ADs won't tut when you're stuck in a rut, we're all too busy pouring Amaretto in our porridge

[BogRollBOGOF]

Welcome into another thread of alternative reality as we try to nagivate through the Coronacoaster of life.

We may be up, down, spinning around (generally in confusion at the next random edict drawn up on the back of a fag packet) but never sucking the joy out of life.

Went to work yesterday doing clinical telephone triage in a 999 call centre, we’re in the south/south east of the country and ,god, was I bored. It was so quiet for a Friday, worked until 2am and probably triaged about 5 people. Worked last Friday and it was a bit busier but nothing like as bad as this time last year. The NHS is seriously not overrun in this area.
Lots of elderly fallers which is another consequence of lockdown, social distancing etc, they don’t move around as much so lose muscle mass and their balance is wrecked. Falling kills the elderly much more frequently than COVID.

Oh, @Reedwarbler that’s just so so awful. Totally inhumane. Can you imagine how terrifying that would be? 💕

That’s interesting @Recycledblonde. and not really the picture that’s being painted in the press.

@WouldBeGood

Oh, *@Reedwarbler* that’s just so so awful. Totally inhumane. Can you imagine how terrifying that would be? 💕

Indeed, last year at this time I was full time frontline and we were all utterly exhausted, doing 14 hour shifts and always in a queue outside the hospitals. This year it’s not like that, very few COVID cases although there are a few more suspected ones than a month ago but not overwhelming certainly. Mostly the usual, back pains that they’ve had for 2 years and that they haven’t taken any pain relief for as they ‘don’t like tablets’ 😆

Apologies managed to quote the wrong poster.🙈

Oh Reedwarbler it's quality of life that matters not existence in a shell of a body and mind.

The risks of Covid measures, quality of life and life expectancy really need more consideration, and yes, upgrading the phone range improves quality of life without compromising safety.

@Reedwarbler
I'm so sorry about your FIL. It is indeed cruel.

@Recycledblonde
Lots of elderly fallers which is another consequence of lockdown, social distancing etc, they don’t move around as much so lose muscle mass and their balance is wrecked. Falling kills the elderly much more frequently than COVID.
Completely agree. To me, it makes sense to enable older people to keep as fit & well as possible, in order to prevent falls & avoidable illness, which in turn reduces pressure on hospitals.
I do acknowledge that they have a higher risk if they catch covid. But there are ways to reduce that risk without abandoning older people completely.

Reedwarbler
So awful. We are so obsessed with quantity over quality of life.

Falling kills the elderly much more frequently than COVID.

This struck a chord. My elderly mum (90s but ridiculously healthy) had a nasty fall in the supermarket entrance last week. Piecing it together she must have tripped over the feet of one of those metal barriers probably not helped by mask wearing meaning she didn't see it sticking out. As it happens she was shaken but otherwise fine, but you can imagine a very different scenario- broken hip, hospital, pneumonia and death. That was exactly how my grandma died 40 years ago.

@110APiccadilly

Surely not another ill thought out government scheme? www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/nov/06/operation-moonshot-covid-mass-testing-trial-begins-liverpool

Who'd have thunk it?

@110APiccadilly exactly - it’s why we don’t do mass screening for most cancers - most screening programmes testing healthy people do more harm than good. The breast screening programme probably wouldn’t be given the go-ahead now if it were proposed as a new scheme.

@Reedwarbler your FIL’s treatment is utterly inhuman. We really need to think much more about how to help people have a ‘good’ death (and a good last few days), rather than seeking to avoid death at all costs.

My dad collapsed when he was 89 - his heart kept slowing right down. The hospital doctors insisted on inserting a pacemaker which kept him alive for another two years. Two years in which he deteriorated inexorably - he was in and out of hospital with falls, he was deaf, increasingly confused and profoundly depressed - he kept telling us he wanted to die (my mum, who was much younger than him, had died 3 years earlier). Without the pacemaker he would probably have slipped away in his sleep, instead medical protocols condemned him to two years of misery at great cost to the NHS, social care, his family and him. He was so frail at the end of his life, anything would have killed him - in the end it was aspiration pneumonia - if COVID had been around two years ago, he would have been at high risk but would he have wanted everything to stop to give him the possibility of a few more weeks of life? Absolutely not.

@Reedwarbler So awful, I can't abide what we as a society put some of our elderly through in the interests of preserving life.

DH's grandfather passed a few weeks ago. The practice nurse said in other times, he would have been hauled into hospital and had all sorts of investigations/interventions which he would have hated. Instead, he passed away in his own bed, in comfort, with his daughters at his side. I can only hope for something similar.

I guess to add, he was lucky because he was generally speaking otherwise fit and healthy. So his rapid deterioration was just 'old age'. Had he a diagnosis/Alzheimer's, he'd have been pulled into a system which gets caught trying to balance preservation and quality of life, and the two don't always go hand in hand.

@Pleasedontdothat
Very interested in your comment re breast cancer screening.
My doc told me not to have one..so I never have.
Then I read recently that thermograms were better. Don’t squeeze the breast like a mammogram so that if you do have a tumour there’s a possibility infected cells could be squeezed out.
Don’t wish to alarm anyone..I don’t know how true this is.

