Thread 4 Shielding chat

[Egghead68]

Thought I’d set this up as we don’t seem to have one. Please delete if we do and I’ve missed it.

My local council have been in touch to say that I’m to shield again. Oh yes, they used The Actual Word. Reminded me of how to contact them & all the things I mustn’t leave the house to do (to be fair, they included advice on how to get them done from home) & said I’d be getting my letter from HMG (apparently not thinking that if they were emailing me I’d probably have had The Letter in soft copy as well).

Suppose at least we’re not being texted with instructions to do sudoku by an open window this go round?

All go here this week between advent New Tumble-Dryer (door-catch on one my parents got in 1979 finally gave up last month) yesterday & Tesco shop coming today to say nothing of Gastro appointment yesterday & GP today leading to an awful lot of back & forth with the hospital today as my consultant’s Cunning Plan is, er... well, it’s a lovely idea, but a bit marred by a drug shortage. And I have A Policy about not spending my birthday or Christmas in hospital that is in danger of being broken if things don’t get sorted, er, tomorrow, basically. So that adds a certain “excitement” to things. For “excitement” feel free to read terror or horror or absolute panic. Something a bit more like that...

@Egghead68 it’s as well-written as usual/as most government communiqués, so...

@QueenPaws I’m sorry you’d such a rough time when you attempted venturing out... I’m actually slightly worried about just how much my yearning for a cattle-prod & the right to use it with impunity while navigating London has increased. Just now it’s less “for the love of all that’s good & holy stop clarting up the place & let me move at a speed that doesn’t make me want to howl in pain” & more “remove your potentially germy personage from my personal space” It feels like a distant dream, almost, doing the simplest things utterly unthinkingly. Very glad you’re able to WFH & have an understanding (whatever that’s motivated by!) boss though, at least.

@SwankySharky
I’m so sorry you were made redundant. It’s exceptionally crap, really.

I’m so sorry @SwankySharky. As if things weren’t crap enough...

@MarieVanGoethem oh no. Crossing everything that you can get sorted medically today and spend Christmas at home

Thanks @Egghead68... if I repack my hospital bag to ensure it’s definitely all organised that’ll work to outwit The Donkey Of Destiny, right?

😶

I have had my email to say I'm shielding again!

Managed to get things sorted so (barring disasters) I shall be maintaining my policy of not being in hospital for Christmas. My usual monthly prescription is being delivered on Saturday, which came as something of a surprise when I chased that one up.

Really doesn’t feel as if it’s almost Christmas. But then, this whole year has felt utterly surreal, really...

@TOWGA
I trust you feel suitably Loved & Special. Much more seriously, hope it provides any work-related protections you might need & that you can get your shopping ok etc.

Thanks @MarieVanGoethem I was shielding last lockdown too, I'm pregnant with a serious heart condition, hence the shielding, I have already made work aware, and they are happy to let me have time off- no idea on pay yet! I can't get any deliveries until the 4th January, so am gonna have to get my husband to get stuff!

We go into T4 Boxing Day, already had text advising me to shield & letter in the post apparently.

I'm so sorry but this might make you laugh....skim read the thread title and read it as "tier 4 shielding cat" !!!!

@TOWGA
Do you have Deliveroo? There are an increasing number of supermarkets on there - I mean, you can’t do a big shop, but if you can get by until the 4th/you can get an earlier priority slot booked with someone? (Apologies if you live in the middle of nowhere so no Deliveroo & only one supermarket - would rather at least suggest it in case you are somewhere it’s an option.)
It must be v stressful she says, helpfully to basically be shielding the human you’re making as well as yourself. On top of the general Pregnant In Pandemic situation. I hope you’re one of the people able to be vaccinated (I’ve not read beyond the headline on that one).

@Roselilly36
Does that wreck your plans, or were you, like lots of us, planning a quiet Christmas anyway between the initial ECV guidance all but saying “please would you just not” with all its talk of masks & open windows & 2m distancing etc? And of course the reminders we shouldn’t feel bad about refusing invites & wouldn’t meeting people outdoors or over Zoom be nice...

@CollateralDamage1
My 2 cats are delighted by my having been shielding since March. They chose, as kittens, to be indoor cats, & are very proud that they’ve finally managed to train me to stay indoors almost the entire time. Slightly worried about their prognosticatory powers re: Outside = seething hellscape of Doom mind you...

@MarieVanGoethem yes that is quite unnerving!!!

It shows the state of the craziness and crap on MN when I read 'shielding cat' and litterally thought 'expected title...' kept scrolling then went back to to check 😂

@CollateralDamage1
It’s one thing them being smart enough to open the fridge & steal whatever they think looks/smells particularly delicious (fridge has since been kept locked - to match the cupboards they sussed as tiny kittens) but seeing into the future is Just A Bit Much. Unless it’s to tell me a few sets of lottery numbers. I spent a frankly obscene amount on catfood today...

If it’s any consolation, I keep reading the thread title about some sort of pelvic floor exercise device (not planning on venturing in there) as starting with Elvis rather than the thing’s actual name. To be fair, as the song in Grease attests, Elvis = expert mover of the pelvis. Every time I see it I think “ew, don’t want to think about how that would work - BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, WHY THE HELL IS IT CALLED ELVIS?!” Shielding!Cat = definitely more fun, whether it’s someone who is somehow getting shielding letters for their cat (I’d not put it past current government...) or a cat who is SUPER territorial (possibly involving a suit of armour, you know at least one person on here will have one kicking about [though probably they have dogs, not cats, but still]).

Happy Christmas everyone!! Especially everyone who is alone of missing loved ones x 🎄🎉🥳🌟🍾🎁🥂🎄🥳🌟🍾🎁🥂🎄🥳🎉🌟🎁🥂🎄🥳

Merry Christmas @Egghead68.

