Calling all triple negative breast cancer patients in the UK
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Hello Sylvia,
Hope you've managed to buy what you need. I'm running low on basics like rice, cereals and wholemeal flour as these aren't stocked at the farm shop. I haven't been able to buy yeast but will have a go at making my own yeast. In the meantime I'm making soda bread. The essential buttermilk can be made by adding lemon juice to semi-skimmed milk.
Michael collected my drugs from our GP surgery yesterday. The surgery has closed and is locked up but patients just have to knock on the window and stand 2M back. A nurse wearing a mask opens the window and hands over the meds. All very quick and efficient.
I read the article regarding the blood test for 50 cancer types in the Guardian. Breast cancer is one of the types named. We desperately need an accurate alternative to mammograms for screening. Some women refuse their three yearly screening because of previous experience of pain or false positives. My mammogram gave a false negative. Could this blood test be the step forward we have all been hoping for? Like other breast cancer patients I have an annual mammogram for the next five years. Ultrasound screening is not offered on the mastectomy side, I've asked for one, but was told that ultrasound is not considered effective. I wonder if this is based on cost?
My daughter remains at home in isolation. Not enough tests being done on doctors. Nurses, HCAs, porters, paramedics, radiologists etc. are all in the same boat. Last night the labs /companies that produce tests announced, via journalist Robert Peston, that they have plenty of chemicals available to produce coronavirus tests, but the Government simply hasn't ordered them. This is contrary to Gove's statement yesterday evening during the daily briefing. This Government lies, covers up, and loads blame onto civil servants even during a global crisis. We have to hope that Kier Starmer becomes Labour leader on April 4th. We need someone with integrity to help us, someone who understands the importance of truth. I'm sure the medics and scientists would be only too pleased to keep Mr Starmer informed. Perhaps he could give us his own daily briefing to counter the lies.
I have to go now. Keep safe and give Raymond my best wishes.
Love,
Gill xxx
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Hello all
Total lockout here. Eatables are available though it's very difficult to get medicines. Had to go for follow up but the doctor cancelled it for next month.
Situation in America is getting worse. Hope this ends soon.
Keep safe and take care
Love
Jags
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Hello Jags,
Good to hear from you. The UK still has medicine, but I've heard that some may be in short supply before very long. For a few weeks the supermarket shelves were emptied of basics like pasta, rice, baked beans, flour and frozen or tinned food. In Norfolk there was a shortage of vegetables, meat and fish, but it's mostly back to normal again now.
I think India was ahead of us in instigating lockdown. I'm not sure if planned hospital appointments are going ahead. A friend in London was supposed to have her zoledronic acid infusion this month and this has been cancelled due to Covid-19.
Coronavirus deaths here are approaching 2,400 and numbers are going up rapidly. This will come to an end, but it's all very frightening at the moment.
Keep safe and well.
Love,
Gill xxx
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Hello Jags,
It is always nice to hear from you.
It looks as though doctors cancelling appointments is becoming quite standard. It makes sense to do this since we have the policy of self-isolating and keeping a distance of 2 m from anyone else.
Raymond and I tend to take it all very calmly. It has been a difficult time for us since January 25th when Raymond was admitted to hospital but that seems a long time ago now. Raymond is slowly recovering from major surgery February 14th. The coronavirus has made our routine for his recovery more complicated. We just carry on and hope that at some time things will return to normal. There is no point in getting into a panic.
There is plenty of food, but there seems to be a problem in getting it to the shelves. People panicked when the Prime Minister told people to "stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives". People over-reacted and went emptying the shelves in a very selfish manner and now quite a few products are unavailable, particularly hand sanitisers, liquid soaps, disinfectant etc.
There are all sorts of theories about this coronavirus, but who knows where the truth is?
In this country everything seems to be in a muddle, but that is nothing new.
We are getting a lot of news about India.
Keep well and safe.
Love.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello Gill,
Thank you for your latest post.
Raymond and I are managing with food supplies.
I was interested to read that Michael had collected your drugs yesterday from the GP surgery, because I had been told by others who are in your vulnerable category that if one of a couple had to stay indoors the other one also had to stay indoors, even if they were not in the vulnerable category. I have a cousin and a friend who are in this vulnerable category and those living with them think they cannot go out either. I cannot see how this can work.