@Reedwarbler

@Pleasedontdothat there's a really interesting example about breast cancer screening in the book "Reckoning With Risk" (a book I would recommend to anyone who wants to understand stats, particularly in regard to public policy).

Here's the cancer screening example, just to get your interest: plus.maths.org/content/reckoning-risk

@Dowser it’s not true that mammograms could spread cancerous cells - cancer doesn’t work like that! To be honest, your doctor should not have been telling you not to have a mammogram - they’re supposed to give you the information and let you make your own mind up. The problem with breast screening is on a population level rather than individual - screening leads to over diagnosis and treatment of tumours which would never have caused any problems. It can also miss more aggressive cancers, giving false reassurance. This is accurate screening info

Traffic seems very normal in my home town, haven’t ventured into town centre yet as we’ve been away to pack up the caravan for winter and took advantage of the balmy autumn days and everything york had to offer.
Two visits to the cinema in 4 days, lots of shopping and even managed a meal in Wagamama as there was no queue.

Had a walk along the prom yesterday. Took advantage of free car parking as pay machines were covered up again...as did a good chunk of the town.
Despite the mist rolling in from the sea, the wood fired pizza van was doing a roaring trade and it was good to see most people maskless.
...and the chips from the excellent fish and chip shop..were so good.

People are not going to be so compliant this time around as let’s face it, we’ve all had enough.

Pleasedontdothat and 110APiccadilly
That is really interesting. One of the problems with the reaction to Covid I think is the general lack of understanding about individual versus population-level risks.

@LadyOfTheImprovisedBath

I'm only early 40s but I've notice I'm having more phyical and emotional upset around periods - so I'm trying Starflower oil & Evening Primrose out to see if it helps - though across five of us I do seem to be spending quite a bit of vitamins and suppliments at the minute.

I've also started doing balance excerises - dsypraxia has always meant my balance is suspect but I read an article in New Sciencist that said many 40 years olds have worse balance than 80 years olds now due to changes in childhood over time - and if I couldn't balance on one leg for I think 3 minutes I needed to do something about it now.

If you saw what I spend on my proactive healthcare I’d have to kill you 😂 I was staggered when my bill came to £100 in an independent health shop in york At least some of it was Jason organic shampoo..buy one get conditioner free, so I stocked up a bit as I won’t be back now till spring . Also 2 bars of seed and bean dark chocolate..for the iron naturally. Two bars of their excellent rose soap £60 on my medical Dowser and next week £40 on my much needed Anma therapy as I can hardly move my right shoulder.

I did stock up on all my herbs and supplements for when we went to Tenerife two weeks ago and as I felt quite well, ( in the glorious sunshine) I haven’t used them all up yet..so I’ll get a bit of a break from more spending for a while.

Was chatting to my son yesterday when he popped in and he said , it’s frightening what you spend on your health mam..obviously thinking of his inheritance lol

Anyway..it’s good to be still here, regardless of what is going on in the world.

The roads are definitely still really busy around here. I’m going to have a walk into the town centre later to buy a newspaper and because I’m bored, so shall see what it’s like. I suspect that the shops that are still open (B&M, Superdrug, Wilkos etc) will be rammed.

I agree Dowser that people are not going to be as compliant this time. Maybe not blatantly flouting the rules but just quietly doing their own thing.

Can’t believe it’s only day 3 of lockdown in England. Probably because they announced it a week ago. It’s going to be a long 4 weeks .

On dying by John Humphries is a good book.

I'm mid forties and have emotional ups and downs that may well be hormonal. But because I have a Mirena fitted I don't have periods so no obvious pattern. When I was referred to a breast specialist for breast pain a year or so ago he said it was hormonal ('breast cancer isn't painful') and starflower oil was much better than evening primrose.

@Reedwarbler I agree with the other posters that the treatment of your FIL is inhumane . My mother told me that some care homes are 'employing' family members as volunteer staff to specifically give one to one care for their relative. Don't know how true this is as she tends to pick up snippets of information from various sources then mash them all together to create a totally different story! It might be an option for your DH?

I've been thoroughly enjoying my first day of release from self isolation. Unfortunately OH has a raised temperature again - after 2 weeks! His sense of smell came back earlier this week and he was feeling much better but every 3 days seems to get a raised temp again but feels fine otherwise. Its such a weird thing - in 'normal' times he would go to work and 'soldier on' but isn't allowed. I've had no symptoms at all

I do go for things like cancer screening but I'm selective about some health checks on offer. I had a bad experience with a very necessary investigation, which showed up something completely harmless, which then sent clinicians off down the wrong path for ages, & caused me huge stress & delays in getting the correct diagnosis.

I hate the way that covid is turning people into hypochondriacs. Got a headache? Better get a test! Instead of stopping to think that the headache might be caused by something else. I read it on here & see it in real life. I think this could have further negative impacts on the NHS if we forget how to deal with minor ailments ourselves.

Another one by Sumption in the Guardian

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/nov/04/england-lockdown-peril-young-people-mental-health

Just listening to DS on Minecraft with his friends. The Luxurious Land of Luscious Lemons apparently

Sounds like quite a nice way to deal with things- disappear into some other random imaginary world..