Chat for those who are shielding

[AuntieSocia1]

Apologies for the very unsnazzy title but as it suggests a place to chat for those who have to shield at the moment. A few of us have been talking on the the Shielding after lockdown thread in the coronavirus topic.

Thought I'd put this in chat as some days I'm guessing we'll want to chat about anything other than coronavirus!

I know all of our circumstances are quite different as well as the reason we need to shield but it's a pretty big thing to have in common. Despite my username I look forward to interacting with you and as my username suggests I might also slink off from time to time!

It's also hard as I am counting down in my head "ten weeks to go" but I know I need to realise this may not be the case. I'm also doing the same thing for getting my driving licence back if I can stay seizure free and the clock keeps "resetting" on that too.

(It would have been worse if I had got my licence back and then had immediately been told to shield though, imagine, I should count my blessings I guess!)

I'm sheilding due to immunosuppressants for various autoimmune conditions. At the moment it's not too bad as husband wfh and kids are off school. Once schools open it's going to be difficult. I normally do the school run before going to work so I'm just going to have to drop the kids off outside school and try and avoid the playground. Social distancing during the car journey 🤔? It's going to be extremely difficult as all 3 kids go to 3 different schools, husband works in a busy city center and catches the train. Just thinking about the logistics and reality of trying to minimise risks is making me feel extremely anxious. Part of me thinks maybe I should just go back to work and carry on as normal as sheilding is going to be difficult once lockdown is over 😱😢

I totally understand the heavy feeling @Sorryoo. It's making this more difficult.

DH is used to me doing most of the household stuff as only work PT. I also care for his sister, but as I can't leave, he has had to do it. A lot of adjusting for him. He has ADHD and struggling not being able to go out to burn off excess energy.

I'm shielding. Almost 5 weeks now, just taking things as they come. DH working from home and only goes to the supermarket. I've been trying for weeks to get a deliver but can't.

Can I join? I'm shielding due to sever heart and lung problems. I've register with the government but apparently my name is not on the list even though I got a letter.

Make sure you register with your local council too. Within an hour of me filling in their form I got a phone call from social services asking me what help I needed. I explained that I couldn't get a delivery slot for any of the supermarkets and they gave me direct numbers to try, which worked a treat.

DH has had a kidney transplant so is shielding and I'm WFH. He is on masses of medication but otherwise fit and healthy. We have 14 yo and a 9 yo. We are not separating in the house though we are careful in all other regards.

I'm in Scotland and managed to get a priority delivery slot but had to phone up the hotline for Tesco to get it sorted out. I'm the existing Tesco customer and they had our household as being on the vulnerable list but there was something else they had to do to activate it. Now that they've done that I got fairly immediate access to the priority slots on the website and had to upgrade the App first before it appeared on there.

Apparently Sainsbury's are only doing deliveries to vulnerable customers.

DH has a clinic appointment for May and we are wondering if that will go ahead. He normally gets his bloods checked and a meeting with his consultant. Anyone else in a similar position?

WFH, dealing with my 9 yo's schoolwork and the endless cooking and washing cycle is overwhelming at times and I sometimes wish DH would step up more but then I have a word with myself about his condition. He's also self employed and that's all consuming for him. He sells business such as a pubs and restaurants so that brings its own issues for him.

I normally do 3.5 hour commute by 4 trains in a large open plan office, twice a week and I'm going to struggle with that one as well as when the schools reopen. DH can work from home but does need to go out and about as well.

And breathe!

@Ulysses - most of our clinics have been cancelled (including blood work clinic). However there have been phone calls from clinics enquiring as to the general well-being of patients.

I know it won’t replace blood work and I guess it depends on how your husbands transplant journey has been so far. If it’s a fairly recent transplant I know those bloods are being done. However maybe leave a message for his renal/transplant just to check as I know creatinine can bounce around and you need to keep an eye on it.

It may be that they take bloods from home? I know our clinic recently did a home visit like that and staff wore full ppe. I hope your husband is keeping well though and that his team provide him with a definitive answer ASAP.

@Ulysses my appointment for May has been changed to a telephone one but they've asked me to have my bloods done at my doctors and sent me a form

Hello can I join? I am shielded due to azathioprine for IBD, but complicated by recovering from a massive pulmonary embolism.

