When 84-year-old Tresa Gleeson received a call asking whether she wanted to receive the coronavirus vaccine, she didn’t hesitate.
Teams of EMTs from Southwest Health System began going out to the residences of patients last month to administer vaccine to the community’s vulnerable homebound population.
“That was so easy!” she said Thursday morning after receiving her second dose of the vaccine.
Gleeson has been confined to her home for months after managing to will herself out of an extended stay in hospice care. She struggles with end-stage kidney disease and diabetes. Her kidneys are gradually losing their ability to function, allowing dangerous electrolytes and wastes to build up in her body.
With end-stage renal disease, patients need dialysis or a kidney transplant to stay alive. Some patients choose to forgo dialysis or transplant and opt for conservative care to manage the symptoms — aiming for the best quality of life possible during their remaining time.
Gleeson’s doctor advised against dialysis or a kidney replacement because of potential complications with blood clots.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, homebound individuals “include those that need the help of another person or medical equipment such as crutches, a walker, or a wheelchair to leave their home, or their medical provider believes that their health or illness could get worse if they leave their home, and they typically do not leave their home.”
According to Marc Meyer, director of Pharmacy Services and Infection Control at SHS, EMTs will be administer roughly 34 second doses of the vaccine this week to homebound people.
SHS has been administering both the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.
Meyer encourages other homebound people throughout the community to sign up to receive their shots.
“I would guess there’s probably another 70 people in the area that might meet that criteria, Meyer told The Journal. There’s just no way for us to know.”
According to reporting from the Associated Press, about 2 million people are homebound nationwide. An additional 5 million people need help leaving their homes.
EMTs, typically on days that SHS is hosting clinics, also deliver vaccine to nursing home residents. The paramedics ask a series of health questions to patients and quickly administer the shot. They then wait 15 minutes with the patient to ensure that there are no reactions.
Paramedics at Gleeson’s home north of Cortez told The Journal that they have yet to see an adverse reaction from patients who have received the Pfizer vaccine that Gleeson received.
Homebound individuals simply need to call the SHS vaccine hotline and answer a few questions about why they cannot make it out to one of their clinics and need a homebound inoculation.
“If their reasons are logical, then we’ll certainly provide that to them,” Meyer said.
According to SHS paramedic Ashley Lingo, Gleeson’s morning vaccination was the team’s first of the day.
Lingo told The Journal that the team would be administering another four homebound inoculations Thursday, along with 10 at nursing homes.
For Gleeson, getting the vaccine was a no-brainer.
“If I got COVID, I would die because I’m a diabetic with kidney failure,” Gleeson said. “And I just decided that I don’t want to die by suffocating.”
About this time last year, Gleeson was told by her doctor that she had three to five months to live. She remained resilient long enough to the point where she was taken out of hospice care and to the home her husband, L.D., built himself. Though she was stable, she could not walk or go anywhere.
Gleeson has the help of independently hired caretakers for when one of her four children can’t check in on her.
She credits her faith for ability to remain resilient and intends to welcome a new great-grandchild into the family in May.
“I know where I’m going from this world, and I’m OK with that,” Gleeson said. “I made a decision that I was going to enjoy what time I had left.”
The SHS vaccine hotline is 564-2201.
anicotera@the-journal.com