I think the surgeries here are also closed and you have to knock etc.
As for the blood test we have to keep our hopes up.
As for mammograms I was told that you only get an ultrasound after a mammogram if your consultant has some doubts when you are examined physically. This may have changed, of course.
It looks as though Boris and his government are messing up as usual.
I do hope that Keir Starmer gets elected Labour Leader because he has dignity and I think he can stand up to Boris Johnson.
Thank you for your best wishes to Raymond. We know the road to recovery is still long.
Best wishes to Michael.
Love.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello Marias,
The other day when you posted I said that I was interested in what you had to say about your country. It was on Tuesday March 31st that I bought a copy of the Morning Star paper when I was buying some groceries. It always has some interesting articles.
On the Features pages was a full page article about Colombia, so I read it with great interest. The article was written by a PHd candidate at one of universities here. He had spent five months ethnographic research observing ELN units as part of his research on Colombia's armed conflict and peace-making experiences. His blog can be found at www.ColombianConflict.com.
I thought you might be interested in this.
Thinking of you. Keep well and keep safe.
Abrazos.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello again Sylvia,
The protocol for shielding those who are regarded by the NHS as vulnerable is unclear. Michael only goes out for medication and this is so well organised by the surgery that it's about as safe as it could be, otherwise, he stays in. We both have plenty to be getting on with in the house and garden. Michael and a retired GP in the village have organised a system of volunteers to collect groceries and collect meds for those in isolation with no family nearby. People have been very generous with their volunteering and their time. This crisis has brought out the best in so many people, but what can I say about Boris Johnson et al? The Tory Party's 'I'm alright Jack' attitude is too deeply ingrained for it to change.
I continue to order my food from our local farm shop. The quality is good and I shall go on buying their fresh fruit and vegetables after all this is over.
We still haven't heard from Mary. It's unusual for her to be away from the thread for this long. Hope there's nothing wrong.
Keep well.
Love,
Gill xxx
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Hola marias
El otro día, cuando publicaste, dije que estaba interesado en lo que tenías que decir sobre tu país. Fue el martes 31 de marzo que compré una copia del periódico Morning Star cuando estaba comprando algunos comestibles. Siempre tiene algunos artículos interesantes.
En las páginas de Características había un artículo completo sobre Colombia, así que lo leí con gran interés. El artículo fue escrito por un candidato a doctorado en una de las universidades aquí. Había pasado cinco meses de investigación etnográfica observando unidades del ELN como parte de su investigación sobre el conflicto armado de Colombia y las experiencias de construcción de la paz. Su blog se puede encontrar en www.ColombianConflict.com.
Pensé que podría estar interesado en esto.
Pensando en ti. Mantenerse bien y mantenerse a salvo.
Abrazos
Sylvia xxxx
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Hi. sylvie and all the others. I trust they are still locked up and with the necessary supplies and medicines. Everything is fine here, wanting to go for a walk in the forest but I'm afraid of being infected. so moving arms and legs as much as I can inside the apartment. I appreciate I have 85 meters. sylvie the philosophy of the ELN I do not know it very much although within the university where I work there are quite a few sympathizers. Now the ELN has given the war a truce so that the goby can dedicate itself to fighting the Covid-19 pandemic. sadly the now unidentified "paramilitaries" continue to kill social leaders, who remain in their homes for quarantine. how they are social leaders of the poorest provinces have no significance at national or international level .. they are destroying those who can help mobilize people for their rights and the preservation of their territories. the situation in my country continues to be critical on a social and economic level. I hope it will change soon, this epidemic will lead to uprising that will have nothing to do with the guerrillas and if with the outrage and marginalization of the greater part of the country. We are a country of 50 million inhabitants who have given health to private companies so that they can profit.
Abrazos
Marias
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Hello The vienes from My apartamento.
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Hi Marias,
I think all of us here must envy you the views you have from your apartment. So much green, it's beautiful. Hard to believe that your country is in so much turmoil when everything looks so calm and peaceful. Your corrupt Government's craving for money and power has destroyed everyone's peace of mind, you really don't need all this extra worry when you have cancer to deal with.
