My beautiful mother was confirmed positive with Covid-19 on March 26th. She had been told that she should be over the hump and start feeling better in the next few days. They assumed my dad was positive since they had been together. By March 29th, I had to call an ambulance to have both my parents rushed to the ER. They sat in the ER for 2 days before being transferred to a room and my dad was immediately moved to ICU and put on a ventilator as the doctors told me it was the only chance he had for survival. My dad cried to me on the phone on March 31st saying he didn’t want to die and I begged him to let the doctors help him and that would be the last time I ever spoke to my dad. I never told my mom about my dad being on a ventilator because I knew she wouldn’t focus on getting better and I needed her to rest and take care of herself. I was fortunate to speak to her nightly on the phone but she was very weak when we spoke. On Saturday, April 4th I was awoken by my phone ringing to hear doctors yelling in the background about my mom not having a pulse and hearing machines blaring. With that, the doctor asked me for permission to intubate my mom to save her life and as soon as I said yes, they hung up on me. Not an hour later, they called me back to tell me I lost my mom and my worst night mare came true. My dad remained in ICU and on a ventilator for 22 more days. We did receive an Easter miracle and he was removed from the vent but when they tried to move him to a regular room, his blood oxygen crashed and he was rushed back to ICU and on the ventilator. This was when the hospital told me I should start preparing to make some very difficult decisions. On April 22nd, my world was shattered again when the hospital called me to tell me my dad went into cardiac arrest and they were unable to revive him. My parents would have celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on October 17th and I still have not been able to have a funeral or memorial service to honor my parents the way they deserve. My 2 children were robbed years of loving and fun memories with their grandparents and miss them everyday.
– Jennifer Ciolek-Pedana, New Jersey
