A local mom and daughter have been separated by COVID-19. Thanks to the ban on hospital visitors, Debbie Ritter can’t be with her mom when she needs her most. Last Thursday, she took her 81-year-old mom to visit the doctor. While in the office, her mother fell and was injured.
Mom was taken to the ER but her devoted daughter wasn’t allowed to be by her side. Thanks to COVID-19 restrictions that ban all hospital visitors, she wasn’t allowed to be with her. In fact, Ritter says she wasn’t even allowed to stay in the waiting room. She was told to wait in her car in the parking lot. When medical personnel didn’t call her, she went back into the empty waiting room to get information. That’s where she discovered that her mother had broken both humerus bones and would need to be admitted to King’s Daughters Hospital in Ashland.
Once her mom was admitted, her daughter wasn’t allowed to be with her. It was especially frightening to be separated since her mother was showing signs of confusion and there were no family members with her. “When they called to say she was unresponsive and they wanted to do dialysis to see if that helped clear her kidneys/mind, I thought I would go crazy with the helpless feeling. I was afraid she would die alone and I didn’t say goodbye.” Debbie says her mom seems to be doing a bit better and is eating now. “It makes me even more nervous not knowing. A wonderful nurse yesterday let us talk to her and even FaceTime which was a huge relief to us.” The situation is especially hard on Debbie’s sister, who lives in Alaska.
This devoted daughter says her mom may be safer separated from her family in the hospital. Debbie works in banking and her job is considered essential, so she can’t stay home during the COVID-19 crisis. “And I hate to say she may be better off there because both I and my husband have to work and we could get it and bring it home. I hope she is protected there.”
Debbie is not only a daughter, but she’s also a mom as well. Thankfully, she says her own daughter is coping well with being out of school and working from home. When I asked this daughter dealing with a painful separation from her mom if she had anything to say about the COVID-19 crisis, she responded immediately. “Everybody please do what we are told! Stay home! Let this virus die down so we can get back to normal! Be safe!”
