I’m so sorry @Creekland That is sad and a shame if it could have been prevented.
I’m so sorry to hear this. Remember the good times.
Oh @Creekland this is so sad to hear. I’m so sorry.
I am so sorry, @Creekland.
@Creekland I’m sorry for your loss. May his memory be a blessing. How is your Aunt?
I’m so sorry, @Creekland.
And we all know this was covid. If it looks like a duck, and it walks like a duck, and it quacks like a duck, and there are ducks all over, it’s a duck. I’m so sorry your clueless aunt didn’t get help for her husband. Covid or not, his symptoms cried out for medical attention.
So sorry, creekland.
Thanks everyone. I’m going to update here and then take a break for a little bit. It’s been a long day and still seems so unreal even though I knew they were taking such risks.
I’m now thinking my aunt has the beginning stages of Alzheimers or similar. She seems very “rote” with what she did - no real sense of what was happening then, or now. I went through Alzheimers from beginning to end with my MIL and it seems very familiar from the early days. Fortunately, her son is flying there tomorrow to assist her - this assumes he can leave from Syracuse’s airport with the snowstorm.
As @Cardinal_Fang says, sis and I are 99.9% sure it was Covid related. He was in his 2nd week of a “cold,” and went downhill quickly. My aunt never got him help. Med school lad says the actual end was likely sepsis and that could have come from many things. A stroke was also likely. Both of those can come from Covid and it reads like a textbook case. But, we’ll never know. He’s being cremated and his death certificate will read, “Natural Causes” I’m told.
FL likely had a Covid death that won’t be counted - and two uncounted cases if you count my aunt. I have no idea how many people they might have spread it to.
I mentioned our thoughts to my cousin. If my sis is correct, he’s a Covid non-believer, so I hope my aunt is well past the contagious stage. Since she told me she gave the cold to my uncle, I suspect she is.
The horrid details of my uncle’s last two days I’m leaving out or you can read some of them from before. This is not the way anyone would choose to leave this life.
H is talking with FIL as I type - enjoying a conversation while he’s still with us and hopefully giving him extra reasons to stay safe rather than get fatigued.
For just a wee bit of a tribute, my uncle was a high school math teacher. He and I were the oddballs taking to math while the others took to music. They played their instruments. We did Algebra and math puzzles. His classes had some of the best scores in the state and very few ever failed (NY - Regents).
RIP Uncle Chuck I miss you
May everyone else out there stay safe. May the vaccines work.
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What a sad story, @creekland. I wonder if your aunt is accurately reporting what the “EMT” said. My MIL is in the middle of Alzheimers, and I went through it with my mom too. At some point for both of them, we found that they were no longer able to report what others had told them. My mom would tell me something my sister had told her, for example, and then when I’d talk to my sister, I’d hear a different story.
So sad. My your uncle’s memory be a blessing.
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My condolences, @Creekland. Such a truly sad situation.
@Creekland I’m so very, very sorry. Be comforted that you tried to help. Prayers for your aunt going forward. Hugs.
My sincere sympathy, @Creekland. What a tragedy!
Prayers for all of you and your loved ones suffering or caring for someone with Covid. This is so tough!
Thanks again everyone. My mind is more back to normal now, sad, but not overwhelmed. I wish I could say the same about sis.
A good warning to all. For my aunt/uncle, everything kept working out fine so they thought they were safe. It all seemed “ok.” It was, until it wasn’t. They went out so much no one can likely pinpoint which restaurant they would have caught it from - Golden Corral, Jason’s Deli, CiCi’s, Burger King, and Arby’s were all among their favorites - always eating inside. Golden Corral is the one where my uncle told me he was sneezed on by a 30ish unmasked woman, but if my aunt gave the cold to him, that’s not necessarily a smoking gun.
I have a feeling one can multiply what happened to them x 1000s for all of those who are dying or having a bad time of it now. They just never thought it could happen to them. It hadn’t before. Everything was fine.
My heart goes out to all the health care workers and other essential workers who catch it, esp those who have a rough time of it or worse.
And I still want to do bad things to that EMT (if one ever existed IRL vs the story I’ve been told) who told my aunt everything was fine while checking out my uncle on the floor of his condo unable to move his legs or control himself and helping to move him (carry him) onto the couch.
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So sorry, @Creekland
I have to say I wouldn’t believe the EMT story as related. Sadly, a person with Alzheimers is not a reliable narrator.
Also, I believe Florida is testing suspicious deaths for COVID.
I agree, except someone had to help get him off the floor where he fell and over to the couch. I know my aunt couldn’t do that part even if she had tried. I’m stymied. I just can’t believe anyone with any medical training would allow it to happen. She told me the person checked his heart/pulse and blood pressure and said everything was normal. Very odd.
My aunt is still adamant that it has nothing to do with Covid. She says it was a stroke caused by too much stress. Everyone else who has heard the symptoms and background feels it is likely. It all matches.
Unless the funeral home did the testing, none was done. His body went straight from the condo to the funeral home yesterday. I’m not sure who declared him dead. When my mom passed away it was the Hospice nurse. I asked my aunt and she didn’t know. She just called the funeral home and they came over. Maybe FL doesn’t require someone or maybe the funeral home has someone?
My aunt seems to be doing very well today - pretty much as if nothing had happened. She’s writing his obituary, so she’s still “with it” enough for that. I know I’d be devastated if something had happened to H. Either their marriage wasn’t as close as I thought it was or her mind is not responding normally - and that could be due to dementia’s start.
H and I got tested for the first time yesterday. I don’t expect the results to be positive, but everyone in my in laws’ AL facility got tested yesterday. Two staff members had tested positive that morning. Although they can’t tell us who was positive, we were able to piece together enough from things attendants said to figure out that we weren’t in direct contact. The nurses told us not to worry (but we are, just the same). The facility follows very strict protocols. This is just one more stressful moment as we watch my FIL’s life wind down. Not a happy holiday for us, unfortunately.
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My H had an employee in his office test positive this week. The employee had not been to the office for a full week before testing positive and my H has not been in the office with this employee for more than a month so he should be ok.
@Creekland, I am so very sorry for your loss. Hugs.
One of my friends lost both her parents to COVID in the same week. They were in senior living and quite elderly, with lots of health issues, but it was still a huge loss and a big blow to the family. They had been married 73 years and were inseparable.
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