Tracy K. Lorenz / Taking Care

Cabin Fever

Well, we’re in week three or six or whatever of our forced attempt to get Biden elected in November. I don’t know about you but I’m starting to feel a bit edgy in my confirement. I think of what it must have been like to be a settler in the olden days, work six months to get everything ready for winter and then just sit in your 200 square foot cabin for the entire winter. No electricity, no Netflix, no internet, just sitting there praying for the day you can go back outside to work like a mule to prepare for next year.

I’m sure it’s easy for Governor Whitmer to just add on extra weeks of confinement for the masses, she’s got stuff to do and a mansion to do it in.

Stick her in a single-wide for a month, toss in three kids under the age of five and an alcoholic husband and see how she does,

I’m lucky, I’ve got a one-floor-per-family-member house plus a garage I can hide in if need be. Here are some people who aren’t so lucky ...

The Tiny House Millenial - Remember last year when tiny houses were all the rage? There were entire TV shows devoted to the wonders of two people living in a ten foot by twenty foot love nest.

Right about now those people are about to go Donner Party and they aren’t even hungry. One person has a whistle-y nose, the other chomps potato chips like a wood chipper, and next thing ya know, it’s on.

Octomom: Remember Octomom?  The lady who wisely gave birth to eight kids after already having a couple of other kids? Right now that poor woman is stuck in her house with those ten kids and I gotta believe that’s a bit harrowing. I had three brothers and we barely got allong, this lady has a complete basketball team that could play her other complete basketball team plus coaches.

New Love: Think of the poor high school kid who finally got to kiss a girl on March 15...and then get locked in a house for a month. That kid probably has a spoon, a poster of Raquel Welch, and 600 feet to freedom.

Blue Hair: You’re a girl, you’re 17, you hate your parents, they’re stoopid, they’re embarrassing. To teach them a lesson you go out, dye your hair blue, get a nose ring, come home and find out you’re stuck in the house with them for a month. Minimum. Every night you have to sit at the dinner table with your mom and dad who wonder where they went wrong, and by the time you get to see your friends again your hair will have grown out.

NBA Player Posses: You’re living it up, hitting all the parties, hanging with the star, living in a guest suite at his mansion. Suddenly you and the rest of the posse are confined to the house and your meal ticket starts asking what is it exactly that you do again?

Realtors: You’re screwed.



Printed by permission of the author. Email him at Lorenzatlarge@aol.com.
Get Tracy’s latest book at BarnesandNoble.com or Amazon.com, or  download it from www.fastpencil.com.
Only $3.99, cheap.

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TAKING CARE ...

By Emmanuel Hospice

Care without Contact: Supporting Hospice Patients during COVID-19

The rapid rise of COVID-19 has changed everything about daily life – including the way end-of-life care must now be delivered.

While hospice providers are considered “essential workers” under Gov. Whitmer’s Stay Home, Stay Safe executive order, all health care workers have had to make significant changes in the way they practice to protect themselves and their patients – and to stop the spread of this novel
coronavirus.

By its nature, hospice care is very “hands on,” often delivered at the bedside of patients in their homes, hospitals or nursing homes. But COVID-19 is spread person-to-person when one infected person coughs or sneezes and a healthy person comes into contact with those respiratory droplets.

Hospice providers like Emmanuel Hospice have responded by taking steps to reduce that contact, requiring its in-home clinicians to be screened daily, to conduct regular risk assessment with patients and to wear masks when working. When possible, remote meetings and telehealth options are encouraged.

While nurses and aides are still permitted to make in-home visits, other equally important members of the care team such as social workers, spiritual caregivers, music and other complementary therapists have been asked to curtail visits. That adjustment has been tough for hospice providers like Emmanuel Hospice, which take a holistic approach to end-of-life care and develop a team to serve the needs of patients and families.

“At a time when families are already feeling isolated and cut off from the world, the coronavirus has imposed even greater restrictions on them,” said Executive Director Sara Lowe. “With the need to practice physical distancing, we have had to limit the number of direct contacts with patients and families.

“That got our care team thinking, and we decided to create a YouTube channel where we could offer calming techniques, spiritual readings, poetry, songs and more to patients and families. Before you know it, we had 10 beautiful videos to share.

“We will continue to add new videos but have decided to ask the community to help us out by creating and sharing videos to provide care and comfort to those who are struggling. By contributing content, you have the opportunity to spread joy and help us extend the good work we do.”

Videos can include songs, spoken messages, skits, jokes, readings, blessings and any other ideas that can offer encouragement and hope to others during these times of increased isolation. Approved videos will then be uploaded to Emmanuel Hospice’s YouTube channel for patients – and others in the community – to see and enjoy.

The nonprofit’s goal is to enhance the time that remains for each person as he or she approaches the end of life. The specially trained staff offer patients and their family, friends and colleagues a range of activities to put the mind at ease during the transition to the final phase of life’s journey.

“During these challenging times, it’s now more important than ever to think outside the box and give care to those in need,” Lowe explained.

“Contributing a video to this series will go a long way to break down the walls of isolation these families are feeling.”

To learn more about content and submission guidelines as well as instructions on how to submit videos, please visit emmanuelhospice.org/community-videos/.

To view the videos, please visit Emmanuel Hospice’s YouTube channel.

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