I don't think they could ever understand the ptsd he deals with, he can't even stand in a line without getting twitchy and they think putting him in a locked ward is good.

If you're Jewish* have you tried contacting Jewish Community Services? They might b able to help.

*Not everyone in Auschwitz was Jewish. My old neighbor was a German gentile camp survivor who wound up there for throwing food over the fence to her Jewish friend.

[John_B]

Good luck GL. My folks are a good bit younger than what you're dealing with, but I can't imagine having to make those kinds of decisions, especially currently. Vibes.