Update from our dharma sister, Alisa Tu, regarding COVID and Gordon Manor
Part I
We are at the entrance of the Brave New COVID World at Gordon
Manor. We have had a very good start with our new program amid
shelter-in-place, physical distancing, PPE usage and infection control. Our
residents in many ways are more resilient than many of us! They really are
doing wonderfully under the circumstances. Many of our staff are also thriving
in the new world, enjoying their work, really appreciating their residents and
admiring their colleagues.
We have a new entrance.
We have a large white tent outside of the former MUR room to the
left of the front door on Gordon Street. It was a barn-raising with many hands
from our volunteer heath care work force. This semi-permanent structure houses
our new entry and exit rituals: the donning and doffing of the personal
protective equipment, more familiarly known as PPE. This is the way that all of
our workers and essential visitors will enter the building. This portal
symbolizes our dedication to infection control. Keep the virus out.
A day in the new life.
Their room is their sanctuary. Like many of us who are
sheltering-in-place in our homes, our residents are relying on their rooms as
their safe space. As such, we are doing our best to create spaces where we can
see who they are and where they can be who they are. As we put their rooms back
together (especially for those who had to relocate), we are noticing how much
we, as their caregivers, reference their things to know and appreciate who they
are. Thank you for sharing those things.
Meals are served in their rooms. Food is love and nourishment.
At Gordon Manor, our staff connect with our residents during meals. We gauge
how well they are doing by how well they eat.
We have added more activities into the day. We are delivering
activities to the rooms. Magazines, plants, flowers, book, exercises.
Certain individuals get to walk in the hallways and on the paths in the gardens
as long as they wear a mask and/or can be directed to stay away from others. We
have music stations throughout the building. The portable stereos are in the
different common areas, and we have quite a collection of CDs. Yesterday,
several residents spaced about 10 feet apart enjoyed some Big Band tunes while
I improv danced to the music. It might have looked ridiculous, but our dear friends
enjoyed it so much and clapped for me. : ) In stark contrast to the past
weeks, the silliest acts become award-winning performances. In a few days we
are planning on starting movies!
Outdoors.
We are truly blessed with a spacious outdoors and our folks
are able to enjoy it. Monica Froehlich, Maria Hocke's daughter, gifted us
with new chair cushions. Our residents are really enjoying them. We have placed
the chairs throughout the entire garden so if you were to wander around, you
can rest and enjoy a different view. Our more able seniors have taken advantage
of the lull in gardening services and put themselves to work keeping the garden
beautiful! Life goes on... During the height of the COVID storm, we were
entering the building through the back. We would walk past the blooming roses
into our "hot" facility. We were able to enjoy the garden every day.
Every day was brutal and brutal. The garden was thriving. I went back there the
day after Mother's Day. We had abandoned our garden tent city to prune the
roses. We had abandoned our little tent encampment back there about a week
before. When cutting back the lavender roses, I found a robin's nest. I was so
worried that I scared the mother away, but the mother was just waiting for me
to go. I came back to peek to make sure, and I checked again today. Mama is on
her eggs.
Healthcare Consultants.
We continue to benefit from our AMI helpers, Gurnick nursing
students, Stanford EMS students, and various other consultants. We have daily
check ins on how our operations can be improved upon. It is a lot of detail,
but we are taking all of the suggestions and working them into our program. At
times we are overwhelmed and are anxious about making the changes stick, but
our employees are committed to the new world and are working hard to acquire
the new skills.
Team Approach.
The COVID-era room-based lifestyle has generated a new (for us)
way to deliver the care. Our Hallway Care Team approach is almost fully
operational. A quick summary is that each hallway has a care team that services
just that hallway on each shift. The caregivers on the team help each
other and because they are located only in one area, they can be more efficient
with time as well as communications. Also each team will really know those residents
well, and understand the care and the nuances of each person. So far so good.
Both residents and staff are really enjoying the benefits of this approach.
(to be continued...)
___________________________________________________________________________
Our ZHS on-line schedule:
- Mondays: 7-8:30pm - zazen, short service, lecture/discussion
- Tuesdays-Fridays: 5:30-6:10pm - zazen, offering of merit/bows
- Saturdays: 8:00-10:15am - zazen, short service, tea, discussion/study
- For more information: www.zenheartsangha.org)
___________________________________________________________________________
Special bows for today:
- Please offer bows for Dottie Kelly, Misha's family member, who died of lung disease on May 20th
- Please offer bows for Annette Merrill, Misha's cousin, who died on May 13th from lung cancer
- Please offer bows for Donald Kennedy, former president of Stanford University, who died from COVID-19
- Please continue to offer bows for Nick Battaglia, Camille Spar's father, who died Aprill 13th
- Please continue to offer bows for the family of Alison Templeton, a PS parent, who died on April 1st
- Please continue to offer bows of well-being for:
- Claudio Pannunzio, dharma friend of Twining Vines Zendo, who is undergoing chemotherapy
- Rev. Les Kaye, Misha’s Zen teacher, who is recovering at home while undergoing chemotherapy
- Brendan, Kate Haimson’s son, who is recovering at home from surgery
- Michael Tieri Ricaud, Dainuri Rott’s brother, who is suffering from MS
____________________________________________________________________________________
Wonderful links shared by sangha members and friends:
__________________________________________________________________________________
Many thanks to those of you who are sending me articles to share, links to helpful information, and for making comments…it is a gift beyond measure. Please know that you can either leave a comment on the blog itself, or send something directly to me and I will be happy to paste it in.
