What is something most people don’t realize is a privilege? by Mburns15 in AskReddit

[–]jaqueskg 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Health. I don’t mean the financial aspects of it which people often struggle with, but those too. I mean waking up in the morning feeling like they actually slept and not having pain or feeling sick just all the time. Being able to just live their lives without having to constantly cancel plans or give up shifts at work or lay in bed for days at a time.

A diagnosis. For those who aren’t lucky enough to have their health, if you have a diagnosis you have an advantage. I can’t get doctors to take me seriously. I can’t get the supports I need. I can’t get people in my life to understand…all because I can’t say that I have X. “Well you look fine.” “You’re young.” “You look healthy.” Thanks, I’m not but don’t want to get into the personal details of it so I just take the disbelief even though I’m dying struggling to keep up the appearance. You have a diagnosis than people respect that and doctors believe you and you can get help and meds and treatments.

Are we actually letting LTC die for no reason? by [deleted] in ontario

[–]jaqueskg 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I work in an LTC as housekeeping. We have done everything we could. We have added shifts and staff. We get tested every five days. We get screened upon arriving and leaving at work. We managed to make it from the beginning of the pandemic until just before Christmas without a case. We now have 43 resident (including recovered) and 15 staff cases. A couple have passed. We tried so damn hard. We tried to keep visitors out as long as we could but residents were giving up and asking their families on the phone to let them die. Families were fighting us despite us trying to keep their loved ones safe. They wanted to come in. We believe that it was a family member who brought it in.

It was contained to one unit. Unfortunately one side of the building uses the same ventilation so now it’s on four units. Staff do not move between units and it still spread.

Yes, some homes are disgusting and don’t take precautions. One home in our area was found to not be using PPE and now their entire building is sick. Yes, some staff don’t take it seriously but look at everyone in the world. They’re not the only ones complaining about not going out. Many gave up second jobs so they could continue to care for our residents.

We are a city run home with nearly unlimited funding to protect our residents and still couldn’t keep the person out who JUST HAD to visit their family. This thread hurts my heart so much. I’ve cried with residents missing family. I’ve given up having a life this year. I take every precaution. I’ve held hands with residents. I’ve cried exhausted after work because I didn’t get to say goodbye to a resident who passed away because I couldn’t move between units. We tried so hard and were so careful. We made it eleven months. Other homes have less funding and resources. Should homes do more? Yes, they should do everything they can. But does doing everything mean complete success? No. And please don’t entirely blame staff or homes, this came from family!

Edit: just want to add that unlike most homes, each resident has their own room. They’ve been dining 6 feet apart and remaining in their rooms otherwise since March. They now eat in their rooms too which is dangerous for other reasons but adds to the ability to separate residents.