I had just got back to work ( I am an intensive care nurse) when all this started. I feel so unbelievably guilty that I am not at work. I feel awful that my whole family are shielding with me - DH is able to work from home plus 2 teenagers who are delighted at not having to go out!

Luckily I am on all the lists for shops etc, so that is definitely helping.

I just wish I could make my peace with not being at work & be happy that my needs are being met.

We are in such a fortunate position but I can’t shake off my unease & unhappiness.

Thanks for responding @TooMuchBloodyChoice and @ClientQ. His transplant was 8 years ago and his last appointment in January. It’s always a bit of a worry getting his results and the team are really quick if he ever needs to adjust his medication. It doesn’t happen often but they are usually very on the ball about these things. His appointment is in the first couple of weeks of May so it’s probably worthwhile for him to get in touch to find out what’s what.

I feel fortunate as well @plus3 but you need to remind yourself that you are in a position outwith your control and you’re doing what you should be doing for your own health and following national orders. I doubt there’s many people living anxiety-free at this time whether it’s not working in jobs that they want to because of health issues or not having their usual incomes. It’s really tough.

Hi All
I have been shielding since the start. I am immune compromised. I registered immediately with the Government scheme and i have received food parcels each week. I have just cancelled them as Asda have offered me a recurring delivery slot for free which I am most grateful for. I received the shielding letter and get regular NHS text alerts to stay safe and pieces of advice. All my medical appointments have been cancelled but my GP and once consultant has rang me, I have also been sent online questionnaires on some of my conditions to fill in for assessment.

I am still working from home and my job is busier now than when i am in. As i am part time (due to my illness) I am struggling a little with this sort of on call approach to work. Something comes through and I need to respond. I am hoping to discipline myself a little better next week and switch off more.
I talk to family and friends in group chats and have DS at home but i haven't set foot out of the front door.
Nice to have a group in similar circumstances at this time, i think it is difficult for F&F to appreciate exactly what this feels like.
Best wishes to all

Hi everyone, love this idea for a thread! As a previous poster mentioned, unless you are in this position, it is very hard to understand the dilemma between wanting shielding to end and not wanting it to end until you know you will be safe, or the frustration when people tell you everyone can go for a little walk, the parenting/teaching posts that keep enthusing about nature walks/trails with your children or tell you you are overreacting :-(
I have been shielding for nearly 6 weeks now with my other half who has been working from home and my son (age 9). So far we have been ok, we have all decided to stay in and managed to get Tesco delivery, albeit at one point not for over two weeks (some interesting tinned food meals by the end of it). Getting my medication delivered been trickier and I was passed round the houses before someone took pity on me. That was hard, having to practically beg for someone to help.
I’m a Teacher with severe asthma. I suffer badly from chest infections and really worry how I would cope with Covid19 physically :-( My head doesn’t seem to have grasped the seriousness of the situation. When I informed her that I felt I needed to social distance and couldn’t do so in school (prior to the shielding letters being sent) I was told it was my decision. Colleagues who’ve been in report no social distancing is taking place in schools among the adults let alone children! There are talks (not official) of returning to school in June, the assumption is that I would return too (despite my shielding letter saying I should avoid face to face contact until end of June!) I am terrified that I’ll be removed from the shielding list (as the criteria for asthmatics keeps changing) and be placed in an unsafe working environment. People don’t seem to care that teachers will still catch it and suffer, even if the children won’t. I can’t afford to lose my job and am so worried.

Can I join too please. I have an extremely vulnerable 3 year old. Currently DH & I are both working from home, though juggling work with childcare has been challenging in itself. We have been shielding for 6 weeks already and I’m nervous about what the future holds. Will our employers have to allow us to continue WFH even when our offices open? We are getting everything delivered, how long before it is actually safe to step outside the front door? Feels like it will make much longer to go back to normal for us than most of our peers.

Morning all, hope everyone is okay this morning.

Hi Gilead! Very overcast here this morning, sun meant to make an appearance later. Have got used to sunny days haven’t you? Hope you have some nice things planned for today :-)

@SleepymummyZzz as a parent I do worry for the staff as well as the students. I have emailed our school (not one of those parents, it was in response to something ) to ask about shielding parents being factored into discussions and also said thank you for all they doing so far!

My DH is employed via an agency (whole other worry by itself) and when he rang to ask if they have any procedures for shielded workers/family members they said "what is shielding?" This was HR too.

