SEATTLE — Ninety-year old Geneva Wood was healthy and living on her own when a stroke just after Christmas, sent her to the Life Care Center in Kirkland.
Her daughter, Cami Neidigh, said the staff there had worked wonders and her mom was just days away from being able to go home. But before that could happen, the nursing home went into lockdown because of the coronavirus outbreak at the facility.
Less than a week later, at Harborview Medical Center, doctors from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention diagnosed Geneva with coronavirus (COVID-19).
Cami said things did not look good for her mom.
"Harborview called and didn't think she was going to make it. Her lungs were filling up with fluid and they thought she wouldn't last 24 hours," Cami said.
But after her family visited to say their final goodbyes and dropped off her favorite potato soup, Geneva started showing signs of improvement.
In fact, her most recent test for COVID-19 came back negative. Her family says she's still not symptom-free but continues improving.
"When she had that major stroke, we thought we were going to lose her. She's come close to death and she rallies back, and that's my mom," said Cami.
Looking back at the timeline, Cami thinks her mom may have had coronavirus much earlier than first thought. February 18, she developed pneumonia; and now she thinks that may have been the first sign of trouble.
According to a new CDC report, as of March 9, they've confirmed a total of 129 cases of COVID-19 at Life Care Center, including 81 residents, 34 staff members, and healthcare personnel, and 14 visitors.