#i'm gonna bring it all around the world with me if this pandemic dies before i do | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

well-shit-im-a-morosexual-now · 4 years

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Guess what just dropped in Obey Me.

I'll give you a hint: it starts with a ‘L’ and ends with a ‘39’...

Then again, you probably already know this, but just in case you don't...

In other news, I finally decided to go and complete Lesson 31, so yay me. Now I'm just gonna stay on Lesson 32 for a bit.

-Lesson 31 32 Anon

Proud of you for graduating past 31!!!👏💖

I played 39 and im sobbing?!? I already went through this bs why do I havta do it again!!!!? Also do you think lesson 40 will be the last lesson for a while?

Spoilers for 39 ahead cause I'm emotional and need to rant

So MC ends up at a party at diavolo's, he thanks them for saving Lucifer and the devildom (pretty sure that was all just simeon's doing but whatever) and says he's holding a party in their honour (really should be in Simeon's honour but whatever)

MC has a flashback about what happened after they woke up during the whole ring and speaking to Michael (and hopefully not God) thing. The rest of the brothers all rush in yelling, asking if MC is okay cause beel saw a light from the celestial realm coming from their room, Lucifer yells at them to shut up and they realise he's regained his memories

Mammon who's the first one who came in, arrived while yelling and asking if MC was alright, if they had died and if they had vanished....sure hope lesson 16 didn't leave any lasting scars there...

Back in the present time the brothers are crowding around MC and Lucifer. Belphie & Satan note how they'll miss Lucifer with amnesia and how they'll have to get back to pranking him. Asmo calls them out about actually caring about Lucifer.

Diavolo asks MC for a dance, and has one of those dialogues that make me think he'll be a romanceable character in the future. He tells MC how they're helping him bring the three worlds together and how they're his guiding light and how he wants them by his side forever, except before he finishes that last sentence the song ends and Luke cuts in. When MC tries to leave he grabs on to their hand, and you can either say 'ow that hurts' or ask him if he wants a second dance. If you choose the second he blushes and you dance again but he doesn't finish his sentence from earlier

The next morning Lucifer is nagging everyone even more than normal (possibly to make up for lost time) but at the same time he seems even closer with the brothers (asking about Levi's game and Asmo's crush)

On the way to rad MC meets up with the angels and Solomon. Solomon says that they'll have to be leaving soon to their own worlds (why!!!?) Luke and MC both get visibly bummed. They tease Luke and tell him he can live in the devildom if he wishes (he denies it) and Solomon asks MC if they want to leave MC can either say they don't wanna leave the brothers or 'the human world fuckinh sucks what the fuck have you been up there recently it's the worst' (since we got those 'hang in there' pandemic voice messages from the brothers can we assume that this game happens in the present? Y'all really wanna throw MC back out there?)

At rad MC tells this to asmo, beel and mammon (I imagine they do this while facedown on a desk cause that's the only appropriate response rn)

They're all upset and MC says they don't ever want to leave. The brothers tell them to go tell this to Diavolo after RAD.

MC goes and tells this to diavolo (in the presence of Lucifer & barbatos). Lucifer & diavolo aren't surprised and were both expecting this. They tell MC that they are happy that they made such lasting connections and that hey want them to stay as well (yesyesyes-) but (MOTHERFU-) MC is a human and belongs with the humans and that they don't have to leave immediately but that they have a life in the human world anhddjdidndjx do y'all not remember when they were moping around in the human world and how they literally jumped at the chance to come back down to the devildom with no preparation at all???? Y'all remember how asmo noted that they had got thinner after they came back????? Can you pls just ask them if they have anything worth going back to!?

Anyway MC's back home moping around in the library with Belphie and Levi. They tell MC that Lucifer & Diavolo are just playing hard to get and want MC to stay as well but think their positions mean they can't ask for it.

Belphie says that if MC can learn teleportation magic they could constantly drop down to the devildom

MC invites Solomon out to a fancy date and asks him to teach them teleportation magic. He tells them that though their raw magic power surpasses his, they don't have the skill yet and that he'll teach them but teleportation magic usually takes years to learn.

