An Irish woman says she's "really disheartened" to have no date for her COVID-19 vaccine, as "time is running out" for her mother to remember her.
Pauline is a 49-year-old mother of two with stage four breast cancer, while her mother is 88 and has dementia.
Her mother is vaccinated as she's in a nursing home, but Pauline is unable to properly visit her as she hasn't been vaccinated herself.
Pauline contacted The Hard Shoulder after hearing Adrienne O'Doherty's story on the show.
Adrienne's 86-year-old mother Anne Kelly is housebound and still waiting on a vaccine.
Pauline said Adrienne and Anne's story "really resonated" with her.
She told Kieran: “My mum is 88 and she has dementia... I’m just very conscious that time is running out for her to actually remember me.
"I’m a 49-year-old mother of two with stage four breast cancer… and time is running out for me as well. It’s a very difficult situation to be in.
“My mum has had her [vaccine] because she’s in a nursing home. She’s quite fortunate from that point of view, and she has tremendous care.
“But I can’t see her until such time as I have mine. Visits at this point have been window visits… I’m on a phone and she’s on a phone, and unfortunately, she can’t remember after a couple of minutes how to use a phone."
Pauline said her mother still has a "spark" of understanding about what's happening during such window visits, but "as time goes by that spark is going to dull down quite quickly".
She said being able to give her mother a hug or have a socially distanced indoor visit would be "wonderful".
'Time is shortening'
Pauline is genuinely happy for anybody who is now getting a vaccine, but she'd just like to know when exactly she'll receive her own jab.
She said: “I’m just so aware that period of time where my mother will recognise me is just shortening all the time. It’s really disheartening.
“People are getting very distressed at this point - if I was actually told ‘you’re going to have your date four weeks from now’ or whatever the case may be… fine, I have a point at which I can go to.
“I’d just like someone to tell me when it’s going to happen.”
Pauline is currently undergoing chemotherapy, and she praised the care she is receiving from her oncologist, doctors and nurses.
She said her own children - aged 13 and 15 - are struggling with both her own illness and their grandmother's dementia.
She said: “They find it very, very difficult now that granny doesn’t really recognise them anymore. And it’s February of last year since they’ve seen her.
"It’s hard for all concerned… I am lucky, in that I have a husband and two kids who keep me going."