Keep safe Marias.
Love,
Gill xxx
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Hello to all of you
I have been gone from here for a while, the days are flying by, it's very strange. Life is turned upside down, that's for sure. We have had a stretch of cool yet sunny very nice weather, I have taken advantage of it and worked on several chores both at the farm and here. It is nice to use my shoulder again, but it is not without pain. I usually work myself into being very tired, and I try to catch the Governor of our State every day when he does a virtual press conference. The President with his various advisors is also on TV every day, we have so much information about Covid19 coming at us it's just too much really. I read my daily newspaper in the morning, and then I don't obsess about it till evening when I will watch for updates.
The state I live in is slightly smaller than UK. We have 2113 positive cases and 20 deaths here. We have had about 22,000 people tested for it. So about 10% of the total are infected. Of those about 80% will not be severe cases, perhaps 20% of the rest will go to the hospital. And about 25% of those cases might be hospitalized for a while, or put in the ICU. There are many states that have fewer cases than we do, and some of the States with heavily populated cities have many more. New York is being hit hard, California though it has more people, has fewer cases than New York. There are hot spots here and there around the country.
Here the total shut-down orders are done state-by-state, since there are such varying degrees of sickness. My state has 4 cities with shut-downs, and the people in most of the rural areas are strongly advised to stay home although businesses deemed essential can be open. This includes grocery stores and pharmacy; farming and construction still goes on and businesses that supply products for construction and farming can be open with strict guidelines. Since I live in a rural area, there is still quite a bit of traffic that goes by, because there is a lot of farming done around here. I do still go to the grocery store, and I am very careful. I wear gloves, and go very early in the morning when the store is not filled with customers. People are quite polite, and if I am in an aisle, they go around, and vice versa. Nobody talks, people get their things and leave, for the most part. I am astonished at how quickly I have gotten used to this, if someone gets too close to me I am very uncomfortable. Nobody has been in my house for almost a month, I have become quite lax. My hair is overgrown, as are my toenails, and things might be a little dusty in places. But I am very lucky because I have my farm to escape to, no-one is there and everything seems normal for a while.
I want to send my best to Helenlouise and Marias, who are going through treatment. Also dear Gill, who has to be careful of her immune system. And Maryjv who is recovering from mastectomy.
I learned today that people with Blood Type A (I am A+) have a higher incidence of Covid19 than do people with Type O, for what that's worth.
Sylvia and Raymond, I hope you are both very well, and I'm glad that Raymond is getting stronger every day. I'm sorry everything is in such a muddle right now, I admire your calm demeanor through it all.
I think of all of you so much, please be safe. I will also try to be safe, this virus seems highly contagious.
Love, Mary
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beautiful pics Marias!!! Thinking of all of you during this time. San Antonio has a NH with over 75 positive patients and staff, feel very sad for them. And the staff are working at an additional 7 NH which puts them all at risk! As a city we have 313 positive cases...a lot in my zip code. just trying to stay home, have little to no contact with people and use the curbside pick up for groceries. Please stay safe, I say our BC battles have better prepared us for this! 🙏❤️
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Hi Mary,
Thank heavens you're still hale and hearty - well almost! I was becoming a little concerned when you didn't post for a few days.
It must seem strange on the farm with no one about, especially at this time of year. It's good that you're able to escape, walk and work whilst keeping safe. There's definitely dust gathering in odd corners of my home too, but who will ever know? The garden in my haven away from the black cloud that has settled on the world. Norfolk has a population of 903,680 and has 225 confirmed cases with 38 deaths. UK as a whole has 38,690 confirmed cases, with many more unconfirmed and 3,605 deaths. It seems that most people who have coronavirus just stay at home without needing to ask for medical help, so the real numbers are unknown.
The weather here is warm and sunny, rabbits, deer and pheasants are running about full of the joys of Spring and I'm beginning to enjoy the peace and quiet.
The Queen is to address the nation on Sunday evening. Dunkirk spirit and all that..... We do need to pull together during this time, so it might be helpful, but I doubt many of us will bother with it. Like you, we are in lock down, however, some people seem to enjoy flouting the rules and as they are younger, for the most part, they believe themselves to be safe from the more serious effects of coronavirus. Never a thought for those they might infect at some point.
