My Dad is having end of life care but I have tonsilitis and virus.

hi

welcome to the online community sorry you've had to come and find us

I went through this with my mum and my uncle.

With mum I took my kids to see her when she wasn't really that ill, she had leukaemia, certainly not 'end of life care' stage but they both went down with chicken pox and she was hospitalised for six weeks as a consequence. When she was at the end of life stage and DNR in hospital the whole entire rest of my family gathered around the bed and wouldn't leave, so I never really had a chance to have one last chat with her and I miss that. 

When my uncle was ill I stayed away because he didn't really like kids, he thought they were germ infested and I didn't want to infect him but regularly when it was time for a visit I'd end up having to phone him to say we had colds or sore throats. Now I miss the opportunities we had to share our common interests. 

I don't have an answer but you could try the facemask and plenty of hand sanitiser approach ?

I'm just watching the new virus issue in China and a lot of Chinese people wear masks around town.

It's also impossible to know whether it's hours, days or weeks you have left to go and see them .

Rest assured we're all infectious all the time, even if you felt well you'd probably take some lurgy you didn't even know you had. 

If you want to go see them use barrier nursing techniques, wear an apron, gloves, mask and don't kiss them on the lips. That was an attempt at humour to lighten the situation but good hygiene should eliminate or significantly reduce the risks. 

83 is a good age, we all have to accept when our time is up.

hugs

Carolyn

xxxxxx

Thanks for sharing your experiences Carolyn. I'm sorry to hear you lost your Mum and uncle.  I just called my local chemist to ask about surgical masks and was told to try B&Q?? Maybe a hard hat and drill to complete the look! I've had a good think and like you say were all infectious a lot of the time anyway. I'm going to visit Dad today and offer the support they both need. Who knows how long we have left. x

hard hat and drill, too funny, I'm sure your parents would appreciate the effort

give them a huge hug from me

Carolyn

xxx