Latino, whose mom is in a recovering center, will spend this special Sunday away from her since visits are not allowed
At the beginning of the year, Edgar Polanco and his family enjoyed the arrival of 2020. Even on January 3 they celebrated the 70 years of their mother, Martha Lara Polanco, without imagining that Mother's Day would be spent separately due to the pandemic due to the coronavirus.
Edgar said that his mother, who lived with him, along with his wife and 5-year-old son, fell out of bed in late January and had to be hospitalized. At the medical center, he was told that he had a tumor on the left side of his head and that they needed to have an urgent operation.
"After the operation, she had a stroke and half of her body became paralyzed," Edgar told La Opinion.
The hospital was forced to refer her to a home for the elderly in order for her to be rehabilitated.
However, because visits to prevent COVID-19 infections to older people are not allowed, Edgar has not been able to see his mother and assures that he misses her a lot and that she misses them too.
"She cries every day because she wants to come back to us and I try to cook her food and take her when I can," said this man, who lives in South Los Angeles, and whose mother is in a center located west of the city. city.
“She here in the house was very active, washing, cleaning the patio and doing everything. Now he has not been able to get out of bed for almost four months. ”
Before her operation, Martha participated in the Comprehensive Care for the Elderly Program (PACE) in South Los Angeles. This Medicare program helps independent seniors with services necessary to stay safe, comfortable, and healthy in their home.
Because Martha falls into the group of the most vulnerable by COVID-19, she has not been allowed to return home, much less that her relatives visit her for fear of contagion.
Mother and son talk on the phone almost every day but "it's not the same as being in person," said Edgar. “They have her isolated and I can't even see her. My son always asks about his grandmother, "he adds.
Edgar said that this May 10th, which is a special date, he plans to cook her something delicious and will buy her flowers. Since you cannot see it, you will have to leave the gifts at the reception to be delivered.
"It is very difficult for me and my family but we hope he recovers soon," he said.
On this Mother's Day, Edgar has a very special message: “I want to tell my mother to get better. May she be strong and fight to heal because this will end soon and then she can go home to the family. ”
Physical distancing continues
This weekend the economy in California began to reopen slightly and among the businesses that have been allowed to offer their services are the florists.
This leads to many families wanting to buy flowers for their mothers and in some cases they even want to celebrate this celebration.
However, experts recommend that physical distance of at least six feet be continued and large congregations avoided.
Estefanía Maurer, a doctor at the AltaMed clinic, said that "isolation" or "social distancing" is nothing more than a physical distance and does not mean that people cannot socialize.
"It is extremely important to distance especially for people in the geriatric population because many can have the virus and show no symptoms," explained the expert.
"Being physically away from family members is actually a way of caring for them, because it is our way of protecting them from this virus."
The doctor added that this slight reopening to begin to return to the new normal does not mean that people can gather in large groups, much less when there are people over 65 involved.
"Large gatherings are still prohibited," he said. "Calls or video calls are still better … They can even take a ride in cars in front of the home (of the elderly).
All of these things are different but it also gives them an opportunity to be more creative. ”
As the COVID-19 high contagion rate curve in Los Angeles County continues to flatten, authorities have carefully reopened certain businesses. However, they say, the coronavirus remains dangerous.