He tells them that usually when making pacts with demons they are done in the human world and a ritual must be conducted. At the end of the ritual a demon may give the human what is most dear to them and the human can use it as a token to summon the demon at any given time (while this is great and all I need my family feels and it'll probably not be practical to summon all 7 of them at a time....maybe MC can summon Lucifer and show him how bad life can be when you're (probably) someone in their mid twenties with no attachments or consistent job and he'll feel sorry for them and whisk them back home?)

Asmo had given Solomon is favourite picture of himself. Except back in their times cameras didn't exist so really it's a large portrait of himself. Solomon says it's a real problem (and I'm cackling, imagine bringing someone home and you have a -knowing asmo- giant probably vaguely sexual picture of some guy on your wall!!!?)

Back home MC meets Satan first (he's being crushed under a collapsed mountain of books after Lucifer told him to clean his room) MC helps him not die and clean his room. He gives them the body switch book (remember that!!!!) He says its power's all gone so it's basically worthless but he still treasures it because of what it did for him (I'm not crying!) He tells MC that even though they'll be able to summon him, he'll still miss them and that he won't be able to be with them when he wants to and it's all really sad and meaningful and I'm okay I swear. You get a choice to either kiss or hug him. Even if you choose to hug him he tells MC he wants to always be with them

Lucifer has asked asmo to throw out all the clothes he doesn't use (the reason lucfier is an undateable option to me is cause he reminds me too much of my own family) and now Asmo's struggling with 10 packed boxes of clothes. MC helps and asmo tells them that Solomon told him about everything. He tells them that he can't give the things dearest to him 'cause those things are himself and MC. MC suggests taking a picture together.

After taking pictures in his room they tell him that now they'll miss each other less and he gets teary eyed and tells them that as long as they're not with him he'll still miss them and he asks them to summon him whenever they want even if that means everyday, he asks them never to forget him (lucifer why the fuck are you putting your family and yourself through so much pain just let the human stay!) you get to stroke his hair and he says he'll miss not getting physical affection from MC whenever he wants to.

(There should probably be ways to get the option to kiss asmo and belphie but I couldn't get them in my first play through and I didn't want to immediately do all that again to check out other options)

MC finds Belphie hiding in the music room from Lucifer who has asked him to clean up the attic (imagine asking someone to clean up the place you locked them up in???? I mean ik Belphie likes the attic now but that's still all kinds of messed up)

MC and belphie head to the planetarium and watch the stars belphie says that MC has a look on their face that means they want to ask him something. You can either immediately dive into the whole summoning thing or tell him you want to be by his side forever. He tells MC about their stars, which he spoke about in s1, he tells them each of his brothers has a star and even though he lives with them when he comes and looks at their stars altogether he feels closer with them/like they're all together. So he gives MC his star. MC gets to say all these things about how they don't wanna leave him and wish they could stay together forever, they hold hands and there's this gorgeous visual & line of dialogue

And well that's it. If mc has to leave and if all the brothers' interactions are like this my heart will be well and truely broken

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bookio · 3 years

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The Drifting Classroom: Perfect Edition, Vol. 3 (1972-1974) by Kazuo Umezu

Final volume of the horror manga about a whole school's accidental disappearance into an alternative world. My library didn't have volume 2. Because of the pandemic, the late fee has been temporary removed so people don't have to come and return books until better times, so won't contaminate others. This give no real telling of when some books are ever gonna come back, but i don't mind!

The story still follows sixth grader Sho and his remaining classmates, now looking thin and worse than ever. They have discovered life, sadly not a friendly encounter! I have no idea what the creatures are - futuristic monsters, aliens or evolutionized humans?? They look awful either way and i'm worried for our young characters!

Sho's mother have developed a mental connection with one of the classmates and is able to help through hard times by mixing with things in the present, to effect their situation in the future (i'm really confused about this).