Happy Christmas everyone - may we all be as contented as my cats (if not as sleepy)...

Merry Christmas [choc]xxx

@MarieVanGoethem your comment made me laugh thank you 😂

Finished work: ugh. Now onto Dinner. And I'm bloody knackered

@CollateralDamage1 - am glad I could make you laugh... of course, cats in armour is a thing: are samurai cats (potentially) shielding cats...?

@Babysharkdoodoodood
Hope you’d a nice Christmas dinner (please tell me someone else cooked it...) despite being cream-cracked. Also hope you’ve some time off now.

One of my local pharmacy team have just dropped everything bar one drug up to me (just one carrier bag this month, minimalist Rx FTW!) which is great. Apart from the issues getting hold of the missing drug. Across all brands. And some versions of it are an unhappy mix of brutal & useless. Fab. Ach.

[quote MarieVanGoethem]@CollateralDamage1 - am glad I could make you laugh... of course, cats in armour is a thing: are samurai cats (potentially) shielding cats...?

@Babysharkdoodoodood
Hope you’d a nice Christmas dinner (please tell me someone else cooked it...) despite being cream-cracked. Also hope you’ve some time off now.

One of my local pharmacy team have just dropped everything bar one drug up to me (just one carrier bag this month, minimalist Rx FTW!) which is great. Apart from the issues getting hold of the missing drug. Across all brands. And some versions of it are an unhappy mix of brutal & useless. Fab. Ach.[/quote]
Nope. DS1 did offer, but he was faffing about so I booted him out. It wasn't hard. Got it all from Cook, so I only had to follow the timings. Off until Monday night.
Also had it confirmed that I don't have to return to the control room until we go back to tier 2 (I.e Easter). Checked the vaccination details and it looks like ECV are in line for March/April.

@Babysharkdoodoodood
Where were you looking at the vaccine details please? PHE & the government info packs/green book don’t seem to be committing to anything & while I don’t think today’s Telegraph is likely to be right about ECV group getting vaccinated “from the end of December” (unless they’re HCPs or v elderly, which is Cheating) I’m think-hoping that they might manage January...
(I remain unimpressed with the risk profiling, what with it being based on our all Being Good & hiding away inside so as to not catch the sodding thing... gallivanting nonagenarians Getting To See Their Grandchildren is all very heartwarming; some of us would just quite like to go for a fecking walk that isn’t across the hospital carpark...)

It was an article on apple news that had a calculator on.

www.omnicalculator.com/health/vaccine-queue-uk

[quote MarieVanGoethem]@Babysharkdoodoodood
Where were you looking at the vaccine details please? PHE & the government info packs/green book don’t seem to be committing to anything & while I don’t think today’s Telegraph is likely to be right about ECV group getting vaccinated “from the end of December” (unless they’re HCPs or v elderly, which is Cheating) I’m think-hoping that they might manage January...
(I remain unimpressed with the risk profiling, what with it being based on our all Being Good & hiding away inside so as to not catch the sodding thing... gallivanting nonagenarians Getting To See Their Grandchildren is all very heartwarming; some of us would just quite like to go for a fecking walk that isn’t across the hospital carpark...)[/quote]
Exactly!

For a start what about those who are having chemo or are in centre dialysis patients? I have a vested interest here as Dh had to go back on 3 x weekly dialysis since the start of March lockdown; exposing himself 3 x a week for 4 hours!

[quote Babysharkdoodoodood]It was an article on apple news that had a calculator on.

www.omnicalculator.com/health/vaccine-queue-uk[/quote]

There are a few of those calculators about and say different things.

My dm and df are 84 and 85. Dm has diabetes and df was hospitalised twice in autumn with a heart attack and a blood clot near the brain. Obviously I'd dearly love for them to get vaccinated, and delighted if they can get their appointments this week but they can stay in for a bit longer. CEV should be up there with health care workers and the elderly not behind them.

@Babysharkdoodoodood
I just tried the calculator out & it reckoned on my getting the vacccine between the 8th of February & the 7th of March
Mind you, it doesn’t ask about where in the country you are - I know there are oceans of HCPs to get through here, but there are perhaps proportionally fewer elderly people than in some other areas; there’s more than one hospital doing the vaccine already (including one from the Trust that manages my care); they’ve talked about using the Nightingale for mass vaccination; GP surgeries are coming into play in January & how fast that’ll work is uncertain...
It is horribly frustrating, isn’t it, just wanting some idea of When & being almost as uncertain as at the point vaccines were works in progress. It’s worse somehow, even, I think, because it’s tantalisingly close but still seems-feels impossibly out of reach.

@tobee
That’s just it, isn’t it - people on the shielding list are often having to take risks that (happily) people who are older don’t. I’m “lucky” (for a given value of lucky) that my health generally being in the actual metaphorical toilet has meant I’ve not had to worry about dealing with a job &/or children during this. Just the risk of hospital stuff that can’t be done over the phone, some of which lasts for hours & means being surrounded by other people - the haematology unit being a prime example; & not everyone observes proper social distancing. I hope your DH is able to be vaccinated ASAP - and that, if possible, he’s able to at least reduce the frequency of his dialysis sessions if not stop them entirely. (I’ve a friend who only needs dialysis during cancer treatment & a wee while afterwards for example - I know it’s not as simple as “need dialysis > need more of it > need kidney transplant” but rather there are loads of reasons to need it & variations in use, so am hoping that 2021 will Play Nicely for your DH there; & I’m sorry if that’s something that currently seems in Need A Miracle territory.) I hope that your father’s doing better now too: it’s very distressing when your parents are ill; & more so when you can’t be with them.