Debra Merrill

I am a Legal Guardian for my mother, a disabled 88 year old nursing home resident. My mother is aphasic, meaning she has lost the ability to formulate words due to a massive stroke she experienced during minor surgery in 1973 and is primarily limited to verbalizing the term “Oh Boy, Oh Boy” in varying articulations to express herself. It has been over 14 weeks since I last visited my mother and I have been terrified that she will contract COVID-19 as there has already been 37 residents and 24 staff that have tested positive for COVID and 12 deaths at her skilled nursing facility. I am scared if she contracts the deadly virus I won’t be there to comfort or reassure her and I am worried she is alone and feeling unloved as she does not fully comprehend the crisis that exists with COVID. I am also frightened that my mother will have another healthcare emergency like previous emergencies experiences at the nursing home due to a lack of adequate and properly trained nursing home staff. My mother like the other residents in her nursing home rely on their families to make sure they are being treated compassionately and with the appropriate medical care required. Without the presence of their families the residents are left alone without a voice and without the support they have relied on for years. Resident families are frantic to make sure their loved ones are both physically and emotionally safe and need access to them at their nursing homes during this pandemic.