Today is June 11, 2020 and it has now been 90 days since my daughter was in school or able to access support services at the children’s centre.
It just blows my mind that it has been that long and I’m still somehow muddling through, but what actually scares me is the prospect of the rest of this month plus July and August without school or camp etc. Here’s hoping I’ll still have my sanity and a full head of hair at the end of this!
My daughter was diagnosed with moderate to severe Autism in 2013 and although she has made some great strides in the last few years, with the lack of regular support services and still sitting on a wait list under the current program to access behaviour therapy, I worry what the future holds for her and our family.
Of course in addition to the no school, respite, child care etc. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, I had to postpone moving my mother to a retirement home, which was scheduled to happen in March. Not a good scenario at all.
My mother suffers from rapidly progressing vascular dementia and aphasia, and the wait list for long term care in our region is a couple of years, so moving to a transitional residence seemed like the right choice. However, trying to explain to her that she couldn’t move in March because of a worldwide pandemic was challenging to put it mildly.
I tried putting on the news, showing her the newspaper and breaking down the details into very basic terms, but even though she nodded to indicate she understood, it was clear she did not. Watching someone you love drift away is heartbreaking, and this was the second time I’d had to watch one of my parents start to disappear in less than 3 years.
Life really can suck sometimes!
I decided the best course of action was to let it go for now and revisit it later. Thankfully our region is going into Stage 2 in Ontario so the move can get back under way.
Well it can get back underway, once she does a COVID-19 test and the home gets a negative result back within 24 hours of her move-in date. Hmmmm….the prospect of taking an elderly woman with dementia to have someone stick a swab into their nose is definitely not high on my list of fun things to do, but it is an absolutely a necessary thing to do.
As I will be visiting her in the home I will also be getting tested just to make sure and advise the home I am taking it seriously and taking the other residents’ safety a priority too.
Fingers crossed it goes well for both of us. I’ll keep you posted!