A great-grandmother who contracted the coronavirus while a resident at the The Life Care Center in Kirkland, Washington, where 35 people have died is now in recovery and may soon be released from isolation.
Geneva Wood, 90, was among the two-thirds of the care home’s residents who fell ill with the coronavirus and had said her goodbyes to her family before making a miraculous recovery last week.
She believes it was the homemade soup that she asked medical staff for every day which aided her speedy recovery.
After testing positive on March 6, she was taken off oxygen by March 17 and has now tested negative for the virus. She will need to continue to test negative before she is released from her isolation.
Geneva Wood, 90, tested negative for the coronavirus this week after being brought to hospital from the Life Care Center in Washington at the center of the state’s outbreak. She’s pictured here in hospital in December before she became a resident of the care home
Geneva Woods, pictured left, with her daughter Cami, right, and other members of her family
The Life Care Center became the center of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States in February with 81 residents and 47 of its workers testing positive. They suffered their first deaths on February 26.
As of Saturday morning, there are over 19,600 cases of the coronavirus in the U.S. and there have been more than 260 deaths.
Wood first entered the Washington care facility in January after suffering a stroke that left her unable to talk, walk or use the right side of her body meaning that she couldn’t feed or dress herself.
She worked hard with medical staff and by February she had learned how to walk, talk and feed herself again. Her improvement was so great that her doctor planned to release Wood, originally from Texas, from the care home on March 2.
‘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,’ her daughter Cami Neidigh, 60, told WTHR.
Yet the Saturday before her release, the coronavirus outbreak at Life Care Center had become so severe that it was placed into lockdown and Wood was to remain in until it was lifted having contracted pneumonia on February 18, according to the New York Times.
The Life Care Center in Washington has suffered 35 deaths as a result of the virus
Servpro cleanup crew wearing hazardous material suits prepare equipment inside the Life Care Center of Kirkland where almost two-thirds of residents contracted the coronavirus
Servpro workers file in to begin a third day of cleaning at the Life Care Center of Kirkland on March 13 after the care home was placed into lockdown because of coronavirus fears
On March 5, the great-grandmother slipped and was brought to Harborview hospital where the family learned she had a fever and would be tested for the coronavirus.
Her results came back positive the next day but her condition initially appeared to be stable
‘I’m going to fight this for my family and make everyone proud,’ she told daughter Cami through a glass pane while in isolation at the hospital, Wood’s granddaughter Kate Neidigh, 37, wrote in an article for Seattle Refined.
‘We were stricken, and in shock. A virus that had only been a scary, ambiguous monster for us up until now was right here, in our family member,’ Kate said.
‘News and reports from local and national officials had us believing this was a death sentence. After all she’d fought through, this virus would be the thing to take her?
‘Honestly, we were mad.’
With five kids, 11 grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren, Kate added that Wood’s family had always been a driving force for her recovery and they continued to be as close to her side as they could be during her isolation.
Geneva Wood pictured here on January 20 making progress in the care home after her stroke
Geneva Wood was set to be released from the care home but the contracted the coronavirus
Her grandson James, Kate’s husband, held up a sign that read ‘I Love You’ to the glass window of her door so she could see and the family gave her photos and a tablet to keep her entertained.
‘It was just all these things to give her comfort,’ her grandson James, 35, told Today.
But her health began to worsen and the family could only speak to her for 15 mins at time before a coughing fit would take over and her oxygen levels would plummet.
Woods condition quickly deteriorated to the point where her family were forced to say their goodbyes and she was brought into a private room with another positive patient where the family could not visit or even see her through a glass pane.
Before she was transferred, Wood’s four living adult children were allowed to visit her one last time wearing full protective gear while James kept his sign to the door.
‘Everybody was surprised because she was in such bad shape. Nobody thought she was going to survive,’ Cami said.
‘She wanted us to be proud of her. She didn’t want us to think she was going to give up.
How coronavirus cases in the United States have escalated since the first case on January 21
‘She has always been a survivor and very determined,’ added Cami.
‘When she fell and broke her hip, I knew she would be disappointed and be a bit down for a little while, [but] I knew that she would pull herself up again and get busy to get better. [But when] they took her to Harborview and put her in isolation is when I started to worry.
‘She needs her family. She doesn’t do well by herself. I was afraid this would be her straw and she would give up. She did. She declined until the doctor called with concerns that they felt she wasn’t going to make it and for us to come to the hospital.’
Geneva Wood, 90, said she wanted to make her family proud in fighting off the coronavirus
The great-grandmother had to be separated from her family as her condition worsened
Wood, pictured here with her daughter Cami, said ‘I ain’t dead yet!’ even when her condition worsened and she was placed in a room where her family could no longer visit her
Yet Woods kept fighting and was heard to say ‘I ain’t dead yet! I’m gonna die of thirst before I die of this Coronavirus!’ by staff after being separated from her family.
Wood is now testing negative for the virus after taking a nasal swab but is still coughing and her condition is being monitored. If she is asymptomatic for three days, doctors will take a throat swab.
If that comes back as negative she may be released.
‘She is absolutely tough as nails,’ James said.
‘She is definitely the type of person who could make it through anything.’
And she puts her recovery down to the homemade potato soup she requested daily throughout her isolation and was the only thing she would eat, her daughter revealed.
‘It’s the Potato Soup!!! She knew that’s what she needed to help her get better! It’s working and the doctor and nurses are wanting the recipe!’ Cami wrote in a Facebook update.
‘I think I just exhaled…. Never underestimate the power of thoughts and prayers! Keep it up, it’s working!’
‘If anyone is going to kick this virus’ ass it is her. She’s always been so charismatic and a fighter,’ her granddaughter-in-law Kate told Today.
‘There is hope. There is a positive story here.’
‘Getting this virus is not necessarily a death sentence for the elderly or anybody,’ Kate added in her article but the family encouraged that people still engage in social distancing to keep those at risk safe.
‘People need to protect their neighbors, their friends or family,’ Cami said.
‘We need to help each other and we need to stay positive. Forget the fear. But instead look at (staying at home) as an opportunity to just be able to help each other out.’
‘Who are we to question the fighting spirit of a tough ol’ Texas coot!’ she added.
‘If anyone’s going to give the middle finger to a killer virus, it’s her.’