I'm of to the greenhouse to sow seeds for Summer bedding. Keep well Mary. There will be an end to this frightening time. Be careful not to overdo your work on the farm.
With love and prayers,
Gill xxx
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Hi Maryjv,
Hope your recovery from surgery is going smoothly and you can begin the process of putting cancer to the back of your mind. It takes time, but just over a year after completing treatment, I no longer wake up and my first thought is breast cancer. I go for hours without thinking about it at all. Soon it will be days. Too much living to do to bother stressing about what might happen at some point in the future.
Keep safe and well Mary. You've come a long way since you first joined the thread last November, just keep on moving forward. You remain in my prayers.
Much love,
Gill xxx
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Hello Marias,
Thank you for sending those lovely photographs.
It is such a pity that your country is in such turmoil.
Keep yourself safe and do everything you can to keep peaceful.
Are you doing much in the way of reading? I do not feel very motivated at the moment. I am trying to read a novel in French that had a huge success and was translated into English.
The French is easy enough for me but I lack concentration. The author is Muriel Barbery. I think this novel might appeal to you.
There is every sign of Spring here in Exmouth with lots of plants in bloom but with lockdown it is hard to enjoy it.
Abrazos.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello Mary,
I was so glad to find that you had posted. I was very concerned about you.
It looks as though we are all in the same kind of daily routine. This coronavirus has turned our world upside down. Like you, we have daily utterances from the government about the situation but I find a lot of it is repetitive and evasive. Today we had one hour of Michael Gove who is very arrogant. The press have an opportunity to question whoever is speaking but to me they do not get satisfactory answers. I agree with you that, in a way, we are getting too much information.
I had an email yesterday from an old school friend who likes in Western Canada in the province of Saskatchewan which is part of the Prairie provinces of Canada. He and his wife and family are going through much the same routine. He brought up memories of the Goon Show and the Lergy. I did not follow these shows but I think it was a comedy show about trying to escape a pandemic. The Goons were very famous.
What is the population of your State, which, if I remember, is Missouri? I did hear on the news this morning that New Orleans has now got more deaths than in New York. They are saying this is because of all the crowds for Mardi Gras.
I was very interested to read that you had learned that people with blood type A have a higher incidence of Covid-19 than do people with type O. Type O is the most common so it would be interesting to know whether this statement is in line with the statistics on Covid-19. By the way, my blood group is also A+. Raymond's is type O.
Raymond and I are not too bad. His main problem is the time that the oedema is taking in his right leg where they took out the saphenous vein to do the bypass surgery, but he has made great progress.
As for me, I keep busy looking after him and bringing him back to strong health with our healthy nutrition.
We do not like all the pills he has to take at the moment and our motivation is to get him off as many as possible.
We do take a walk most days as we are allowed and sometimes walk to our local grocery store to get the essential shopping that we are allowed. His prescription is delivered to us. We have also made contact with our local natural food shop, the owners of which know us well, and we have been able to get deliveries from them.
We do keep calm because we just have to get through this. Our government has not been doing very well.
Thinking of you, Mary, and sending you love and best wishes.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello Mary, again,
I was wondering whether you have managed to read the latest email from Chris Woollams, where he talks at length about the coronavirus. I found it made very interesting reading.
Keep well.
Love.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello everyone,
Possibly some good news from Europe. In Spain, coronavirus infections have fallen over four consecutive days. France is recording lower death rates and Italy has had its lowest number of deaths in a week. It's too early to tell, but let's hope that this pattern continues and that other countries follow very quickly. My heart goes out to everyone on this site who has had their surgery cancelled or delayed due to this virus. Breast cancer is harrowing enough, without this set back.
Here in the UK coronavirus infections continue to rise, even the Prime Minister has coronavirus and is in hospital while his pregnant girlfriend is recovering from it at home. In the meantime, the Queen has addressed the nation!
Best wishes to everyone and good luck to Helenlouise and Marias who are having treatment. Also Maryjv who is recovering from recent surgery.