I'm so worried about it all

FFS. Pressed post too soon.

I think it's interesting that so many of us are worried due to the uncertainty and seem to carry so much guilt about what we are not doing or able to do. It sounds like the vast majority of us are used to being the "strong"'ones who don't like complaining or asking for help. I also struggle hugely with this.

I am not looking forward to the weather changing. I know I am lucky and really appreciate having a garden to sit in and really appreciate and love having my morning coffee there. When I wake up I get that heartsinky feeling and it's only the thought of sitting outside that gets me out of bed sometimes (especially when I'm in pain too).

I was thinking of getting one of those bird feeder things that has suckers to put on the window as it might give me something to look at, perhaps this would be good for indoors people?

Another problem though is that we can't really spend any money as DH is classed as a keyworker but his industry is getting quieter and quieter, he won't be furloughed but just let go.

PS @Helpisathand13 do you have a laptop for work or use your phone. I was terrible at working at home as I just wouldn't stop and eventually had to stop using my phone and limit myself to set times on the laptop. It helped but not always possible I know.

Can I join please?

Didn’t realise I was in the shielding group as although I have cancer it wasn’t the type on their list. As a family we’ve been self isolating anyway for 5 weeks (apart from my radiotherapy).

Had a welfare call from the government shielding line this morning. Checking I’ve got my letter and have I arranged for food and prescriptions to be delivered. Anyone else had one yet?

Hi Sleepy, am planning on sitting outside and painting the picnic table. It started off misty and cold but it's blue skies all the way now!

@Ladyflip

• Ladyflip

Thanks Sirzy. I think idiot husband has registered with his email address on the website but of course, all supermarket registrations are in my name
The name doesn’t matter but the email address does. Set up new account to with ASDA Tesco’s and Iceland if email is different.

Thanks for the help and support. I have managed to get a click and collect order today and will phone their special line when I get chance. I’m still trying to work, so very busy at the moment.

Morning all. My priority slot from Tesco came yesterday. I have to say it wasn't great having such a big window - 8 hours - and in the end it came in the last half hour. I'm doing shopping for my vulnerable mum as well so once I unloaded our shop I had to drop it off at hers which is an 90 minutes round trip.

The delivery guy stacked up the crates and then lingered at the door steps while I unloaded it and seemed to be oblivious to 2m rule as well. Last week's delivery driver explained that they know when it's a shielding household because there is a much longer slot, so I am a bit exasperated by this week's driver.

I managed to get a normal one-hour slot next Saturday and have got the longer slot the Saturday after that and it will be a real pain if it's the same again. I think I will persevere getting normal slots - they do seem to appear now and again. The 80 item limit means I am going to have to shopping anyway. Between my mum's shopping and ours, I couldn't get everything I needed for 1 week never mind 2.

We have a family quiz at 6.15 on a Saturday with a takeaway (my one night off from cooking!) so it's something I really look forward to. Kids wanted a chippy takeaway yesterday - I ordered it at 6.30 and it came at after 9pm! Yesterday was not a great day.

Morning all.

I finally got added to the list on Friday, I was in the group of 4 conditions that they missed originally when they set up the system but my Dr got it arranged for me when I phoned to see if I could go for a walk as I hadn’t received a letter but had been shielded for 5 weeks on their advice over the phone. They were very surprised I’d waited so long with no official support or advice having been sent to me but I didn’t want to bother them.

I have managed to get 2 Tesco slots in that time but will call them and ask to be added to the priority slots.

We run a company and I’m managing to keep my husband and son working completely isolated which is reassuring, the pressure of running a business and trying to stay afloat, protect all my lads incomes has now overtaken my virus fear. We’re construction so should still be ok to work but my projects are all on delay, none of them are domestic and it’s actually safer for us to work now with how our company is structured but clients want us to wait until all their staff return.

Today I’m having cocktails in the garden and doing some coursework and a local garden centre are going to arrange a delivery for me so we can make up patio planters.

Ulysses, can you get an Asda slot? The shielding groups get free delivery and reoccuring slots. It's been a godsend.

I might as well do that @alemonypea. I’m a regular Tesco delivery user but it seems to be falling far short of the service other shops are offering. It’s the thought of starting my shop all over again that’s daunting! How did you organise it, if you don’t mind me asking?