Mom: I have a really bad cold. I've never had a cold like this!
Me: It's probably COVID. Please self isolate.
Mom: I need to go to church to get back a book I lent out!
Me: No, you don't. You might infect someone else. You need to stay home.
Mom: Maybe I will get my neighbor to drive me to Walmart to get some cough medication.
Me: No, you will infect your neighbor and people at Walmart. Stay home.
This story continues a few days later.
Today,
Mom: The Dr confirmed that I have full blown COVID
Me: How did you get to the Dr?
Mom: An Uber took me
Internal dialog: Uber will be giving select customers COVID.
Mom: I got some cough medication.
Me: How did you get cough medicine?
Mom: I got someone at the church to take me after service
Internal dialog: Mom shared her infection with the congregation and with a person nice enough to give her a ride. She probably got to church with Uber.
COVID is getting around.
Right now, mom is talking about getting a ride to get something else, despite presenting symptoms. My sister is strongly discouraging her from going anywhere and explaining how she can order online and it will be at her door in the morning.
New angle is being tried. She is telling mom that she is more vulnerable and that if she goes out and picks up another infection, she could be worst off. I've volunteered to get the items and leave them at the door.
Sigh, this is too hard.
Mom is now blaming some other unknown people for not wearing a mask and saying that they probably infected her. No, the irony is not lost on me that she has probably infected many other people.
Mom is somewhere in her 70s. I've noticed that she appears to be developing a decline in making inferences and logical associations. I think this is part of cognitive decline(?).
My sister, who was a pro-ivermectin person, is asking me to get a laundry list of things to cure her.
Far-right sister is now ranting about how mom probably got super-COVID from an immigrant that Joe Biden let through the borders. It is impossible to talk about anything without far-right pro-ivermectin sister bringing these views into it.
I included her in the call just so that she knew of mom's condition. Next time, Im just recording the call and sending her the audio.
I'm on a budget. I might lose my job. I'm not getting mom this full list. She can have the theraflu and the muscinex DM. That's like 30 USD. We are going to omit the other 40 USD in items on the list.
Mom is off the phone. My sister is going on about how the doctors just need to give her ivermectin.
Sigh.
@ThinkingSapien
Why not let your sister de-worm herself? Certain worm-man did it a little too late and his brain got fused with the worm's… But he's currently in charge of health in the United States, so I suppose it's still a success story 🤔
(Sorry, I couldn't resist and not make an RFK joke, I wish your family to get well, no matter what their views are!)
