Shielding chat continues - thread 2

[AuntieSocia1]

Shiny new thread for anyone shielding.

You can vent/moan/cry/chat/lurk whatever you need.

Hi, I've just found this thread and it's a relief to hear about others who are also shielding and I recognise so many things you have all been saying.
I'm shielding my youngest daughter who has cystic fibrosis, we've been in for 11 weeks now, just me and my two girls. It's hard, I'm so grateful for the fact we have a garden so we can at least spend some time outside, and we have lovely family to help out if we need things so we are lucky in that respect.
It took weeks to get a supermarket delivery slot as I wasnt the person shielding so I wasnt on the list, thank goodness for Iceland who finally understood and gave us a priority slot and we eventually got a slot with Tesco. But it was so stressful.
I'm also sick of hearing how "lucky" we are to get to stay at home! If I start ranting I wont be able to stop so I will carry on reading both threads, I feel slightly less alone now and that will help.

"At least at the moment we're kind of all in it together"

you're in a different bit of Wales to me then! Everyone here is basically normal now, except that they're not working. It's one long party holiday, with daily bbqs round each other's houses. I feel less safe now than when we were a "hotspot". Then I - theoretically - could have gone for a walk and had people stay 2m away. Now everyone is partying cause the war ended before Xmas

Theyre addressing the million plus shielding in the daily briefing; boris talking about when we will be 'released from our captivity'...
..

And Jay from Horsham (hello if you are on here!) asked a question about plans regarding shielding. Chris Whitty said that when the prevalence of the infection is low enough they are going to let us out in stages, although we will still have to be very cautious. He said (I think) that he hoped it would not be too much longer.

I'm new to these threads too - actually, possibly I posted on an early one. I've been coping pretty well so far, but I'm feeling unexpectedly sad to see that everything is slowly moving back to normal for everyone else. Well, I know it's still a long way from 'normal', but it's going to be difficult to see other people meeting up with family and friends when we can't. I'm particularly worried about my teen, who is struggling with not seeing friends, but it would be impossible to socially isolate her from the rest of the household (though she quite wants to, so that she can see her friends!). I can't help feeling that the world will have moved on a lot by the time we're finally released from shielding, and it might be difficult for us to find our place in it again.

Also watching the news. So nothing has changed for us then. I still feel as though they should allow friends and family of a someone shielding to visit while being 5m (or whatever) apart. We can't go out and meet in a park!

@Egghead68, I've cross posted with you. It would be amazing if it really isn't too much longer for us.

Does anyone happen to know the age breakdown of the shielding category? So many people seem to assume that shielders are very old and near the end of their lives anyway, but I know more children than adults shielding (as in, they are the actual shielded person, not that they're shielding a family member). The adults I know who are shielding are young enough to have teens at home and be working full time - they are not elderly by any stretch of the imagination.

I know a fair few children shielding with my condition. I'm 36

I'm 34

(i think 😂)

@BeyondDreamsOfBeyondFourWalls I'm in Ceredigion. We're super strict here, with only 42 cases and 6 deaths, and contact tracing in place for weeks. The council persuaded the garden centres and golf courses not to open even when WG said they could, and if you sit on teh beach you will get kicked off by the police.

Just marking my spot, still here, just struggling mentally.

Newport here, 2020. People partying now aren't even subtle and sneaky about it, it's all over their social media.

morethanasong, yes, that's how I feel too. The more everyone else gets back to near normal, that harder it seems to be for us. And the fewer delivery services etc are open to us - already some local shops have said "well, we'll be open again from 165th June so we won' be doing deliveries any more".

I don't know exactly what I want, but it isn't this.

I’m really struggling today.. everyone is getting back to ‘normal’ posting picnics etc with other friends in parks. Happily discussing on group chats how lovely it is to get out and about and totally forgetting that I’m on there too..
All the local shops are no longer doing deliveries because ‘you can just pop’ down so today I nearly had a breakdown because all I wanted was a big pot to put a plant in to save it/ the pot was broken in the storm.. no one will deliver any more- I have asked three local garden centres who were delivering last week but won’t this week...

I just cheered myself up slightly with some retail therapy - clothes for Autumn in the online sales. I just hope we're allowed out by Autumn so I can wear them... To be fair they aren't particularly trendy so I'm sure they'll be fine for Autumn 2021 if all else fails!

I think many of the asthmatics who have received the text are ones who were put on the shielding list prior to the guidelines changing (they changed about three weeks in, and again last week).

Ie. previously it said intensive care admission in the last year, then that was changed to any intensive care admission, and now there is no mention of intensive care.

Oh, and it now says asthmatics have to satisfy all three criteria rather than before it was only one criteria.

Hi everyone. I’ve been lurking throughout. Shielding with severe asthma with husband and teenaged son in tow. Tonight’s Boris briefing has pushed me over the edge. He actually said “I know how you feel”. No you bloody well do not. And then bbqs in gardens. My garden is what has kept me sane over the last 10 weeks. My neighbour has already had friends over - I’ve gone inside when they’ve been there (muttering under my breath) because it’s a bit close for comfort - and now it’s party time! The R needs to come down before ‘the shielded’ can go out, but let’s all have a bbq! I’m flitting between utter despair and ‘sod it, I’m off down Tesco to take my chances’ because I’m not sure I can live like this anymore.

I do satisfy all 3 criteria for asthmatic shielding guidlines so doesnt look like im going anywhere anytime soon :( freedom was so close i could almost taste it :(

BJ wants to thank us for our efforts and is looking at ways to make our lives easier. More to follow he says..

I don’t find that hugely reassuring

@rugbymummy God I never thought of that! Ours is too close for comfort too.
I'm hoping the hot weather disappears to be honest.

My neighbour on one side is a nurse, the other side have had their grandkids throughout. I sit bang smack in the middle of the garden now. I didn't go outside at all for the first month-ish.

@ReincarnatedDodo do you have a link for the updated asthma shielding criteria please?

I had a very unprofessional phone call from the National Shielding helpline today. She was obviously using a script (which is to be expected) but asked the same question over and over again - "when you registered for help in March you said that you had no-one to do your shopping" to which I agreed.

She wanted to know if I had managed to find any relatives to do my shopping for me, when I replied No she said 'Great'! But do you still need food box or have you found someone to do your shopping..... still havent found any unknown relatives who live near me.......

Can you do your own shopping ... not really I have only recently had a transplant
But going forward - will you be able to find someone to do your shopping......

Then we went onto whether I needed any social services care. I explained that I had received support up until 2 weeks ago and that I was managing. She lost her place on the script and asked exactly the same question again twice !!
I think that this was the point that I asked if today was her first day in the job !

She signed off by saying that everything was Great and going forward if I found a relative to do my shopping I could stop my food box.