Love,
Gill xxx
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Hi everyone,
Glad to see that everyone is hanging in there - not much else we can do, I guess. It is a pretty grim situation world wide. The physical distancing is challenging with family members - but we all know how important it is - so we have little choice.
I have a friend who was diagnosed with covid 19 and was on a ventilator for 18 days in an induced coma - fighting for her life. Well - good news from her son last night to say that she is now awake and is breathing on her own - so that news brightened my day. I think the saddest part of this virus is for the people who have to die alone without their loved ones holding their hand - this is so heart wrenching.
So glad to hear that Raymond is improving after his heart surgery.
Keep well everyone!
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Hello adagio,
It was nice to hear from you. You are right about the coronavirus. It is world wide and we have no idea how long it is going to last.
What an awful time your friend had but I am so glad to know that she has pulled through. What a person goes through with this virus can be truly horrific. I heard a similar story on the radio this morning when a wife was telling almost the exact same story as you told, and she is waiting to see if the husband will eventually pull through.
Thank you for remembering Raymond. He is making really good progress.
My heart goes out to all those patients going through cancer treatment and who are having their treatment delayed.
Thinking of you and sending love and best wishes.
Sylvia xxxx
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hello TNBC friends,
adagio that is good news about your friend. To come back from a coma and ventilator is incredible. What a relief.
I started my second round of taxol, hercerptin and perjeta without the taxol. My bone marrow is lazy from the previous treatments and has not bounced back from first round so I have neutropenia. On the bright side the skin Mets look like they are receding already. The ulcer and skin discoloration is diminishing, so that is really positive. I am flush faced tonight but otherwise feel fine. Fingers crossed I can do chemo next week. The cancer Centre is quiet and no visitors unless you need physical support. First time ever I have seen my MO on my own and been solo during therapy. It's no drama just different.
For this who observe Easter wishing you a happy celebration and I hope everyone stays safe over the break. Best regards to all - Helen x
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Hello Helenlouise,
Thank you for posting and I just wanted to say that I hope everything will improve with your chemotherapy. Just keep looking forward and telling yourself that you are going to get through this.
I was sorry to read that you have neutropenia because of previous treatment but at least you know that neutropenia can be treated withfilgrastim, brand name Neupogen. This will help to stimulate the bone marrow to produce white blood cells.
I was very glad to read that the skin mets are already receding and that the ulcer and skin discolouration is diminishing.
The flush face is quite common. I remember that happening to me.
I do hope that you will be able to continue chemotherapy next week. It was good that you were able to see your oncologist on your own.
I do hope you have a relaxing weekend for the Easter break. I think it will be very quiet because we are all confined to home so there will not be family gatherings.
Sending you love and best wishes.
Sylvia xxxx
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Hello everyone, especially Mary, Maryjv, adagio, Kath, Helenlouise, Gill. Jags56, Marias,
I just wanted to wish everyone a good long weekend.
Take care,
Love
Sylvia xxxx
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Hi, Sylvia
Another busy week and once again it's Friday, and for Catholics it is Good Friday. This will be the first Easter with no church services on Sunday. At least our parish priest should be getting a good rest, he would occasionally comment on how busy he was kept with 4 parishes. No family gatherings for me Sunday; as I told you, my birth family and my stepchildren keep clear of me, since they don't completely trust my immune system.
I did read Chris Woollams' opinion of CV (coronavirus). From what he says, his life is not much affected by it. I am not sure how Thailand is faring with this virus, it seems he is making sure that he and his family are staying very well nourished and exercised. I have heard the virus is negatively affected by heat and humidity so perhaps it is not too bad there, in fact, I just took another look at his post and Thailand is not badly affected, at least, not at the time of his writing. I do appreciate his view of this virus, and that he contrasts the numbers of people with it it with other viruses, such as the "flu", and says we just don't have enough numbers to really show what's going on.
Chris does not seem at all optimistic that the researchers can even come up with a quick vaccine, using other epidemics as an example. He says what ultimately brought Ebola and smallpox to a halt was containment, isolating the spread, and understanding how it spread. But those vaccines took years to bring to market. He says with this CV, at the present time, the best way forward for now seems to be to wear a mask if sick, and otherwise keeps hands and forearms clean, stay a metre (here they say 6 ft.), away from other people, and don't shake hands or kiss people.
