A member of my family has travelled 24+ hours to visit another member of our family who has a terminal illness. There have been points in the last few months where we thought said terminally ill family member was going to die imminently but currently they are stable and in their words “have a good few months left”. One virus would be the end of them though.
Visiting family member (VFM) left home on the other side of the planet knowing they were very unwell. On their layover for their connecting flight their partner, who they had been communicating with via social media, text me to say they were extremely worried as VFM “felt like they were going to die on the 12 hour flight”.
When my OH picked them up from the airport he immediately said “you’ve got the flu” and I said the same once I saw them come through the door. We packed them off to bed in the spare room with fluids and appropriate medications.
I had scheduled work yesterday evening and DH was on call, so we both ended up out of the house. Our Nanny was left in charge of the household. VFM comes downstairs (it took them nearly 10 minutes they were so weak) and orders a takeaway saying they needed something spicy to clear their head. The poor Nanny politely suggested that it was probably best that visitor went into another room to her and the DC, as she didn’t think it would be great for them to be coughed and spluttered all over.
VFM laughed off her suggestion then coughed and spluttered for 20 minutes and passed out on the family room sofa (a thoroughfare for the entire house) before their food arrived and was left uneaten.
And turns out in their fevered stupor, VFM has been using my DC’s bathroom rather than the en suite in their room.
And now as I put my DC to bed, they are febrile and achey. One of them has a compromised immune system.
VFM has just come down the stairs saying they think they have “broken the back of it” and they are glad they didn’t throw away £2500 in airfares as they so nearly didn’t come and wasn’t it lucky that they could probably still see terminally ill relative later next week.
I am so angry that they have put my DC, my nanny, OH and I at risk of being so unwell (we work in frontline healthcare) but most of all I am livid that they thought they could visit our ill relative when they were so clearly unwell for a number of days before they boarded the plane. I get that £2500 is hell of a lot of money but I am utterly livid that they could be so selfish.