Elder Orphans, Our Very American Nightmare

[appalachiablue]

- Daily Kos, March 26, 2022.

She worked the comedy circuit in New York. Ate pizza with George Carlin. Sold a bit to Robin Williams. “One he used on Johnny Carson when Johnny was still host,” she’ll confide if you’ll take the time to listen. She did her own stuff too, but mostly she hung around the clubs selling bits to other comedians. She liked them all, but Williams the most, “He and I used humor for the same thing – protection!” She’s still using humor, but it’s power to shield is nearly gone. It’s okay, she won’t need protection where she’s going.

I cajoled G, her preferred moniker to her real name, out of her shitty little motel room. Neither “shitty” nor “little” do the place justice. I got her to the emergency room. She wants to die. After hours in the overcrowded hospital – home of the ultimate punchline, “world’s best healthcare” – G got what she needed. Diagnosed with metastasized cancer, death is on its way. Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus!

Together we met with hospice. She’d be made comfortable. No, there are no hospice homes available to her, but we can send a hospice nurse to her motel room. The shitty one where G’s named the cockroaches, “Oliver is the oldest one. Suzanne is the skinny one and the youngest is Dwight.”

Sure, she’ll be alone. But the nurse will come once a day and we’re on 24-hour call. “What’s the co-pay?” I asked. None. She’s got Medicare. Seems G’s lucky on two counts. She made it to sixty-five years of age before her body stopped her from eating and drinking. AND someone in the government figured out that hospice patients can’t pay bills after services are completed. No sense billing the dead. I met my sixty-five-year-old friend more than twenty years ago...

More + Comments,
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/3/26/2088259/--Elder-Orphans-Our-Very-American-Nightmare

[a kennedy]

1. 😢 😢 😢 😢 😢

Just sooooooooooooooooo sad.

[bucolic_frolic]

2. I do wonder at some point

when is life worth living, and when is it best to surrender. Who can say? Are the last weeks/months of life worth $148,366.17 in health care bills? Comfort and peace is not always achievable, no matter what is spent. If you think their lives are lonely and bitter at the end, think they don't have their relatives around them - some loving and supportive, some fighting over possessions, some snarky and quibbling, others trying to carry cherished items out the door.

[Ziggysmom]

3. Powerful story. Some people who do have family, also die alone. My father had 14 brothers

and sisters. Not one was even a friend to him in the last decade of his life. No wonder why G wanted a cat. My father died in his recliner with his cat and little dog in his lap - he was lucky, I feel.

[appalachiablue]

4. Unfortunately I've seen similar situations, truly sad. Thanks

for adding to the conversation.