{"id":3959,"date":"2020-05-02T16:58:24","date_gmt":"2020-05-02T19:58:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/?p=3959"},"modified":"2020-05-02T17:41:39","modified_gmt":"2020-05-02T20:41:39","slug":"rima-el-kouri-miraculous-grandma-grand-maman-miraculee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/2020\/05\/02\/rima-el-kouri-miraculous-grandma-grand-maman-miraculee\/","title":{"rendered":"Rima El Kouri: \u00ab\u2018Miraculous\u2019 Grandma\u00bb [\u00abGrand-maman \u2018miracul\u00e9e\u2019\u00bb]"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Ms. El Kouri’s article was published today in La Presse<\/em>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/plus.lapresse.ca\/screens\/31cf5acd-2125-41f1-ad51-eecc77aba7d1__7C___0.html<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below you will find an English translation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Bambi, this article was moving to read for several reasons: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, it describes how one of our best Canadian hospitals is operating in a pandemic, not so gloriously…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second, we witness the tough journey of covid-19 hospitalized patients. Luckily,\nsome are healed. Others, many others, die. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Third, this disturbing yet beautiful story is about a resilient 77-year-old woman who finally chose to live. In doing so, morning after morning, she kept her focus on positive thinking\/visualization of her loved ones, with the help of a talented psychologist! Good for her and her family, as she survived (a happy ending!). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last but surely not least, the talented clinical psychologist featured in the\nstory is none other than Dr. Mirella De Civita, Bambi\u2019s colleague and good friend\nfor over 26 years! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mirella (or Dr. De Civita) is one of the most intelligent (brain\/mind, heart, soul), compassionate, and yet humble clinicians you can ever meet. \u201cMiraculous grandma\u201d was truly blessed to have her \u201cby her side\u201d every morning\u2026 by phone whilst in a traumatizing quarantine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Dr. Mirella De Civita<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

This being said, you can read the story of \u201cMiraculous grandma\u201d, as “told” to us by Ms. Elkouri. Thanks to the latter for sharing it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOn her hospital bed, Jacqueline Henrie, 77, gasping for air, said, “I want medical aid in dying<\/em>“.

With her chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, she did not expect to survive COVID-19. Her children also believed her to be doomed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A week before her hospitalization, when she started having symptoms,\nJacqueline first thought it was related to her lung disease. She started taking the antibiotics already prescribed by her doctor.\nFive days later, overcome by abnormal fatigue, unable to eat,\nshe consulted. She was put on a waiting list for a\nCOVID-19 test. She was told to call 911 if necessary.\nShe did so on the morning of March 21st after stating to have\ntrouble breathing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Transported by ambulance to the Maisonneuve-Rosemont <\/em>Hospital, she\nbelieved that evening that her hour had come. “I\nwas choking and was not able to catch my breath<\/em>“.
\n
\nThat’s when she said to the nurse,\n“I want to see the doctor.<\/em> I want medical aid in\ndying<\/em>“.
\n
\n“It will be alright<\/em>,”\nreplied the nurse, smiling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She felt like she was in a daze. Feverish, weak,\nshort of breath. “All I said to myself was: when\ndoes death come?<\/em> “
\n
\nWe sent her to a COVID-19 unit, which\nappeared to be still in the organization. A negative\npressure room with no phone or bell to call for help. \u201cEven\nif we were shouting, we couldn’t hear us with the noise of the engines. The nurse on duty gave my neighbor who had a cell phone her personal\nnumber so that she could be called if necessary. “<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Madly worried, her son, Nicolas, left her grandson’s smartphone for her\nat the entrance to the hospital so that they could talk to each other. A nurse\nwas kind enough to show her how to use FaceTime.
\n
\nThe news she gave her children live from her hospital bed was anything but\nreassuring.
\n
\n“I was completely disconnected from life. I was talking to the kids,\nbut it was like they weren’t my kids. However, I am an emotional, sensitive\nperson. But I felt nothing, nothing, nothing<\/em>\u201d. She was waiting for death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After two days, Jacqueline was sent to another room, along with other patients\nwith covid-19. During the night, one of them died, and the room had to be\ndisinfected from top to bottom. “I was next door. I haven’t slept all\nnight<\/em>. “
\n
\nShe was then transferred to a third bedroom, without a toilet or sink.\nDehydrated, she often had to beg the staff for water. “Once, it was the\ncleaning lady who fetched me water. She encouraged us all the time”<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of her roommates, who had mental health issues, used to vomit and answer\nnature\u2019s call on the floor. Between them, there was a simple curtain.
\n
\n“A nurse said to me,”Watch her, because I don’t have time<\/em>“.
\n
\n“She cried five, six times a day. I was the one who had to watch her.\nShe fell twice. I was calling for help. It was taking time. I would say to\nthem, “But what if she was your mother?”<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At times, the lady came to bed naked, in Jacqueline’s own bed, without\nanyone intervening. In the bedroom, the smell was foul. The commodes with\nexcrement stayed there for hours. It was impossible to wash for a whole week.
\n
\nAlthough grateful to the doctors and hospital staff, who did their best in an\nextremely difficult environment, Jacqueline deplores the inhuman conditions of\nhospitalization. “I understand that they are overworked. It’s not\nfunny. They must dress in their protective gear and undress between each room.\nBut what I found the worst was the lack of humanity<\/em>“.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How can we explain such a situation when we were still at the very\nbeginning of the pandemic and there were very few COVID-19 patients\nhospitalized at Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital, which is facing an outbreak\ntoday?
\n
\nResponse from the CIUSSS de l’Est-de-l’\u00cele-de-Montr\u00e9al<\/em> [CIUSS means Integrated\nhealth and social services centres<\/em>]: it is\ndifficult to say without knowing exactly where in the hospital this patient\nwas. What we recognize is that the hospital is dilapidated. “Hospital\nstaff are trying to do their best in a physical environment that is not always\noptimal<\/em>,” writes Catherine Dion, Communications Advisor to the CIUSSS\nde l’Est-de-l’\u00cele-de-Montr\u00e9al<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the days following the declaration of a health emergency, it was\nnecessary to quickly adapt the healthcare settings – review the ventilation\nsystems of certain units, intensive care, etc. “It\nis indeed possible that some patients witnessed the agitation that reigned as\nwe prepared to face the pandemic<\/em>“.
\n
\nRegarding the quality of care, we\nsay we are “surprised<\/em>“. “We\ninvite the lady to lodge a complaint with the service quality and complaints\ncommissioner, who can do the appropriate follow-up with the teams concerned<\/em>“.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

