A resident of Tomaszów Bolesławiecki contacted us. For several months, she has been caring for her former mother-in-law, 69-year-old Maria. (Although they are no longer related by marriage, the reader still refers to her as “Mum.”) – I would like someone to take an interest in people like this – the woman who reported the matter admits. – I can no longer bear to watch this psychologically. I keep wondering how our healthcare system works.
The reader stresses that some time ago, “the world stopped” for her family. Her former mother-in-law had been ill for a long time; she has Alzheimer’s disease and comorbidities. But the senior woman’s condition deteriorated even further in January this year. In April, the woman was found unconscious on the floor and spent a month and a half in hospital.
Now Mrs. Maria is in a vegetative state and there is virtually no contact with her. Until recently, before she was given effective medication, she screamed and cried at night.
Our reader quit her job to care for her former mother-in-law. Asked why she had taken care of someone who was, in effect, a stranger to her at this point, our interviewee replied: – She has always been a good woman to me; she treated me like a daughter. Was I supposed to leave her on the street?
Finding professional care proved to be the problem. The woman became a hot potato for local facilities and institutions. Mrs. Maria has a PEG tube inserted into her abdomen, which means that food is administered enterally. Some centers had no place for her; at others, they explained that they had no qualified staff. (Although the reader and her husband somehow manage to handle the PEG themselves.)
In August, a court ruling was issued stating that Mrs. Maria should be admitted to a professional care facility because she requires constant supervision. (For example, she keeps trying to pull out her PEG.) – Why is there no help from the state – our interviewee asks plaintively. – Health insurance contributions are still being collected.
The reader stresses that neither she nor her family are seeking money. She simply wanted the state to take an interest in the fate of people like this.
Today we received information that the matter is moving in the right direction: GOPS in Warta Bolesławiecka is to take care of it.
Just before this article was published, before the officials had done anything, the woman’s condition suddenly worsened. After 4:00 p.m. on Friday, an ambulance took her to hospital.