My 93-Year-Old Mom Survived COVID But Is Fighting To Survive The Vaccine
I am going to tell you a true story that will likely make me wildly unpopular with some who don’t agree with what I have to say. But I feel compelled to tell it any ways in case there are others out there with similar experiences.
My mom lives in a nursing home and her roommate was the 1st resident in that home to get COVID. Mom was quarantined in another part of the home but soon came down with the virus. She was sent to a hospital for 3 days then returned to the home. Though COVID was not a walk in the park for her, she did much better than many of the other residents and completely recovered.
My oldest sister (who is mom’s power of attorney) decided mom should get the vaccine. I didn’t know this decision had been made until after my mom got the 1st vaccination. I would have likely declined mom take the vaccinations because she already had natural immunity due to having COVID. But it wasn’t my choice.
I found out she’d gotten the vaccination in a pretty shocking way. My mom, normally someone who had no memory or cognitive issues, was delusional. First she told me she was wearing 5 coats because she couldn’t get warm. She cried and told me they (the staff) wouldn’t take her home. But she was home and has lived at that facility for 7 years.
Next she told me when she got mad at someone she just made them disappear by using the off button on her TV remote. She also thought people were plotting to kill her, including the doctor and nursing staff.
As I listened to her desperate cries to go home, I quit trying to reason with her because she was inconsolable and not the mom I talked regularly to on the phone. Since she is out of state and the home was closed to visitors, I had no other way to talk to her except via phone.
I suggested she consider not taking the 2nd vaccination. She said she didn’t want to take it but did anyways because her erratic behavior following the first vaccination had lessened a slight bit. And, as so many older people do, my mom did not want to cause “trouble” or go against what the medical professionals suggested.
The end result (months after taking the vaccinations) is that she’s still consistently anxious and obsessive about things she never even cared about before. She’s convinced there’s something very wrong with her that the medical staff and her family is keeping from her. She cries easily and is continually confused. She’s always on edge. She believes she’s going crazy and even describes some other symptoms she has like her mouth’s “not working right” — even though she speaks perfectly.
How long will this last? No one knows. But I think it’s more than just a little sad that my 93-year-old mom survived COVID but is completely changed because of a vaccine that was supposed to protect and help her.
And now I’m left wondering if my old mom will ever come back.
Jackie Deems copyright 2021