March 28, 2020 (In The Year of the Trump Virus)

March 28, 2020 (In the Year of the Trump Virus)

A strange juxtaposition of clean air and nasty virus, as I take a walk around my residential block here in Los Angeles.  The last few days have been very stressful due that my 88-year old Uncle had to go to the ER at Kaiser.  My fear is two-folded:  My Uncle and his 85-year old Sister, my mom.  On an everyday basis, if I have even a slight cold, I try to stay away from their presence.  With the help from my wife and my Uncle's partner, I take care of both of them.  Mostly handling the numerous hospital visits as well as doing the regular laundry for my mom.  That is my role as the only child son, and I take the responsibility very seriously.  Therefore when the Coronavirus struck Los Angeles, I pretty much stayed in our house and communicated through the phone and computer.   Both my mom and Uncle live in the neighborhood, so it's not that difficult to see them both in either a visit or emergency.   Concerning my mom, I bring wine and bread to her front porch.  Call her.  Then when she comes to the porch, I wave to her across the street.

Usually, when my Uncle needs to stay in the hospital, I wait in the waiting room, or come on daily visits, and also when they call me in to pick him up.  Now, one can only drop the patient off, and you have to go back home, or in other words, there is no hanging out at the hospital.  This is reasonable, but then that means I have to stay near the cell phone in case there is news or the medical team asks a question.  So one is on call 24/7, which is basically why I travel very little now and stay in Los Angeles.

The good news is that he was tested twice, and both came out negative. So, that is a huge relief.  My wife and I are trying to beat the clock to fix up our studio apartment downstairs for my Uncle and partner.  30-hours ago, there was the possibility of us taking him to our home last night.   But we have no bed, and on top of that, we would have to take the Oxygen machine (ventilator) from his home to our house.  Where he lives is on the side of a hill, with a steep staircase, which even gives me the willy. If you read my memoir, you'll get the drift.  Nevertheless, talking to the administrator at Kaiser, we both decided it was best that he was taken home by ambulance and assistants to take him downstairs and then to his bed.  So, I engineered a lot of this by staying home, but with a great deal of help from Kaiser as well as my Uncle's partner.

Last night was the first night of not sleeping in dread fear of what will happen next.  Yes, the air feels fantastic, and the plants look lively, but there is a mood that puts a dark shadow across the landscape.