My mom felt alone in the hospital, and there was nothing I could do

Voices of the Pandemic features people in the Seattle area who are on the frontlines of the coronavirus outbreak.

Bobbi Nodell works in communications for a health care system in Seattle, so she's been thinking about COVID-19 a lot. But it got personal when her 87-year-old mother Shirley Nodell went to the hospital and tested positive.

My mom was put on oxygen. She's been in the hospital for at least 10 days now.

One of the nurses called me and said, "Your mom is really struggling. She can't hear very well. And we're all dressed like astronauts." So you're always feeling very isolated.

She's has a hard time hearing, and you need to be able to hear, you need to be able to see people's mouths move, but she doesn't have that anymore. Because they're wearing masks.

I feel helpless. I don't really know what to do. My nephews have created a big poster for her. We've sent flowers. I can text her and send her positive messages. But that's about all I can do.

She's going to be on hospice. One of those things where she can go in or out of hospice. But apparently, because of the language problem, she didn't know she was going on hospice. I had to tell her by text.

It's been quite an emotional roller coaster. I feel for all these patients who were in the hospital isolated, and not able to really communicate with people.

So that's my mom's story and my story.

Update: Shirley Nodell is still in hospice but is taking visitors. Bobbi reports that Shirley is feeling cheerful.

We're collecting short, first person stories for our series Voices of the Pandemic. We'd love to hear about a moment or decision you faced recently, maybe something that shows how you're experiencing this crisis. Reach reporter Joshua McNichols via email at jmcnichols@kuow.org.

Producer Alec Cowan composed music for this story.