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redstatebluegirl

(12,264 posts)
Fri Jul 31, 2020, 03:24 PM Jul 2020

I have a friend in Florida who is a nurse.

She retired to Florida in January of 2020 after working for 40 years for a Chicago hospital. When COVID became so bad, she felt she had to go back and help. She has worked for a large hospital in the Miami area. She was the head nurse in an ICU unit in Chicago, now she is a worker bee which is fine with her.

The stories she has told me in the past 3 weeks make me cry. She calls me often to "vent" which I am more than happy to allow her to do. She lost 3 patients in the past two days, one had been married for 52 years and his wife could not be with him when he passed. She said the last thing he said before he was put on the ventilator was to "tell his girlfriend he loved her and would see her on the other side". He only lasted a few days on the vent.

I totally blame 45 and his enablers including that worthless governor of Florida. I can't imagine not being able to see my husband before I died.

All of the medical personnel are heroes in my book. Working long shifts, volunteering to go back after retiring (there are more than a few of those), being away from their families so they don't infect them. They are true patriots.

30 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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I have a friend in Florida who is a nurse. (Original Post) redstatebluegirl Jul 2020 OP
With no end in sight. StarryNite Jul 2020 #1
People who say that should have to do one shift at a hospital ICU. redstatebluegirl Jul 2020 #2
I agree! StarryNite Jul 2020 #3
Listening to my friend talk is heartbreaking. redstatebluegirl Jul 2020 #4
I am sure you are correct. StarryNite Jul 2020 #9
without PPE. nt. druidity33 Aug 2020 #25
The Alex Jones Effect. Frontline from this week. jayschool2013 Jul 2020 #12
Thank you for sharing this. StarryNite Jul 2020 #13
I just watched, and it was chilling Tiger8 Aug 2020 #30
This was amazing. A truly sick and twisted man. LuckyLib Jul 2020 #16
This message was self-deleted by its author JmAln Aug 2020 #22
Thank you for sharing..tell your friend she has dozens of well wishers here Thekaspervote Jul 2020 #5
I tell her that every time I talk to her. redstatebluegirl Jul 2020 #7
I think people who don't take it seriously should be denied medical care SoonerPride Jul 2020 #6
In a perfect world, only those who dismiss it would catch it. oldsoftie Aug 2020 #27
Please give your friend a big (virtual) hug and thank you from us! FM123 Jul 2020 #8
She told me last night that the bright spot in all this is she has made many good friends. redstatebluegirl Jul 2020 #10
My youngest daughter is a nurse in a COVID unit appleannie1 Jul 2020 #11
She doesn't have much family. redstatebluegirl Jul 2020 #14
Holy crap-- good luck with everything LymphocyteLover Jul 2020 #17
one mask a day, she made her own hair cap and I bought gallons of dairy farm/restaurant sanitizer appleannie1 Jul 2020 #19
Yikes! That's so unacceptable. It's all so fucked up. LymphocyteLover Jul 2020 #20
+1, ... and all so preventable, S Korea has 4.3% unemployment uponit7771 Aug 2020 #23
Please wish her well from all of us on DU leftieNanner Jul 2020 #15
K&R n/t Kitchari Jul 2020 #18
And the nurses... zentrum Aug 2020 #21
This is beyond a nightmare now DSandra Aug 2020 #24
...and a governor who wants to please only one guy....trump spanone Aug 2020 #26
So heartbreaking. And happening all over the country. Please let your friend know that she, and niyad Aug 2020 #28
Your friend is a Godsend Dreampuff Aug 2020 #29

StarryNite

(9,366 posts)
1. With no end in sight.
Fri Jul 31, 2020, 03:29 PM
Jul 2020
Those medical heroes need our support. It makes me furious when I hear, and I hear it often, that this isn't really as bad as the press makes it seem. Or even worse the ones who still say it's nothing but a hoax and the doctors and nurses on the evening news are only actors.

redstatebluegirl

(12,264 posts)
4. Listening to my friend talk is heartbreaking.
Fri Jul 31, 2020, 03:35 PM
Jul 2020

I swear a lot of these people will have PTSD after this is over.

StarryNite

(9,366 posts)
9. I am sure you are correct.
Fri Jul 31, 2020, 03:50 PM
Jul 2020

I just hope they know that the vast majority of people do appreciate them and know they are actually putting their lives on the line to help others and that makes them heroes in every sense of the word.

 

Tiger8

(432 posts)
30. I just watched, and it was chilling
Sat Aug 1, 2020, 03:02 PM
Aug 2020

I don’t know which is worse....that Alex Jones lies, knowing that he’s going to get people killed, or that there are so many stupid people who actually believe him.

