Having a Loved one Hospitalized During a Global Pandemic
On Dec 1, Jeannie Scovil was at her 9-5 office job when she received a phone call from her cousin. The 23-year-old was in distress when finding out her grandmother was in the hospital.
“We had no idea what was going on all day,” said Scovil. At the time, Fredericton had recently transitioned back to the orange phase, meaning no one could go to the hospital with Scovil’s injured grandmother. This left the family worried.
“First, we heard she was in the hospital but had no idea why. Then we figured out she fell. But it took us until 11 pm to know what was wrong and by that point she was already in surgery.”
Kathryn Scovil is an 83-year-old mother of five, with six grand children and four great-grandchildren. For the past few years her health has been worsening and the family has been keeping a close eye.
“It’s scary whenever she goes to the hospital because you just never know when it’ll be the last time. She’s always going in and out of the hospital for different reasons,” said Scovil.
With having two heart attacks, three strokes, a weak hip and asthma; a stay at the hospital is something Kathryn is no stranger to. However, it is something she dislikes strongly.“She’s normally not a good patient. She hates sleeping there and is just miserable.”
This hospital-stay started off different than previous ones. With Kathryn not being very tech savvy, she had no way of contacting her family.
Scovil feels it’s harder for the elderly patients during this time for they have nothing to do but “stare at a wall.” Even the television is something Kathryn can’t figure out, for its not one she’s use to.
On top of having no contact outside of the hospital, is the worry of COVID-19. With Kathryns bad health she’s considered high risk if contracting the virus.
“She’s been anxious about the pandemic since it started. She’s scared she won’t be able to see her family in her last years of life.”
Fredericton moved back to the yellow phase on the 7th, leaving the Scovil family pleased that they could now go visit. Although, only one visitor is aloud in at a time.
Scovil and her parents have been visiting daily to help keep Kathryn from feeling lonely. “Being alone in a hospital can wear on someone’s mental health,” said Scovil.
The rest of the family lives in Hampstead NB, which is part of zone 2, meaning they cannot go visit. Two other siblings in the family live in Moncton NB which is in zone 1 and is also restricted to travel outside of their zone. Because of this, Scovil and her mother call and FaceTime the family members when they go to visit.
Scovil went to visit her grandmother on the 8th and brought her pj’s, a blanket and some TV dinners. “I brought her some TV dinners because that’s what she wanted,” laughed Scovil. “She’s like ‘I want one of them Swanson’s.’”
Admits all the worries and pain during these hard times for Scovil’s family, she tries to look on the bright side of things and enjoys each minute she can with her grandmother.
Things have been better for Kathryn now that her family can visit but she hopes on being home for Christmas.
“We’re all going through a really hard time right now and I think it’s important to be sensitive to what others are going through.”