***
\n
\nWhile Jacqueline remained convinced that the only way out was death, her\ndaughter, Lucie, said to her: “Mom, would you accept that Mirella calls\nyou to try to give you courage<\/em>? “
\n
\nDr. Mirella De Civita is a psychologist. She is a good friend of Lucie. When\nshe learned that her mother was hospitalized, she offered to help.
\n
\n“Mirella, it is a heart on two legs. Someone very generous, even if she\nis very busy<\/em>“.
\n
\n– Lucie, daughter of Jacqueline<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jacqueline agreed. From their first conversation, she felt an impulse when\nhearing the soft voice of the psychologist. \u201cI felt like a 3 or 4 year old\nchild who is told a story and who wants it again and again. She asked me to do\nvisualization. For example, imagine myself in a place where I feel good with\nall the people I love. I imagined myself in the dining room of my daughter, who\noften receives the whole family. Then she told me to imagine that I got up and\ncuddled two people of my choice. Surely, they were my son and my daughter. And\nthere I saw my whole world again\u2026<\/em> \u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They repeated the exercise every morning at 8 a.m. “It was\nmy” boost “for the day. After that, I said to myself, “You have\nto heal. You have children, grandchildren … Life is still good. You have your\nlittle dog too\u2026<\/em>“.<\/em>
\n
\nWhen she told her grandchildren about her visualizations, they thought it was a\nlittle strange and teased her, she says laughing. “They said, ‘What did\nGrandma smoke?<\/em>“<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fact is, many scientific studies show that guided meditation can\nimprove well-being and decrease patient suffering. For\nJacqueline, the benefits have been immense. “If I\nhadn’t had Mirella, I don’t know how I would have done it<\/em>“.
\n
\nThe psychologist is very moved by\nthis recognition, but specifies that it was Jacqueline who did all the work.\n“I am only a compassionate friend who wanted to help by\nusing my expertise, my knowledge.<\/em> I didn\u2019t act like her\npsychologist. I would not have been able to live all this\nwith her if she had not made this choice herself<\/em>“.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is particularly difficult for patients with COVID-19 is the weight of\nloneliness. With the help of Mirella, Jacqueline no\nlonger felt alone. She could feel the compassion that\nmade her want to live again.
\n
\nOf course, it goes without saying\nthat visualization or meditation are not remedies for COVID-19, specifies the\npsychologist. “Without the medical care that\nJacqueline received, I would not have been able to help her overcome the virus<\/em>“.
\n
\n***<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Jacqueline started to complain again, her son saw this as a good sign.\nShe told a nurse that she would rather have given birth once a\nday than experience what she experienced during her hospital stay. “It would have been less difficult!<\/em>“
\n
\nIn principle, she should have been\nhospitalized for two weeks. But after 13 days, she\ncouldn’t take it anymore. She was able to get her leave.\nThus, on a rainy Thursday evening, Nicolas, who shared a duplex\nwith her, found her outside the door of the hospital. He\nwas moved when he saw her. Accompanied by a nurse, she was\nin a wheelchair. Still weak and emaciated. But very much alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It was time for me to go out.” Otherwise, I would have\nescaped during the night!<\/em>“
\n
\nShe didn’t want to get into the car too quickly. “Let me just get some\nrain and some air!<\/em>”
\n
\nThe return home was both happy and unsettling. Her poodle, Choupette, who\nrefused to eat during her absence, has become even more “sticky” than\never. But nothing seemed the same anymore.
\n
\n“I felt like I was landing in another world<\/em>“.
\n
\nA strange world where you can no longer hug your children and grandchildren\neven after you think you are dying and have found a taste for life again.
\n
\nHer grandchildren named her “Miraculous Grandma”.
\n
\nShe doesn’t like it too much, she said laughing. But she admits that this is\nhow she feels: “miraculous<\/em>” of COVID-19\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ms. El Kouri’s article was published today in La Presse: https:\/\/plus.lapresse.ca\/screens\/31cf5acd-2125-41f1-ad51-eecc77aba7d1__7C___0.html Below you will find an English translation. For Bambi, this article was moving to read for several reasons: First, it describes how one of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3959"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3959"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3959\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3969,"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3959\/revisions\/3969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}