Here's something I don't understand, Sylvia. A common cold is a virus, as is the flu. I can get a cold one year, and get a cold again 6 months later. I am not immune to a cold because I already had a cold. Here we are constantly told if we have this CV and recover we then have immunity. Nobody has explained this.
There is also an old malaria drug that is being used by some people stricken with CV. They say it has helped them to recover, and quickly. But the Docs who seem to be in charge say it's anecdotal, never mind, can't be used till it's tested for months and months. Never mind that it's an old drug that can be gotten from a pharmacy with a prescription. Very odd. There is much conflicting information that is going around. I do agree with Woollams', the best defense seems to be to stay as healthy as possible and avoid crowded areas and not get too close to others.
Other than that, I have been working outside since we have had very nice weather. 2 days were quite hot, and I overheated on one of those days, and had to take it easy for the next day. Now we are back to cool and seasonal, I like it a lot better.
I look at my calendar and see that I have annual Breast MRI coming up soon, followed by my annual Oncologist visit. I wonder if those things will be cancelled as most other things have.
I see news of the UK and it sounds as if your country has a lot to deal with too. I do hope that Boris Johnson will get better. I heard on the news a couple of days ago that President Trump is working with some others in the Pharmaceutical companies to get some experimental drugs to him to possibly bring him through this quickly. I only heard this once, I assume it's true, our news media is so biased that one never really knows what to believe.
The population of Missouri is 6.125 million, not even as many people as in New York City.
I'm glad Raymond is coming along, the edema takes a long time to leave, but walking is certainly very good for that. And I'm glad you have your food deliveries sorted out. I think things are calming down a little in that respect, people are not emptying shelves quite as quickly.
I shall talk to you later,
Love, Mary
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Hello Mary,
Thank you for your latest post.
With reference to the coronavirus I think that we have been given a lot of different information and it is all very confusing. This makes it rather difficult to ascertain where the truth lies.
I do remember all the utterances about how this virus would not survive heat and that we had to try to survive until the hot weather came. They seem to have overlooked the fact that it was also occurring in hot countries! I think in the UK we were told this to try to hide the fact of how years of austerity had brought the NHS to its knees and the government was trying to save face. The government here did not get its act together quickly enough and we could end up with the highest number of cases in Europe.
As for Chris Woollams, he does seem to believe in social distancing and, of course, it makes sense to eat a healthy diet and keep your immune system strong.
It looks as though in the UK we cannot really know how many people are dying of coronavirus compared to those dying of other chronic illnesses. Moreover, we are not given the number of people dying in care homes or at home. I think the government is wanting to keep admissions to hospital as low as possible to provide 'capacity' for the NHS so that the situation does not look as bad as it is. It is shocking the way the NHS workers are being treated and are short of all sorts of equipment and are putting themselves in danger. I have nothing but admiration for them, but no admiration for the government.
As for flu, I think there have been high numbers of deaths in past years but they have been accepted as 'normal' and not loudly publicised.
I have my doubts about this so called immunity with the coronavirus. Where is the proof? It seems to be some kind of assumption.
I would think it is going to take some time to come up with a vaccine, especially a safe one.
I do not know what to think about using old drugs. It is good for the drug companies but is it good and safe for the patients?
As for the common cold being a virus, the same as the flu, I think the reason we can have colds over and over again is because there are different strains. As for the flu, the yearly vaccine never seems to fit the strain that is hitting us. I think people mix up colds and flu. Flu can be really nasty, will send you to bed and there is the risk of pneumonia. What I do not understand is that if you do get pneumonia you are given antibiotics, so the pneumonia must be bacterial. Why does viral flu give you bacterial pneumonia?
From what I understand, the complication of coronavirus seems to be viral pneumonia and there is no pill for that. At least that is what orthodox medicine says about viral infections, though there seem to be antiviral remedies in alternative medicine. Do they work?
We have been having unusually warm weather here in the UK for April, but I do not know if it will last. People have quickly changed into shorts, although when Raymond and I went for our permitted walk today there was a cold wind blowing.
