New to the Group

Hi Puffin 70 welcome to the forum and so very sorry to hear how worried that you are. I think there are lots of people especially at the moment who can relate to what you are saying in your post and share your anxiety about keeping safe.

Im not certain  about the guidelines for you as you are undergoing chemo  that makes you vulnerable  with having  your immune system lowered anyway with the chemo, but I  wonder if you have asked about this at the chemo unit as they may be the people best placed to be able to offer advice and guidance for people undergoing chemo.

My daughter in laws folks were living with her and my son recently and they formed what is described as a Covid bubble so they can come and go as they are classed as 1 household. Im wondering if this is a similar situation to yours with your family as my daughter in law and son continued to go to to work and grandson went to school so many similarities. The difference is that one of them were not having  chemo and I imagine thats where it becomes more complicated and needs further specialist advice specific to your family. I know that hasnt answered your question  but ti is challenging to answer with any accuracy and I wonder if you can either ask at the chemo unit or give the Macmillan Line a call and have  a chat with one of the specialists there its a freephone number 08008080000.

Please do come back and let us now how you get on and again sorry not to have been of more help with your query.xxx  

Hi 

I would definitely speak to your key worker/specialist nurse at your chemo unit and ask for advice. I have only just had my first chemo treatment and am in a similar situation with my household to you - my husband has to travel for business and two of my adult children have temporarily moved back with us due to effects of the pandemic/lockdowns. This was one of my biggest concerns about chemo - I could not ask the others to isolate & like  you I could see no alternative to virtually locking myself in one room - and I almost decided not to go ahead with the chemo, particularly as the benefit to me was relatively moderate. The downside of living in one room for 3+ months seemed to almost wipe out that benefit I had a long chat with my nurse and her advice was that the rest of the household could carry on following the rules for our Tier but when they have been out & in contact with others - work, gym, shops - they should shower & wash clothes. Be extra vigilant about carefully cleaning kitchen surfaces, door handles etc when they have touched them. And if you have to share a bathroom ensure cleaned after each use. Not ideal but allows some degree of ‘normality’. There is a lot of extra washing machine & shower use and liberal use of anti-viral sprays and wipes! 

Thank you for replying,I will ring the department next week and see what they say xx Its just a minefield of emotions. 

Thank you Im sure Im not the only one who has a family and is undergoing chemo so I will seek some more advice. xx