However the psychic classmate is weak of starvation, the connection is fading. The kids somehow finds a ritual to be able to send something small back into present time. They decide to send the youngest of them with letters to their parents, accepting their awful fate to be forever lost in this odd place.

I loved the style and story, strange to say but it was waaay too dark for me. I'm frightened!! I'm giving it a 2/5 stars mostly because feeling this is not a story i want to read a second time. But boy, what a ride it was.

- - - - -

Silver White and Little Pretty (2004) by Jenny Nyström, Sara Lundberg and Mona Eriksson

I'm having trouble finding the original source, but the oldest sign of this folktale i've found is from year 1924 (Sølvhvit og Veslevakker). But it has apparently been created from generations of oral storytelling.

This is a freshly translated and newly illustrated version by three woman. The drawings are dark, detailed and a bit gory for a children's audience imo, but the language is beautifully put, i felt very invested!

The folktale starts with a King. On his way to war, he is worried an untrustworthy suitor will dig their claws into his beautiful daughter, the princess. So he puts her high up in a tower with her closest handmaid.

During his absence, many serval knights and men try to climb and lure the princess down for some lovemaking, which the princess refuses. Angry, all the suitors go together to pay a witch for some revenge for being left blue-balled. The now very rich witch bewitches two apples, which she successfully lure both the princess and handmaiden to eat.

Both of them get pregnant after eating the apples, but despite all the hardship of motherhood together, they refuse to leave the tower. Princess names her son Silver White, while the handmaiden names her identical son Little Pretty.

Seven years later, they are told the King is now returning from war. Afraid of what he will think, seeing they've had sons. The mothers sends their sons away from their tower in hope to find their own way in life.

Silver White is gifted a sword by his mother, the princess. But handmaiden has no belongings so Little Pretty goes without anything except the clothes he is wearing.

The two identical sons quickly get lost in the woods, but an old lumberjack finds them and decides to raise them as strong men in exchange for them taking care of him when he gets old.

The lumberjack dies years later, feeling happy to have raised such respectful sons. Little Pretty wants to continue the wood chopping but Silver White thirst for adventures. They decide to go their separate ways but Silver White enchants a pond with his sword, saying if he ever need his brother's help, the pond will turn blood red.

Silver White reach a kingdom, where three princess have been captured by three sea trolls. The battle is honestly amazing, the trolls getting more and more bizarre looking, like six heads on one single body. There are dog minions fighting each other, too long to summarize but it's exciting!

Silver White marry the oldest princess and they move happily into a cabin in the woods. One night a troll attack Silver White when he is alone in the forest, as revenge for the earlier slaying of his sea troll buddies. Silver White is killed, and the pond turns red.

Little Pretty reaches the cabin very exhausted. The princess having no idea her husband had been murdered, thinks this is him and tries to make love. Little Pretty puts his sword between them in their only available bed to make sure there will be no sex making ahahah

Next day, he finds the body of his brother and the troll still roaming around. He tortures the troll and is told that there is a healing potion, but despite this option to spare him for the cure, he decapitate the troll and takes the bottle from his body. Brother is healed and both is happy.

On their way back to the cabin, Little Pretty jokes about the situation last night when Silver Whites wife tried to have sex with him. Mad with jealousy, Silver White stabs his brother!! But returning to the cabin, the wife is like "Why didn't you touch me last night, putting a sword between us like that", realizing his brother been loyal - he quickly runs back to his body and use the rest of the potion to bring him back.

No harm done apparently. The brothers embrace happily before going their separate ways again. Weird folktale, bizarre illustrations. Fantastic 4/5 stars, i had a blast!

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jennymanrique · 3 years

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Diary Of A Pandemic: The Caregivers

Nurses have carried the weight of 16 months of pandemic care in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Photo by Shutterstock

In Texas, at least 10,500 people died in Nursing Homes and Assisted Living Facilities during the worst of the pandemic. Through it all, nurses have had to fight the virus twice as hard - on the job and among their families at home.

Through the worst days of the COVID-19 pandemic, many nurses in Texas assisted living facilities, hospitals and nursing homes were diligent in taking care of elderly residents and patients, even as their own relatives were battling the virus at home.

