Are other people having weird[er] dreams [than usual] at the moment? Have decided to be grateful that at least I’m not going Al Fresco sleepwalking. Doing some daft things in my sleep, but mercifully apparently even my sleeping brain knows we’ve not to go out.
@Sorryoo
Glad you got your earring back safely 
As far as surgery goes, I’m right at the very beginning of the process for something & I think it’s most likely vascular will decide it’s not an option in upcoming MDT without even doing scans etc. At the moment I’m having to go to hospital every month to get my port flushed & heplocked because District Nurses don’t know how to use ports. And didn’t fancy learning. Bloods get done then as well. Endocrinology need me to go in to them for something too. Most things I’ve had phone appointments for but I’m stuck with some stuff - needing to see podiatry, for example. (I mean, clearly not on scale of needing surgery, but psoriasis issues are bad enough to be making it even harder for me to walk. Have quite enough messing with that as it is.)
Know what you mean about sometimes wishing they’d not leave decisions so much to us. I mean, I’m well-informed about my conditions & will happily research my options & am good at risk/benefit analysis. But it’s scary stuff & Getting It Wrong is such a Sorry & also, you know, there is the thing where I’m a (baby) historian not a medic. This stuff is their actual job, for which they are trained. Realise it might sound daft, but would mapping it all out on paper help you? Could you ask neuro about mitigating against the tramadol for now? Does sometimes seem like everything is contraindicated with epilepsy &/or anti-seizure medication, doesn’t it?
@Babysharkdoodoodood
Am so sorry, that must be incredibly frustrating. On the blood sugar front, you’re not being given quinolone antibiotics are you? Those are notorious for stuffing up blood sugar levels. Presence of infection alone can mess with levels in people with T1; presumably it can also happen in T2, particularly with recurring ones. Are you on metformin at the moment/able to have it? Might they be able to wiggle dose if so? If you’ve got a swoopy!glucose issue for no obvious reason definitely worth contacting your diabetes nurse. Hope your pancreas starts behaving itself ASAP.
@kirstinm
The tie-in to the long history of othering people with haemophilia with the contaminated factor viii & factor ix scandal is Quite The Thing, too... will hold my thumbs you get to do your placement next summer. Museums [& galleries] are another sector (like dance/theatre/music/opera [cannot stand it personally, but respect it...]) that I’m worried about surviving. Far more than I am sodding football. English National Ballet have been sharing some of their best content online. For free. And making classes available - again, for free. The Royal are sharing ballet & opera (there’s quite a lot of snark online about their choices) & the House’s education department are providing some AWESOME resources. Oh & wardrobe are making All. The. Scrubs. (Milliners aren’t doing PPE though. Skillset doesn’t translate quite so directly. Or rather, I’m sure my friends & his colleagues could do it if they’d the materials & equipment, but...) Ach...
I’m in the fortunate position of having studied somewhere that provides alumni access to Journals. Lots & LOTS of Journals. So I can still Read Proper Serious Things when the mood takes me. Could also track down my great-great-aunt’s BMJ contributions. Sadly her one published article was in something I’ve not access to. When I’m able to I plan to go to the Wellcome just to look it up. (Everybody has to have a hobby...)
[The prospect of] Going Out really scares/stresses/worries me too. I love my wee corner of Inner London, but apparently people here really aren’t being great at distancing. Well, not so much people, men. Overwhelmingly men. And while Patriarchy Chicken can be an excellent game, it’s a bit high-stakes now. I’m also an absolute magnet for small children. Possibly my favourite Random Encounter With A Small Child was finding myself suddenly yanked off-balance (it doesn’t take much) by a wee boy of about 4 in Primark a few years ago as he announced that I didn’t need to be scared because he was a superhero & was rescuing me from the baddies. Not mistaken ID, just decided I’d be on for playing. Obviously I was suitably grateful for my rescue & Hid From The Baddies as instructed, then suggested it was really important he use his superpowers to make sure whoever had brought him out was ok. Thankfully he agreed to that. And to taking me with him In Case The Baddies Came Back. But yes. While I imagine mostly people are herding their small people more closely... I’d also really struggle not to help up a child who’d fallen if they’d no adult close. As for not helping if I saw an accident... I’m absolutely yearning to go for a walk though.
@outnumberedwoman
A trip to the dentist! Not surprised you’re up to high doh if you’ve been out AND they’ve given you something to help get things sorted. Were the roads bad? Incidentally, if you’re over Newry way, that’s where the great-great-aunt I was mentioning to kirstinm just now was from: she’s a blue plaque there now & everything. (Actually, even more amazingly, she’s finally being recognised alongside Garrett-Anderson & Jex-Blake et al. Almost as if someone remembered the island of Ireland exists; when partition happened; & maybe even, going rash, where Belfast is now. My granny did once have a doctor at St Thomas practically ask for her autograph when he realised her name wasn’t a weird coincidence - he herded everyone he could round her bed to give a big speech about her namesake & the actual honour it was to be treating her; my poor granny was mortified.) I hope your abscess clears up soon: miserable time to be needing dental care. Lovely receptionist at my dental practice rang me a couple of weeks ago as of course they’ve to cancel all routine appointments & after she told me about emergency care etc she said I’d be a priority when they reopen as I’ve not long moved from check-ups four times a year down to two (aren’t underlying health conditions FUN?). Poor woman sounded genuinely a bit panicked I’m shielding so no idea when I can next go in. Think she’s envisaging I’ll not have a tooth left in my head by then. 
