June 19, 2020
101-year-old area COVID survivor recovers, still tests positive
This is the final article in a two-part series DEXTER — Ann Denson of Dexter is 101 years old, and a COVID-19 survivor. She was hospitalized for the illness, which has claimed 117,700 lives in the United States. The majority of the lives lost to the virus have been among those age 65 and older...
Nancy Nelson Vines Contributing Writer
__This is the final article in a two-part series__
DEXTER — Ann Denson of Dexter is 101 years old, and a COVID-19 survivor.
She was hospitalized for the illness, which has claimed 117,700 lives in the United States. The majority of the lives lost to the virus have been among those age 65 and older.
Denson’s family has not been able to see her since the middle of March, despite her brush with the serious illness.
Visitors to care facilities have not been allowed since restrictions were put in place at Crowley Ridge Nursing Home in Dexter and around the state to protect those most vulnerable to the illness. Crowley Ridge was among the first facilities in Stoddard County to enact restrictions.
Denson is among 39 patients and staff members from the facility to test positive once the virus began to spread there. This is about 30% of the county’s 124 positive cases.
This is the second of two stories sharing families’ experiences with the illness from the Stoddard County outbreak.
__A recovery puzzle - Denson continues to test positive, remains in quarantine__
On May 14, Dawna Carter of Dexter received a telephone call from Crowley Ridge Care Center. She was notified that her mother Ann (Anna) Denson was being transferred from the Dexter long-term-care facility to a hospital in Poplar Bluff.
“Mom had no temperature,” Carter explains, “but I was told she was being sent because of coughing and shortness of breath. Mom never ran a temperature, and after five days, the decision was made to return her to the nursing home.”
“The hospital doctor first talked with her facility; then, he talked with me, personally,” Carter recalls. “He said she was not getting any worse, and assured me the nursing home could do everything for her that the hospital was doing.”
Carter says since her mother’s return to the nursing home, her appetite is gradually increasing, and she is slowly regaining her strength.
“When she went to the hospital,” Carter discloses, “I was afraid she would be in distress. She has dementia, can’t see very well, and is hard-of-hearing. I didn’t know if she would understand what was happening or not, or why I wasn’t there with her. I prayed and gave it to God. I tried not to worry, and I checked on her every day.”
Carter goes on to say, that she has not had direct contact with her mother since the COVID-19 restrictions went into place in the middle of March.
“With her eyesight and hearing problems, I did not try to talk to her through a window, as some people have been able to do,” Carter points out, “and because of her memory loss, I was afraid she would not recognize me; although, prior to the isolation, she knew who I was when I visited.”
Carter reveals that a puzzling aspect to her mother’s recovery is that she continues to test positive for the virus.
“She has been tested about twice a week ever since she returned to the facility five weeks ago,” Carter relates, “and even though she has no symptoms and is slowly recovering, she still tests positive. Until she tests negative, she will continue to be housed in the Covid wing. Once she gets a negative reading, she will move to a transition wing, for the designated quarantine period. When that has passed, hopefully, she will be able to return to her regular room.”
Carter says she is pleased with the way the nursing home has responded to the COVID-19 issue.
“I have no complaints with the nursing home. I feel they were very pro-active in their approach, and did everything they could to prevent the spread of the virus. They have kept me updated throughout the ordeal, and I feel that I can call and ask questions at any time,” she says.
Carter goes on to say, “Of course, it is very difficult not being with my mom during this time, but I feel so much more positive than I did in the beginning, and I am looking forward to when all this is behind us and the facility can be open to visitors again.”
When life will return to normal for those in long-term care facilities and their families, is still unknown.
Governor Mike Parson stated that work is underway to devise a plan for reopening.
With the reopening of the state on June 16, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) has released some guidelines for monitoring visiting within Missouri’s long-term care facilities.
According to a news release from DHSS, local officials will continue to maintain authority over rules and regulations pertaining to their particular facilities.
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