Yes, vaccinations have recently helped stem the unprecedented health crisis in these facilities, where Latinos are a significant portion of the frontline workers. But it will be some time before these essential workers can overcome the emotional toll of the experience.

Texas Health and Human Services Commission data shows that between April 2020 and April 2021, nearly 9,000 Texans died in nursing homes -- a rate of 175 per week. Another 1,550 died in assisted living facilities. These figures account for roughly one of every five COVID-19 deaths reported in Texas.

Nationwide, such centers have long reported problems. The Center for Health and Community at the University of California, San Francisco, found that in the last 20 years, nursing homes have had serious problems with patient care. Even before the virus, 75% had shortages in staffing registered nurses. And 63% were found with infection control violations.

“Nurses are part of high-risk (for COVID) minority groups due to lack of tests, face masks, gowns or personal protection equipment (PPE),” said Charlene Harrington, emeritus professor of nursing and sociology at UCSF and the study’s leader. “Since some receive low salaries and hold several jobs, they cannot stay home if they are sick.”

Experts recommend minimum staffing of one nursing assistant for every seven residents. Some facilities employed one nursing assistant for every 10 or even 15 residents during the pandemic, Harrington said. “This was emotionally hard for everyone as they couldn’t bring outside help.”

“Nurses are part of high-risk (for COVID) minority groups due to lack of tests, face masks, gowns or personal protection equipment. Since some receive low salaries and hold several jobs, they cannot stay home if they are sick.”

With the vaccine rollout, Texas lawmakers unanimously approved Senate Bill 25 to allow residents in nursing homes to add an "essential caregiver" -- anyone who can spend at least two hours a day with them in registered facilities.

The initiative followed recent Texas Health and Human Services Commission recommendations to expand visitation statewide in nursing facilities and other long-term care settings.

“The forced isolation was particularly hard on residents with dementia and their families,” said state Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, the bill’s author.

Groups like Texas Caregivers for Compromise pushed for the legislation and are now anxious to see it implemented. “The reopening is not optional,” said Mary Nichols, one of the group’s advocates. “While we should be cooperative as facilities get implementation of the guidelines in place, they should be able to give relatives some specifics about when they will comply.”

palabra. spoke with many Latinos on the front lines, in care facilities and COVID units, during the pandemic. While performing essential work, many were also caring for elderly relatives at home, helping them through COVID infections, quarantines, isolation and depression.

We’re highlighting here the personal accounts of a few who speak for many:

“I was afraid the virus would clot my blood or clog my lungs and I would die”

Rosario Passmore

Until three months ago I was working at the Windcrest Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Fredericksburg, TX. It is a town where my neighbors are mostly Germans and Hispanics.

Before the pandemic, I worked an 8-hour shift taking care of up to 25 patients. Since I always worked in cardiovascular units or intensive care, I liked working with the elderly in adult daycare, mainly with those who had overcome heart attacks.

But with the arrival of COVID my shifts grew to 12 hours. I was assigned to the COVID unit and I could no longer move freely to other parts of the nursing home. I got a raise of $3 an hour, although, in other COVID units such as the ones in hospitals, nurses like me were paid double. But the admissions were closed at my facility and there was no money. There was room for 120 people, but we had only about 60.

There were many COVID-positive cases and those infected spent at least 10 days in isolation. They closed the entire nursing home. No one could come in. Family members who wanted to see patients did so from the windows. I often brought a tablet (computer) so they could chat with relatives. But when someone was dying there was no possibility of saying goodbye.

The elderly were very desperate. They missed the outside world. Sometimes we let them go for a walk for just half an hour.

At first, the relatives brought food packages and we waited 24 hours before touching or distributing them. But we stopped receiving things from outside for fear of risking a transmission.

Disposable surgical gowns, shoe covers, and N95 masks that we ordered … began to arrive around April. Everything had to be insulated. We looked like astronauts.

