Coronavirus

Hi

I know what you mean - but I am not sure I agree. I think it’s disappointing for everyone regardless. The thing that’s niggling at the back of my mind is what happens to all those who are mid treatment if there’s a lock down? I travel up to London from Kent to get my treatment. I’ll pick up the next fortnight’s tablets on Tuesday (fingers crossed) and then I have my fortnight off so my timing may be fortuitous. But there are plenty of people on weekly chemo or daily radiotherapy. So many questions! 
xx

I'm supposed to be going up to Edinburgh in 3 or 4 weeks for an Easter family get together. But I'm not sure if that will be happening now. I can't get my hands on any gel, so I'm not really keen on going out amongst the great unwashed. Especially not on an over 3 hour train. 

Then there's the issue that my Mum currently has suspected covid 19. She works at a college, and apparently end of last week has had her and 3 others in her department calling in sick. Problem is, she's high risk due to her MS - So I'm half worried and half annoyed she didn't listen when I said she shouldn't be working.

But, fingers crossed it's just a normal bug, not THE bug. But we will see where she is in 4 or 5 days time. 

Lass

Xx

Hi Maybug and everyone else,

I have a coach holiday booked in Scotland in April, booked by mistake for 2020! I thought I was going in 2019. I am wondering if that will go ahead. A bit wary about it to be quite honest. I would love to go but if the company don’t cancel it would it be wise? Perhaps not! 
I live in Warwickshire Maybug. Whereabouts were you  going to be staying. At the moment it doesn’t seem too bad here but, that can change overnight.

I suspect a lot of trips and holidays are going to be put on hold for quite some time. That’s such a shame as having these events to look forward to means so much to so many especially those on here.

Stay safe everyone 

love and hugs

Maggie xx

I absolutely agree that treatment is more important than leisure activities. I’d like to think that treating people with serious illnesses (not just cancer) will still happen. The difficulty could be the availability of staff. I hope there are no obstacles to your treatment. I have a scan next week which I expect will go ahead. Getting an appointment for the results  might be another matter if the situation has moved on.

Funnily enough I’m more blasé about hiccups in my treatment than the possibility of not getting to spend time with my little girls. I know other people might have different priorities but they’re mine. Hopefully FaceTime will still work and we can still clap and cheer a successful visit to the potty from over 300 miles away. 

I was in the day ward on Friday receiving my fortnightly chemo.  They called me before I came in to ask if I had any cold/flu like symptoms or if I had been in contact with anyone who had.  Very reassuring this is being done.

When I got to the unit there were no extra precautions.  We were all very close together, elbow to elbow just the same as usual. I guess they don’t have the facilities for a better spread out.

I decided not to go out over the last week or so.  The only places I have been going to are clinics and hospitals for all of my appointments.  
Unfortunately us vulnerables when on treatment have to go to the places where you are more likely to catch it.

Yes it is all very concerning. 

I have an appointment next Thurs with my oncologist and we are awaiting results etc. 

However I have had a high temp, cough and breathing difficulties since Jan. I have however been in hospital twice in that time and no one else has caught anything from me so I am pretty sure it is not Coronavirus. However my GP did some digging and told me that they have never actually tested me for it although I have have numerous other tests. As I am ill and my bloods are low I am staying in and avoiding people as my GP suggested. 

However I know people will be quite worried just being in the same room as me as I sound terrible. I also will be mortified if I pass anything on to someone with low immunity like myself. 

I need to see the oncologist as my treatment needs to be looked at as I have been off meds for such a long time and my cancer is growing unchecked. So I really can't cancel my appointment. 

I have spoken to my husband and if we can get a parking space near to the oncology department he is going to go in and book me in while I stay in the car. The clinic usually runs about 2 hrs late so he is going to ring me when they call my name and I will come in and go straight through. 

It is like running a military operation. 

I am also being told that food is getting short in stores as people panic buy. Hopefully me and my hubby will be fine, he is due to do a shop tomorrow as he has worked all weekend, the cupboards need restocking. One of my neighbours has her own son who has special needs and her 6 grandchildren living with her and yesterday she had to abandon her online shop because just about everything she clicked on was out of stock. Luckily she lives in a community where we will rally round to help but I feel for others who can't get enough food or can't access the shops due to illness. I can't believe what is happening. 

It's difficult not know what to do. I wasn't that concerned earlier non, then I realised that I am not quite as robust as I used to be

 Unsure whether to get out and do things now before/if the situation becomes worse

Take care all

Xx

I'm not sure the situation will get worse. To officially get worse, the government would have to be testing people who aren't hospitalised to get an accurate number and infection map. So infection numbers would need to be reported as rising and spreading. 

I read an interesting thing the other day where someone was trying to explain what they think the government tactics are......... Right now, things are open and we aren't locked down because the government want the virus to spread amongst the healthy. Once someone has had it, they become immune to it, so are no longer carriers and can't pass it on and infect others. So they're trying to get as much herd immunity going in the country as they can, before they shut down to try and let it peter out.

The issue is, if they shut down too soon then they've not hit that tipping point in the herd immunity. So fears are that in Italy, they shut down too early and haven't got that herd immunity. So once they reopen then it will just run rampant again. So we're staying open, to get as many fit and healthy people infected and immune as possible. 

But the gamble there is that the vulnerable people are vulnerable for longer. So it's our lives they're gambling with, but for what seems like sound scientific reasoning. Once they actually announce the shut down, is when they think there's a big enough herd immunity throughout the population to cut it off in its tracks. 

Lass

Xx

Thanks Lass I had seen this also but struggled to put it into words. 

Let's hope it works and we can get virus free. I suspect we have alot more people infected than we know so I suppose we can only do our best to stay safe especially when we know our immunity is low. 

Oh there's 100% more people infected/were infected but recovered than we know of. They aren't testing anyone until they've been ill for at least a week and aren't getting better.

Which is annoying, because my mum has MS which means any bug she gets is always much worse for her than a 'healthy' person. She's also got diabetes, which again puts her in a vulnerable group. She's currently got 'something' which ticks the covid 19 boxes, but she can't be tested or call any medical person for another 4 days.

If their plan is to increase herd immunity, as mentioned above, then there should have been better, more clear, and more strict instructions for the vulnerable classes. Because that's the point of the herd immunity, protecting the vulnerable.

Lass

Xx