Brenda

My mom mentioned she was getting concerned about Brenda because it had been two weeks since she was able to talk to her or get a response from the texting. Brenda lived in NYC and we lived in the northern suburbs of Chicago. Still nothing into May. May 9? My mom got a phone call from the hospital down the street from her in NYC. She had lost all long term memory and all short term memory. On April 3rd they had broken into her apartment when another tenant thought they could hear her screaming in pain. Brenda could not give her name or any other information other than her birth date and address. They called our mom when they were finally able to figure out who Brenda was. I drove out to NYC with my brother to see her and figure out what to do. Didn't know how long this condition of hers was going to last. Within a week we got her to a rehab facilities, then to more long term care in same facilities. We were hoping for more recovery as there was not much. On Thanksgiving night that year, I got a call from the facilities that Brenda had suffered a bedside fall and was brought to the hospital. Come to find out the bedside fall entailed three broken ribs, two fractured disks and bruises everywhere. She had spinal fusion a week later and was brought to different care center that Friday. Within two days she was brought back to the hospital for high blood sugar . The hospital got it under control. After much discussion as to where Brenda would go from there with the hospital, we decided on another place that might best fit her needs in NYC. Withing two days being there she was dead.

I was not able to be there with Brenda as I live about 1000 miles away. Brenda was the only family member in NYC while the rest of the family lived in the northern Chicagoland area. Our mom would always talk with Brenda by cell phone or text. After two weeks of having no contact with Brenda, she said her concerns. Sometimes Brenda was busy with her career in the fashion industry, she was a stylist and would travel often. Though at that time she was not going out for fear of COVID and her medical issues.She said she was getting the shot and looking forward to get it. She felt it was safe as she was told. She also felt it was her duty. She would call and try to convince everyone to get it. When The Hospital called, they allowed us to talk to her. She recognized our voices. She could not say many words. We had to speak very simply. She said basically one word sentences. The doctors were astonished at the great improvement in our phone call. When my brother and I came out there, it was strange. Her apartment was a mess. She always kept the place clean. We could see where the paramedics got her off the kitchen floor. When we got to see her. She was doing better. She was talking more in phrases or short sentences. Her vocabulary was getting bigger. She still did not have the concept of NYC. She lived there for over 30years. My brother had to tie her shoes for her. She knew enough of how to go to the bathroom, but not much more. The hospital taught her how to fall, but it took more than a week. She was sent to rehab to go over it, pt and more basic therapy....not sure what off the top of my head. She improved at physical therapy. Conversations were getting better. She was speaking full sentences most of the time, vocabulary was widening slowly and more clearly. She still seemed ok until about September. She seemed to be regressing a little. I think it was because the center could not spend as much time with her. Her health was not taken care of as before, such as blood sugar and infections. After her back surgery in December, she got a wound infection that was a big part of how she died.

Brenda suffered greatly from those who should have cared. She was abandoned by The System in NY and left to die. She did her duty, and was despised for it. How it hurts when such massive neglect...

She was a sweet, loving person. If anybody was in need, she would stop what she was doing and try to help that person until it was resolved. She did not care what walk of life a person came from, she as always genuinely cared about them.