Am so sorry you’re having a rough night pet 
is there something that’s dragged it all back up, or has your brain just decided to be an absolute shitehawk for no fecking reason? (Obviously no expectation at all you say anything, but know it can be helpful to talk or even just to figure that one out.) Have you a safe place to be during flashbacks (if you’re able to get to one)? Am so sorry you’ve to deal with this just now. I mean, at all, ever, clearly, but on top of everything else it does seem particularly cruel. Have you a wee box of Safe Things to help ground you & calm you (can’t think of better way to put it, sorry) afterwards? If you’ve not, just planning it & putting it together should be helpful.
With your DC, for DC2, could you look at it that mainstream school almost certainly wouldn’t [be able to] meet his needs & he’d be having to wait for specialist provision. Would your DC1 be happy to go to school with DC2 doing home learning? And they know you’re shielding don’t they? They’ll be wanting to mind their mummy, even very wee children do that. (I was genuinely very confused when I was about 5 - & I do mean confused, not jealous - by a 2yo getting some kind of prize on TV for calling an ambulance when their mother had a hypo. Because that’s just what you do. Call the ambulance [& to my immense consternation said child hadn’t known their address] & get a chair to unlock to door so the paramedics can get in then move it away; try to get some sugar into mummy’s mouth round her gums; & ring Suitable Adult[s] to get someone to mind me [& sibling(s)]. I was really perplexed by a huge fuss over Doing What You’re Meant To - my mummy’s diabetes was really brittle & she’d some bad complications from it; at 5 I was still too wee to realise most T1 diabetics weren’t so ill so often. Certainly wouldn’t have thought not everyone would teach their children how to call the emergency services. I was a funny wee thing though - quite able at three to get us safely back from the hospital to the station & onto the right train home when mummy couldn’t see properly after having her pupils dilated. Sorry that was such a ramble - anniversary of mummy’s death on the 15th; but it was the 16th I found out she’d died; & not being able to get out of the house is a wee bit...)
Could you talk to the school? It might be they’ll be able to offer some additional support.
Really wish I could offer you a hug. I say offer, because I get at the moment, in particular, you might not be wanting to be touched at all. I’m not a hugging-all-the-people person. But you’re sounding so sad & like you’re hurting.
To finish on a much lighter note - I not only don’t drink coffee, I. Don’t. Drink. Tea. This not infrequently causes significant distress, as I’m sure you can imagine, as people feel they’re Failing At Hospitality by just giving me water. It’s amazing the number of times I’ve conversations with people who struggle to process the idea of No Tea EVER. Not even herbal tea. Nor green tea, nor tea without milk. And the The Good Biscuits are pretty much bound to lethal fruit juice FTW! And smoothies, too. Innocent do a really nice one: strawberry, raspberry, apple, coconut milk & soya protein. Am drinking as much of that & as much chocolate oat milk as I can get my hands on. (And the vegan chocolate fudge ice cream made by oat milk people has become key part diet; ditto vegan cookie dough ice cream. Need to weigh self before dietitian appointment tomorrow to see if that cunning plan has helped. Not that they’ll make any moves to it just now, but I desperately do not want a feeding tube & if I can’t gain & maintain - “only” to BMI 17.5, my set weight is really low [obviously more would be great, but that’s the goal] - that’s got to be The Plan. Bleh.)
@OrganTransplant123
If it’s any help, a friend of mine with a DD in Y6 has had said child say they don’t want to go back to school this term - & they LOVE the school & their teachers, have lots of friends of friends, this really isn’t any kind of school aversion or avoidance. The wee dote is worried about bringing COVID-19 home & making her family ill. She has, of course, been told that she’s no such responsibility & if someone got ill after she went back they’d have no way of knowing it was because of her; nobody can help getting ill etc. Her parents certainly haven’t done any of the “wash your hands or you’ll kill us all” stuff. She’s really thoughtful & sensitive & worries about others though. Ach. What I’m trying to say, anyway, is that there will be children who’re wanting to protect family who’re “just” vulnerable too. And as PP have said, children kept away as parents feel it’s best for them. Even the school day won’t be the same, not just the lack of school journey/sports day/leavers disco etc. Some children will do much better to remember “normal” primary school, as they left it in March. I don’t know if you’ve read any of the stuff on what schools will be like, but lots of children might find that harder than continuing remote learning. Hope that your DD & @BatSegundo’s DS have as good an EOT & transition process as possible. Your DS sounds v sweet Bat, btw.
@OculusThrift
Will hold my thumbs you can have your MRI. A family friend has had to have a range of diagnostic tests done recently & the hospital were also doing MRIs, so hopefully you’ll be able to get yours. Seems some places private hospitals have taken over doing them but that all depends on how things have been sorted & I think also how COVIDy areas are.
On the shopping front, could you FaceTime your DH while he goes round for you? Or send him with a list with the exact product name (M&S have them available so you can check allergens, or at least to) & a picture if you can find it.
@Redcherries
How was the socially-distanced party?
@TitsalinaBumSquash
Am v glad you’ve got that support. We keep hearing about the impact of lockdown on people’s MH, & about how it’s terrible elderly people are being so isolated. Don’t get me wrong, both those things are very serious. But there’s been another big silence about the shielding group - many of whom will be vulnerable to mental health issues related to the physical health issues they have [that are causing them to shield]. Also, I don’t know about where you are, but around here there is a HUGE amount of support for those in the 70+ group. Again, I’m very glad there is, & it’s mostly extensions/adaptations of pre-COVID programmes (we’ve also seen a shedload more stuff start but it is fecking shameful [so many of] our hospital staff are basically being fed by a foodbank) but...