One in A Million
During this Covid-19 outbreak there was a statement made that got a lot of attention, “what if the cure is worse than the disease”. That statement drew outrage from some people as callus and cruel. On the surface it may appear that way, but in fact there is a lot of truth to that statement. My father is a couple of months shy of being 95 years old, he suffers from dementia and to make matters worse he is legally deaf, he has become a victim of this pandemic, not by infection, but by isolation. The ground he has lost in a little over month is frightening. So much so that I am moving him into a facility that can provide him a higher level of care, that scares me.
This is not some sort of political statement, it is an observation made by someone who has seen what the cure can do to our most vulnerable, it is devastating. My point is that we as people are social creatures, who need interaction in order to live a healthy, happy life. You would not keep medication from someone in lockdown, why would you completely isolate someone who depends so heavily on social interaction? For many of us social interaction comes in all forms, telephone, computer, writing letters, you get the drift, but those are not options for my Dad, so it’s good old face to face at 6ft of course, and even that is almost impossible for my dad.
But his true social interaction comes in the form of sitting in a room with 150 people eating a meal three times a day which of course, was out of the question. But to my Dad that room of people is quite comforting, he has his table and sits in the same chair day after day with the same guys. He sees people who know and care about him three times a day. They smile at him in loving ways, they pat him on his back, or he gets a “Hey Bob”, some women even kiss him on the top of his bald head, or he can be heard telling a story he’s told a thousand times before, it’s healthy. I saw my Dad everyday as I am considered his care taker, but it’s not the same. Every day I spent time explaining to him what was going on, and each day it got worse, I could not fill that void.
I think about my life with Rock Steady Boxing (RSB), how it has become such vital part of my life, it provides me with the environment to thrive. RSB is a social club disguised as a gym, RSB is a group therapy session disguised as a gym, RSB is a Parkinson’s information center disguised as a gym, RSB is a center for hope in a hopeless world disguised as a gym. RSB is my dining room, I am lucky I am still extremely active and communicate well, and I thank god for that. But what if I wasn’t so lucky, what if I was my Dad? What if the thing that made my life complete was taken away and I didn’t understand why? And what if no one took the time to think about the consequences to that decision, what would that do to me?
There is no blame and there’s no easy answer, I have my ideas but they’re just that, ideas. And of course, nobody wants a Covid-19 outbreak in a senior living community, we all know what that looks like. But isolation is just that, isolation, isn’t that what we do to punish people? I guess going forward we should all keep in mind that there are unintended consequences in any fight, but maybe if there is a next time, we should think about those who can’t think for themselves, they need us.
To all of you who have been touched by this disease, God Bless You.
Mark Hitechew