@FourTeaFallOut
I hope your DS had a good day in school & that he does ok with the forthcoming lockdown too (seriously, waiting until term started to decide?!). You didn’t say anything at all to apologise for though - it’s much better to let that stuff out of your head; & releasing it into a space where there are people who’ll - to varying degrees - Get It, is A Good Plan. It’s ok to reach the point where you [need to] say actually, this is a bit pants frankly (maybe even going rash & not adding All The Qualifiers).
@OrganTransplant123
I hope you can get your PD catheter placed soon then: will keep my fingers crossed. Hopefully you’ll be able to have it done laparoscopically, though I think the mini-lap is pretty mini because they just use the incision to place the catheter they don’t poke about. And surgery time is the same. I spent FAR too much time in hospital in 2019, I do not require this knowledge. Well I suppose it’s vaguely useful now, but... Whatever ends up happening I hope it all goes well though.
@Babysharkdoodoodood
I’d never considered a career as an [ornamental] anchorite, but apparently it’s my life now 
@Egghead68
We’re still meant to be going out to exercise in Tier 4 aren’t we; so my guess would be that they’ll say yes to going out for exercise but that you have to ensure you distance from people not in your household (also thinking meeting that one person not in your household that’s allowed outside in T4 is likely to be nixed for shielders). They were really concerned about the impact not going out was having, so they’re probably going to try to encourage people to do so. Hard to guess what they’ll decide though really - suppose we just have to wait for The Letter
@cookiemonster5
I’m so sorry...
For a start, shielding is entirely optional & the guidelines are advice meant to help protect the CEV group (well & the NHS) - if your DH makes the choice to go to the shops it’s absolutely not the same as someone breaking the actual rules designed to contain the spread & protect everyone. Everyone in the CEV group had to do things differently, in line with the realities of how their lives work. I’d love to use my own bathroom, but as I don’t have one & building & extension is out; we had to settle for my brother & I moving to having our own hand-soap, & my putting in another towel-ring so we could have a hand towel each too.
For this time around, are you signed up to all the help that’s available to you? So priority delivery from supermarkets, but also getting prescriptions delivered, community support with getting your messages if you’re stuck... do you live somewhere with Deliveroo? (I’m not after thinking that Scotland lacks the sophistication; I’m just aware that the Highlands & Islands, say, won’t have the same coverage as Edinburgh for example.) If you do, in a pinch you may be able to get a wee shop from Co-Op, Morrison’s, Sainsburys, or a wee local shop like Londis. I’ve done that between my “big” online shops.
I don’t think saying anything is likely to help you any unfortunately; but what was said was so unkind & unhelpful that if I were you I’d genuinely be evaluating the friendship. Not in a “huge dramatic unfriending” way, but if these are people who aren’t supportive of you/generally make digs at you[r family]/create a group dynamic where you are consistently the butt of “jokes” - do you really want to keep up a friendship with them?
Be gentle with yourself 
@Poppystars
Can you contact your consultant? And it might be worth emailing the practice manager at the GP surgery to set out your concerns. If you were added to the list at the discretion of a [team of] medic[s] (rather than “simply” because you’re on an immunosuppressant drug for whatever condition) there should have been another discussion prior to your removal from the list. I mean, and they’re meant to write to you, but it seems that didn’t happen with lots of people. It’s not ok for the GP receptionist to say it’s nothing to do with them - GP surgeries still have to regularly update their list of CEV patients, so they absolutely have access to that data; & GPs can add/remove patients. You could try PALS at the Trust where you see your Consultant/are treated for this condition - particularly if you’re treated across multiple teams. I suppose the Nuclear Option is to contact your MP about how the shielding list is being [mis]managed & the impact this is having - we were told in the summer they’d write to anyone removed from the list by the end of September but while you seem to have been tested you’ve not had any communication & as a result have been left in a really stressful situation. I hope you’re able to get some answers - & support - soon.
@UnholyStramash
It’s nice to “see” you (apparently my local foxes are glad too, just as I wrote that some very loud, er, singing, started up in my garden [aka SE London’s top nightspot for the local vulpine populace]) 
I’m sorry you’re not having the best time just now - I mean, not that anybody’s having a wonderful time, but it is wretched to feel worn down &/or out. The new variant is scary stuff - I don’t know if it’ll reassure you at all that it’s been in London since September & I’ve had to go to multiple hospital appointments (& my brother to work at a university over the other side of London). Plus had a British Gas engineer in & a new tumble-dryer delivered. I mean, I’m still scared & I’m REALLY careful, but I’m proof - as are some of the others on here - you can be somewhere full of the new mutation & be ok. (And I was told in the summer that I wasn’t allowed to go further than my front garden & that just to put things in my bins. Wearing a mask & distancing if I see people.)
You’re always free to come & brain-dump at us if it would help. The things you think other people might think sound silly won’t, I can pretty much guarantee, sound silly here. There’s some stuff that you can only really get - however lovely & empathetic you are - if you experience it yourself. Don’t ever feel pressured to join in though - thank you for answering about the vitamin D, I really appreciate it 
@Didkdt
They’re saying we’ll (everyone in Priority 1-4) all have had our first dose by mid-February. Of course, we’ve now to wait 3 months not 3 weeks for the 2nd dose & if we get the Oxford vaccine the first dose is nowhere near as potent as the Pfizer... I hope you - & indeed all of us - are able to be vaccinated soon.