Moveon.org petition to reopen family visitations for longterm and end of life patients

[Draco1962]

My mom passed away last night. Because of her advanced dementia she was in a long-term care facility and visitations locked down due to COVID-19. My last visit was the end of February. 

To honor her with action, I have created a Moveon petition to our Governor in Florida to reopen Limited Visitation for family for patients in these facilities or end of life in hospitals and hospice.

https://sign.moveon.org/petitions/reopen-limited-visitation-for-elderly-care-facilities-and-patients-facing-death

 

 

[tthurman]

I'm very sorry to hear of the loss of your mother.

I was having this exact discussion with my mother on Sunday, and while I know the intent is for good reason, the lack of visitation privileges creates a disconnect for our family members that they are unlikely to overcome.  It's a tough time to have to make these decisions and I fear we haven't seen the worst of it yet.

My condolences to you and your family!

[RIP-Felix]

I'm younger, but have lost 3 of my grandparents in the last few years. My remaining grandfather is in assisted living now and we couldn't go see him about a month back when he had a stroke. He's lost the ability to speak as cogently as he used to, struggling to find the words to match the thought. For him this is very frustrating, as he always prided himself on saying what he meant. While we would like to see him, and encourage him during the last stage of his life, we can't because the risk this poses to him and the other elderly tenants.

I struggle with the guilt of placing our elderly in assisted living facilities - the morality of it. The truth is that at a certain point we cannot care for them and it's too dangerous to leave them alone. If I didn't have to work, I could help out more. If the facility were closer to home, I could visit more. Did I visit enough? These are the choices and hard questions that make it so difficult. And I haven't even had to deal with it a happening to a parent yet! With a grandparent, you're not as close or as responsible for them. I suppose the blessing is that it prepares you more gradually for someone closer to you. Barring tragedy, perhaps this gives you more experience of what to expect and do. What I've learned is that it's a lot of work to die. Besides the emotional loss, there's the paperwork. And once all that's done, there's a void in your support structure. I feel far more alone and disconnected after loosing my grandparents, who kept the aunts, uncles, and cousins together. Now my family feels smaller. It makes me fearful. It makes me want a family of my own, to still have people in my life when my parents pass. It must be...scary, in addition to more difficult.

I'm very sorry for your loss!

[Draco1962]

Thanks for your condolences. We are definitely in different times with too many people of power with conflicting and contradicting half-bits of information pulling the strings of our lives. Many theories as to what is really happening and none of them any less concerning than what we can see with our own eyes.

I wish you both better outcomes  with your loved ones. My prayer is that our leadership will see fit to champion the truth and craft reasonable policies.

[Tom Speirs]

Very sorry buddy (I just saw this).

[Draco1962]

Thanks, Tom.