I had only one Latina patient who suffered from Alzheimer's and lived with great anxiety. She only found calm when walking in the garden. But when she had COVID, her activities came down to eat in the room and conversations on a tablet with her three children. I was the one helping them to connect. After a few days off, I returned and learned she was gone. Her relatives thanked me for being with her for so long, dressing her, and feeding her.

The Health Department made constant inspections and took weekly COVID tests. They were very annoying for my nose but I got used to it.

When I got home I would undress in a room furthest away from everyone, put my clothes in the washing machine, go in and out through the back door. I would eat in the kitchen.

I live with my 30-year-old son, the oldest of two, who graduated as an electrician in San Antonio. He eventually ended up taking care of me when I got infected. He would leave my food outside the bedroom door.

That was in December. Despite the strict mask policy, some nurse aides and drivers bringing supplies lowered their guard. They no longer kept their distances. A relative of one of them tested positive, and after three days I began to feel the symptoms.

I saw that COVID affected my patients’ lungs. So I kept quarantined but I did breathing exercises. I was afraid that, like it happened to other nurses, the virus would clot my blood or clog my lungs and I would die. COVID was tough: I didn’t want to eat. I still have back pain, a stomach ache that feels like an ulcer.

My brother passed away at that time. Although his test came back negative, he was diagnosed with pneumonia and treated with antibiotics and inhalants. After leaving the hospital, he went missing for two days and we found him dead. We are still waiting for the autopsy results to find out what happened.

A cousin in El Paso also got infected. He died four months ago, but my aunt never received his corpse. The funeral homes there were full, even up to a month ago.

My mother is 81 years old. She was born in Mexico, in Ciudad Juárez and lives in El Paso. She used to visit me for a month every year, but during the pandemic, her doctor would not allow her to come because I am a frontline worker.

I was offered a higher-paying job at a nursing home in Kerrville, Texas, where there are fewer patients and everyone is already vaccinated. There is still a COVID unit here and we are admitting people, but the elderly who come from hospitals are quarantined for 10 days or until they test negative.

I got the Johnson and Johnson shot but I am still wearing PPE.

In June, I'm going to Los Cabos, a trip that I had to cancel last year. I can't wait to spend more time with my family, having a BBQ or going out for a drink with my friends. We Latinos are all about family and hugs. I'm sick of this mask.

“Even though some residents tested positive, they were in denial”

Lupe Weaks

After 20 years of working in nursing homes, I recently decided to join a nursing travel agency. I learned there was a shortage of nurses in San Antonio, and moved there. Since then, I have been helping in the COVID unit of an assisted living facility. I grew up Catholic in a Latino family from Guadalajara, Mexico. My parents always told me: if there are people you can help, don't turn your back on them.

At the beginning of the pandemic, I was working at River Hills Health & Rehabilitation Center at Kerrville. It was a 12 hour shift, three days a week. Then I had four days to relax at home. The lockdown was strict, not allowing any visitors, and testing of all of our employees. The relatives of our residents constantly called late at night saying: “I tested negative, let me in.” There was a lot of explaining, but we were very cautious and held strictly to our rules.

Residents were allowed to watch TV. We encouraged them to learn more about COVID on official COVID sites online, to explain how serious it was, because some believed in conspiracy theories.

Even though some tested positive, they seemed to still be in denial. They suffered from depression and anxiety. They said: “I know I don't have it, I don’t have diarrhea. For keeping me here I am gonna get it.” We were constantly talking to families on the cellphone, explaining the need for quarantine. Connecting them on FaceTime with loved ones cheered them up a lot.

I told them: “Stay in your room, you are safe. Practice breathing, drink water, be grateful now until you are tested again.”

We needed to check the temperature, oxygen, and vital signs twice in a shift. We changed uniforms in an isolation room and threw away biohazard uniforms. I had 10 patients on my charge. They got tested once a week.

When the peak of the disease was more intense, I was covered head to toe. I wore my N95 super tight on my face, put on gloves, and wore the big paper suit hoodie (PPE). Some patients appeared to be afraid because they couldn’t recognize us.