Thank you for the information about Missouri. I think it is good to live away from huge overpopulated cities. The UK with about 67 million people is way overpopulated for a small island and it does take away quality of life. The small population of a large country like Canada was something that I liked during the years that Raymond and I spent there. I do not know what it is like now.
Raymond continues to make progress but the leg with the long wound still bothers him. We have to be patient. It is the coronavirus that has made it somewhat more complicated for us. The panic buying has spoilt on-line home grocery deliveries. We have taken to walking to our smallish Co-Op food store and buying a little at a time. There and back is about two miles and Raymond needs to be walking that amount regularly. I think people are still panic buying here. Today the police were out patrolling in some supermarkets telling people what they could buy. The government has said the police had overstepped the mark and that people can buy what they like in shops that are permitted to be open.
Needless to say we shall all be glad when all this strange daily existence is over.
That is about all for now. Take care.
Love.
Sylvia xxxx
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hi Gill I wanted to say Happy Easter while it is still Easter, here anyway .
We had very nice weather, promising to rain later.
Even in a pandemic holidays are the hardest to get thru, seems very long day.
Went to Mass in my living room again, i especially miss singing in the choir.
I am rather afraid to go to garden center, it seems to be very busy. My grandson is 21 and has started working there, he says he doesn't understand why so many people are going there, obviously he has no interest in gardening. Nevertheless, he is glad to find work since he lost his previous job.
I saw a bit of the Queens speech, what was the reaction over there? I saw today that Boris has left the hospital, its hopeful that people do get better even when in bad shape.
I am off for now, will be back, enjoy the garden.
Love Mary
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Happy Easter to Maryjv, Adagio, Sylvia, Kath, Marias, Jags, and Helenlouise, hopefully we will have better days sooner rather than later!
Take care, be well, with love
Mary
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thank you Mary!! Wishing you all a very happy Easter and keeping you in my thoughts and prayers always! 🙏
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Hi Mary,
Thank you for your Easter wishes. I'm sending you my belated wishes for a peaceful Easter and happier times. The novelty of attending Mass in different rooms of the house is beginning to wear off now. I miss hearing the choir and I guessed that you would miss singing. I also miss our priests, their friendship and sense of humour. No Easter egg hunt with the small people this year.
I have so much to do. Things I've been putting off for years, clearing out the wardrobe, the drawers, kitchen cupboards, the hidden bits of the garden, the shed, the pump house and so on. Today we're painting the conservatory, tomorrow the front lobby. The problem with painting one room, is that it makes the other rooms look shabby. Thus, we're working our way through the house. As you would expect, Michael is delighted!
Our garden centres are closed around here, I don't think I'd risk going in any case. This sunny weather would bring out too many gardening enthusiasts and I wouldn't feel safe. I had to laugh at your grandson working at a garden centre when he hasn't the slightest interest in gardening. Must be purgatory for him, hope the plants survive his loving care.
Had a letter from the NHS warning me to stay in the house for at least 12 weeks. I need my walks through the fields and woods to keep sane, so I've carried on. Don't go to the shops or walk though the village though. I miss seeing people so much and my thoughts are with you on your own at the farm. Phone calls and Skype don't help much.
The Queen's speech seems to have gone down quite well with most people - a sort of antidote to Boris Johnson's clownish behaviour and compulsive fibbing. The UK is in such a mess. The Government will not provide hospital and care home staff with personal protective equipment to enable them to work safely with Covid-19 patients. Doctors and nurses are dying, while the Health Secretary tells them they are using masks, visors etc unnecessarily and the Home Secretary tells them she is sorry if health workers 'feel' that they don't have sufficient protection. Very many of us are absolutely worn down by the lies.
On a lighter note, my seeds are all growing well, while the slugs and snails are being considerate for once. Might need to grow everything in pots though as the rabbits are out in force this year. Also, my home baking is coming on by leaps and bounds and my wholemeal soda bread is now actually quite good. Not much time to think too much about this horrible virus or the consequences to our economy. Just hoping that our scientists come up with a reliable vaccine that can be produced quickly and offered to everyone wherever they are in the world, rich or poor.
Let's hope that the light at the end of the tunnel will appear very soon.
Keep safe and well,
Gill xxx
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