Medical Information
Medical Treatment & Hospitalization
I wouldn't know. I never got to speak to my mother except for 2 minutes before being put on a ventilator. The nurses updated but I NEVER received a call from the doctor. At admission, I was told I could not remain with my mother despite her being extremely sick and unable to hold her head up, so I had to stand in the doorway where I parked her wheelchair so I could watch her. As she was dying, the hospital staff called us to come to the hospital, and then told us we couldn't go in the room. The doctor sat us down and tried to explain the dynamics of COVID-19 while my mother was dying until I finally told him i didn't care, and my sister and I were going in to be with my mother while she passed away. I never spoke to a doctor other than that time, for the lecture he tried to administer. We were never allowed in the hospital while she was in their "care". I have no idea what kind of care she received. Only one nurse took the time to speak to me during our check-ins on her progress and seemed to genuinely care.
Activism & Follow-up
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Written by Shannon Bavaro(Daughter)
My mother was a 76 year old vibrant woman who was healthy and able to do for herself. She was out walking, driving, painting her house, and living life. She got COVID-19 and was fine at first with mild symptoms, then took a turn for the worst.
We called to set up an appointment to receive monoclonal anti-bodies and was scheduled out for 7 days. I begged for a quicker appointment, but it wasn’t allowed. She was supposed to get her shots on Monday, but ended up hospitalized on Sunday.
The ER was worthless, rude, and demanded that I could not sit with my mother due to her having COVID-19; forcing me to stand in the entryway of the ER as everyone walked in around me, potentially infecting them. First failure of the hospital.
She was admitted, but I didn’t hear anything until the next day. I got a call with my mother on the line saying she was being ventilated. The call was no more than 2 or 3 minutes. After that, I NEVER heard from a doctor, only nurses, who were quick to point out they were busy, except one nurse who seemed to care.
After two and a half weeks of monitoring her progress and learning what to ask to see if she was improving or not, (from the one nurse), I demanded to speak to a doctor. On one call I asked the nurse about her vitals, and she gave them to me. I asked if it meant it was any better than earlier, she kind of chuckled and stated, “Well, it isn’t any worse,” her name was “Miracle.” That woman should be barred from speaking to families. EVER!
On Saturday, September 4, I received a call from Social Services asking if Mom would have a safe place to come home to, and have help, etc. She also asked about what she did for a job and personal information. When I asked why she needed that information, I was told it was routine. I asked again if a doctor EVER planned on calling me. Said he would. Sunday, no call from doctor.
Mom would stabilize after they tried to remove her vent that week, but we held out hope she might be improving, because the Social Services caseworker asked about her going home. Monday morning, September 6, about 3:30 in the morning, the hospital asked us to come to hospital. When we got there, they let us look at Mom through the glass. I was livid. Her mouth was open she looked like a shell of who she was.
The doctor came and asked us to go into a small room to talk, and he began explaining the dynamics of COVID-19, like maybe we were not smart enough to understand it. After at least 15 minutes, I stopped that nonsense ad told him I didn’t care, that my sister and I were going into the room to be with our mother while she passed away. Mom died after just a short time.
After Mom died and we received her death certificate, all of the answers I gave Social Services to their “personal routine questions” were outlined on the death certificate. They knew she was dying on the Saturday before, about noon, and never said anything, never had a doctor call, never called us to be with her when my sister and I could have stayed with her all day comforting her.
The way they handled the COVID-19 sick and their families was an absolute disgrace. Worse, I can’t tell you how she was treated, not treated, ignored, comforted. She was an army wife of 30-plus years, and raised 3 children. Her husband went to war for this country 5 times, and she died so disgracefully.
These are just a few of the cases archived by our COVID-19 Humanity Betrayal Memory Project, and there are more being reported by survivors and families of victims every day. If you would like to help with this project, please contact us at email@chbmp.org.