There must be powerful right wingers backing Alex Jones. I can’t imagine how he makes $100,000 a day selling male virility pills.

Response to jayschool2013 (Reply #12)

Thekaspervote

(32,606 posts)
5. Thank you for sharing..tell your friend she has dozens of well wishers here
Fri Jul 31, 2020, 03:38 PM
Jul 2020

We need to keep these kinds of stories front and center!!

redstatebluegirl

(12,264 posts)
7. I tell her that every time I talk to her.
Fri Jul 31, 2020, 03:42 PM
Jul 2020

I tell her that there are lots of Americans who support her and don't think this is a hoax. I have used DU as an example.

SoonerPride

(12,286 posts)
6. I think people who don't take it seriously should be denied medical care
Fri Jul 31, 2020, 03:39 PM
Jul 2020

These nurses and doctors are seriously endangering their own lives and for what? People who didn't wear a mask or thought it was a hoax or went to bars every night and partied it up?

I think they should be opted out of medical treatment.

But I am heartless that way.

Medical care should be reserved for those who have done everything in their power to avoid getting sick.

FM123

(10,050 posts)
8. Please give your friend a big (virtual) hug and thank you from us!
Fri Jul 31, 2020, 03:45 PM
Jul 2020

Yes, it's so bad down here that our local newspaper (The Sun Sentinel) had to write our governor an open letter begging for help. Of course DeSantis, like his buddy Trump, could not care less...

redstatebluegirl

(12,264 posts)
10. She told me last night that the bright spot in all this is she has made many good friends.
Fri Jul 31, 2020, 03:52 PM
Jul 2020

Some of those are family members of patients, since she helps them communicate with their families via ipad before they are vented and then giving them updates afterwards. She said one family wrote her a lovely note that she keeps pinned up by where she changes.

appleannie1

(5,044 posts)
11. My youngest daughter is a nurse in a COVID unit
Fri Jul 31, 2020, 04:05 PM
Jul 2020

Like you, she uses me to vent. Right now there are 57 staff members that are positive and she is waiting for the results of her test. She is not running a temp so she has to keep working while she is waiting. Needless to say, she is angry about the lack of PPE.

I worry about the mental state of medical workers when this is all over. It is no different than being in a war zone. Keep sitting and listening to your friend. It is a life line right now.

redstatebluegirl

(12,264 posts)
14. She doesn't have much family.
Fri Jul 31, 2020, 04:31 PM
Jul 2020

We found each other and have been like sisters ever since. Hoping for the best for your daughter. Hugs.

appleannie1

(5,044 posts)
19. one mask a day, she made her own hair cap and I bought gallons of dairy farm/restaurant sanitizer
Fri Jul 31, 2020, 09:37 PM
Jul 2020

concentrate that she can mix and put in spray bottles for her and her co-workers to spray their shoes, wipe their stethoscopes, computer things they now chart with etc. There still are not enough ventilators in many hospitals, not just theirs. They now have a huge tent in the parking lot for non covid symptom ER patients because the actual ER is not big enough for all the daily patients they see. She is in a vacation hot spot. One of those destinations they are saying to stay away from. Sort of like Florida.

leftieNanner

(14,998 posts)
15. Please wish her well from all of us on DU
Fri Jul 31, 2020, 05:27 PM
Jul 2020

It makes me sick that we are finding out today (although we had suspicions at the time) that Prince Jared stopped the implementation of the program that was devised by his "task force" because he thought Covid was only in Blue States.

There are not enough evil words in the dictionary to express what I feel about him.

Sending good vibes to your friend and for the great work she is doing.

DSandra

(999 posts)
24. This is beyond a nightmare now
Sat Aug 1, 2020, 07:02 AM
Aug 2020


This is a level of horror and misery not experienced in this country probably in at least 90 years.

niyad

(112,440 posts)
28. So heartbreaking. And happening all over the country. Please let your friend know that she, and
Sat Aug 1, 2020, 11:04 AM
Aug 2020

all the amazing staff, have our support and admiration.

Dreampuff

(778 posts)
29. Your friend is a Godsend
Sat Aug 1, 2020, 12:40 PM
Aug 2020

Like many others in her profession and all the others who have to be at working during this awful time.

And our governor? All he cares about is getting his pat on the head when Pence comes down. Yesterday Trump was in my area and he got a good Pat on my head or wherever from him, too. All are true narcissists with total lack of empathy.

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