We constantly wiped down everything with Lysol -- the doorknobs, the surfaces.

When I would get home from an overnight shift, I undressed right outside my door. Entered in panties and bra and put everything in the washer, and ran to the shower. This was all to protect my husband. I got tested twice a week.

I think the measures in both places I’ve worked were above and beyond. If someone showed signs of respiratory distress, I called 911 immediately and the patient was sent out to an ICU. When they were safe they came back here or went with their families. Some lost their lives because they had underlying conditions like high blood pressure or heart conditions.

I was vaccinated with Johnson & Johnson and so was my husband. Despite that, I am still regularly COVID tested. It doesn't matter, the care continues.

Now that visits are allowed again, we just received two visitors. But they can't stay in the same area. They must wear masks. And they can only see one family member at a time.

Some patients are allowed to walk out of their room, but not to visit other patients in other rooms.

Even though more people are now vaccinated, we will probably go one more year with the mask rules. We check for side effects of the vaccines and tell residents to drink a lot of fluids and if they have symptoms, they have to isolate themselves in their rooms again. So far, they complain about their muscles being sore, and that’s it.

As for my family, I lost my mom to a heart attack. She was from Guadalajara and my dad from San Diego, where I was born. My family lives in California, and nobody contracted COVID. I checked on them constantly and they told me the rate of infection was a lot higher because people from Tijuana come to work and travel back and forth. I just said to them: be careful, right now try not to travel and always wash your hands.

“It was devastating to see how one person dies after another. I had to seek therapy”

Fabiola Merlin

I have been a nurse for five years. During the pandemic, I was working at the University Medical Center in El Paso, the largest hospital in a 250-mile radius in the county. We admit people from El Paso, Ciudad Juárez, in Mexico, from New Mexico, and from around the entire state of Texas.

I was driving up from Juárez to work. At first, I was afraid of not being able to cross the border, but since I was an essential employee, I was allowed to cross daily. The entire hospital ended up being a COVID unit. In March, when everything exploded, nurses and doctors were very scared, always in fear of exposing ourselves and our families.

We did not know how to handle the situation. We lacked PPE. We did not have enough gowns, and the N95 masks were also insufficient. There was a cleaning process we came up with to reuse them five times. It was very uncomfortable because after cleaning the masks, they smelled pretty bad. When we started to receive N95 masks donations, things got better.

We brought in quite a few portable oxygen and BIPAP machines (to push air into the lungs). But we didn't know how to use them, so respiratory therapists had to come to teach us.

When patients lack oxygen they start to get confused because their lungs become too saturated and they need to be oriented. I had to tell them: this is what you need to be alive, if you take off your mask, you can die.

It was easy to become too close to them, getting to know their family through video calls. There is a close relationship with the patient when you see what COVID is doing to their bodies. It is strong and sad. One hopes that something good comes out of all the care you did, but it is not like that.

There was a Code Blue for emergency situations every minute, and it was out of control. The hospital had to order more black bags for the deceased. Several times, after I got home, all I could do was cry. I didn't know how to get that pain out. It was devastating to see one person die right after another. I had to seek therapy.

The unit I was working at had 29 rooms with single beds. But with the COVID wave, the hospital became saturated and we had to double the capacity.

My patients were between 30 and 80 years old, and mostly Hispanic. I think the risk factor in our community is that we have bad diets and bad habits are predominant. Young people have hypertension or chronic diabetes.

I am an only child. My dad passed away many years ago and my mom is 70. I avoided seeing her as much as possible, but I ran errands for her and left fruits and veggies at her door.

I spent so much time with my fellow nurses that it would have been irresponsible to actually visit my mom. I never saw her, and that was very difficult. As Hispanics, we are very tied to family.

I lived with my boyfriend, but in the first months of the pandemic, we began to sleep in separate rooms. I constantly disinfected the house, the doorknobs, and the shower.

Recently, on my days off, I worked registering vaccinated patients on the Texas official website. They were very organized at the beginning vaccinating health personnel, but the doses began to get scarce and many older adults with chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, or immunological problems had to postpone their appointments.

My mom already received the second dose of AstraZeneca a month ago in Juarez, but they are very slow in Juarez covering all the elder population.

Now I work in another hospital and although our challenges continue, I think the biggest lesson I learned was to enjoy life. Being healthy is something I value a lot now.

“No one knows how difficult it is to care for a frail relative, much less if she is depressed.”

Vicky Morales

For eight years I have been seeing my family every Sunday for lunch or to play the lottery. But when COVID hit, my interaction with my parents was limited to running errands for them and seeing them sporadically, always wearing masks.

My father Espiridion, born in Mexico, in Nuevo Laredo, turned 84 and my mother Juanita, from Zacatecas, is 76. My father complained: “take off that mask, we want to see you. You are not going to get infected and you are not going to infect us.” We then decided we would just call them on the phone. They were suffering a lot of anxiety and depression.

A tumor was detected in one of my mother’s kidneys and she had surgery to remove it. I had to quarantine myself before going to take care of her for almost two months.

Her recovery was complex. But perhaps the most difficult thing was taking care of someone who had never had to ask for help with anything. My mom has always been very independent and strong. She always cooked for everyone and was always on the go. In recent years, her knees and heels hurt a lot from surgery on her foot, but except for taking a little more time to rest, she never needed our care.

My sister Irma and my brother Martin came from Fort Worth to visit mom in Laredo. We were in the second wave of COVID and because of New Years' celebrations, we anticipated more cases. Our family did not have dinners or anything. We were taking great care of ourselves. We don't know how, but at the beginning of the year, my mother tested positive.

My dad tested negative, fortunately, they had been sleeping in separate rooms. My dad would leave her food and things at the door, so not seeing anybody caused her even more depression.

At first, she could not breathe and they gave her infusions, but two days later her pressure rose a lot and I had to call 911. They sent some (emergency medical technicians) to check her and her heartbeat was out of control. I followed the ambulance to Laredo Medical Center, but it was very distressing. They didn't let me in.

They kept her there for about three days in intensive care because there were no more beds available in the COVID unit. She was alone in a room but when she left she was very upset because no one had come to see her.

When she was discharged, the nurse told her that she must feel very blessed: Of the seven people who came on the day she did, nobody else went home.

Of the six siblings in our family, I was the only one who could work remotely, so I moved to my parent’s house to take care of mom. Watching my parents lose their routines was very difficult. My dad would go out every morning to have coffee with his friends, run errands home or pay bills. My mom used to hang out at an adult health center where she liked to make coffee for others and play the lottery. With the shutdown, she lost that social life. On top of that, one of her friends died of COVID. That depressed her even more, enough so we had to medicate her. I think she recovered easier from kidney surgery than from COVID.

My 58-year-old brother, our only brother, was infected in winter, at the same time as my mother. He was hospitalized in Fort Worth for two months, and we were not allowed to see him either. The doctors told us to make rosaries because he had fibrosis in his lungs and they couldn't do more for him. But, miraculously, he recovered. He recently got out of the hospital. Finally, in spring, he was able to walk again.

My dad is a Korean War veteran and has received assistance from volunteers at food pantries during COVID. But other than that, I don't think any government agency did anything, even contact tracing, for them.

My father has already received the two doses of the vaccine, Moderna, and my mother just got the OK from her doctor to be vaccinated.

I think this strong experience, which has not ended, made me admire nurses more. No one knows how difficult it is to care for a frail relative, much less to deal with their depression, and much less in a pandemic.

Originally published here

#English #Nursing homes #nurses #assisted living facilities #long term care #hospitals #COVID19 #covid units #elderly #dementia #depresion #anxienty

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drcamoskie · 5 years

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You know, originally, the medical field is not really my first choice of profession. My real passion truly lies in the arts. The screen and theatre arts. And it still is.

How did I end up in the hospital then?

University in the Philippines is a privilege and an advantage not many people enjoy. I was kind of lucky to have hardworking parents who would definitely go on a limb just to put me through college. In turn, they would want to hear what my top 3 courses are so they have an idea how much to save up.

1. Fine Arts (disguising Theatre Arts because my dad would 10/10 not approve because it doesn't pay well; Fine Arts at least sounded decent and normal) - dad said it's not gonna pay well

2. Mass Communications (I have a background on Journalism and I have a side dream of being a Radio DJ since sophomore year, I love the radio) - dad said it's not gonna pay well either

3. Political Science (I can't remember much now my motivations for considering this course, but I guess it has something to do with the prospects of getting in law school. Thank goodness I didn't pursue it because it was purely just out of whim after watching Death Note) - dad said educators got the shittiest work in the world, I didn't ask why anymore; surely it's because of the pay. I told him I'll go straight to law school after, he told me that I couldn't argue with anyone even if my life depended on it, so I just fucken shut my mouth (well, look at me now pops, I'd kill someone over the last chicken nugget or chips, or come up with a well-prepared argument over who has the higher vocal range between Freddie Mercury and Vitas; might as well sign me up for law school now lmao)

4. Medical Technology (I believe they are the ones who do the lab tests ordered by the doctors, stuff like CBCs, Urinalysis, etc.)

Honestly, the only motivation why I wanted to go to the medical field is because I wanna be one of those doctors safe and sound in the research centers in the event of a pandemic or zombie apocalypse. Or the one to synthesize the vaccine/antivirus for it.

They would've said yes to MedTech, if it weren't for the fact that in 3rd year I would need to relocate to Valenzuela as the medical facilities are there. I was their darling daughter after all, and just thinking about my safety I guess.

And my dad asked me. "How about nursing?"

I was like meh, I dunno. My NCAE results clearly puts me in the Creative careers in the 1st choice (and that nails me as a perfect match for Theatre Arts, no more, no less) and Investigative careers as subchoice (law school, med school, most of the intellectual studies, I have quite an affinity for as well). Nursing is a Social career, and I'm not really a people person because I can't fucken feign care, concern and affection for chrissakes. You can say that I can act, but that's different with the sick and dying. That's utterly despicable really.

At the time, we only just made up as we had a misunderstanding before about my grandfather's death and he had me under a silent treatment for about 8 months I guess? One of the most traumatic and toxic experiences I've ever had, really. Ever since then I've had a love-hate relationship with my dad. But that's a story for another day.

Moving on. I would've said no, because I really don't feel like it, but my mom, begged me to just agree so that I won't upset him anymore. Also, I have an aunt who works as an assistant in the operating theatre in Melbourne, and said they'd back me up for a job there when I finish (well, that was, in actuality, a big fat lie that fooled me and my dear cousin Men who also took up nursing). So yeah. I kinda took up nursing because of my love and concern for my mom, the pay is good, nurses are in demand overseas, my aunt's promise of a job in Melbourne and to keep harmony to the family. Yep. Not one reason for myself.

And so I went to nursing school for four years, and eventually grew to like it when the clinical rotations started, and also because of the friendship born with the other misfits who were also thrusted into the blasted course because of reasons other than they wanted to be in nursing school. Lloyd, Men, Chek, Jini and me, Tin. Finished it with pretty awesome marks, passed the board exam and eventually became a RN.

And that's the story of why I am in this field right now. Pursuing MD because I am halfway there already and that starting in another field scares me because I am pretty late already. I'm kind of getting used to it already though, too.

But you know how they say, that first love never dies?

Until now, I still hope and dream of becoming a screenwriter/theatre actor someday. Hopefully, I'll get around it some time, get into a theatre school maybe, and bring myself to do exactly what my heart truly wanted right from the start. And maybe add a dash of medicine on the side?

Another Ken Jeong maybe? Or a Mayim Bialik perhaps?

Carpe that fucking diem, sweetie. The sky's your limit! Whatever happens, you've got nothing to lose. "Do or do not, there is no try." - Master Yoda

😉😄👍🔥💪👑

07122018

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