I have a message to give you in return. It is possible to get over this virus, you do not have to live in total fear of it. Whilst it is a very serious virus, it is not an automatic death sentence. In the same breath you should still maintain shielding to the maximum.
To be honest, it was a foregone conclusion that we would catch it, with Sharon working in a nursing home with infected residents, who have sadly died, with no available PPE.
It is a terribly cruel situation going on in all the care homes, much to the governments shame. The mental toll on the carers and nurses is also horrific, to watch the residents dying in front of them. They are not prepared nor trained for this kind of slaughter, all for a minimum wage. But the staff continue to go in because they have a sense of duty of care towards the residents. What the public and government do not see is the the daily toll it takes on them with tears of grief after each shift.
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2greys
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My granddaughter works in a care home, I worry constantly about her . She sees first hand what is happening and it really does upset her. All these workers are heros, dedicated to those they care for. I have nothing but admiration for them. 🤗 Bernadette xx xx 🌈
I’m pleased you’re doing so much better and I can understand how you and Sharon caught the virus. It’s a dreadful situation in care homes everywhere and must be heartbreaking for all the dedicated carers. Social care is always overlooked and that needs to change right now.
It’s such a conundrum for caregivers and residents in nursing homes, assisted living etc. underpaid and overworked. Not enough beds or space for all the ones needing a place to reside. There is no easy fix. It’s a dreadful situation really.
I did not know that you both had the virus! I am so very sad for that
That you have both recovered is, for me, a miracle, especially with you and your lung problems
I am particularly worried since I have a new tumour and big nodules again in my lung...
and the idea of going to Wythenshawe to have my lung biopsied has entered my head a lot, but I can't do it!
I feel blessed to hear you are both safe.
My thoughts to you both!!
Bev xxx
I also feel very angry, and so much more, at the PHE, for their apparent inadequacies, or otherwise (!) for the way in which this has all been handled with PPE and nursing homes.
So glad to hear you and your wife are recovering. Your points about care homes are spot on. Sending hospital patients back to care homes to free up beds at start of outbreak was a recipe for disaster. An empty hotel or temporary place for them???? Take care 2greys.
Your words brought home the sad reality of nursing homes and the absolute bravery and strength of those who work with little or no PPE in that situation.
Many years ago I worked on an elderly care ward. It was horrible to see any of our patients die. It must be worse in a care home as the elderly are there longer so the staff get to know them better. I admire all the care staff for the job they do.
I'm glad to know you got through the illness and are back with us.
Thank You 2 Greys, So Happy for you Both on Recovery from this dreadful Virus. You are right with Sharon Knowing, & Being in the middle of it all. NOW, you both must regain your Strengths, and Help others (Government) Because your Experiences. Love to you Both. XXX C.
Good Morning 2greys - so glad to see you well enough to post again, so pleased you have regained some wellness.
Sending love, strength and thoughts to Sharon and all care workers and residents in the nursing homes and hospitals up and down the country and world wide.
Thanks for the words of hope. It's good to see you and to know you're both getting better from this virus. The situation in care homes is so worrying. My aunt is in a care home. She has always been physically well (in spite of a terrible diet, drinking too much and never exercising) (we always joke that she'll outlive us all) but now has dementia. I guess her good health will be a bonus but it is a worry for us that in spite of the home not allowing visitors somehow the virus will get in. A couple of years ago the norovirus went around the care home and every resident was affected. It must be especially hard to deal with for staff and residents
I commiserate with you HH, My Sister is in a Care Home, she has Alziemers & Has been with MS since 18 years of age. ( Sue also said the same to me on my Last Visit, ( I'll outlive you All"). I have to rely on my family near Liverpool to keep me updated as I am about 3 hours away, and of Course No one can go to see her. As far as I'm aware, she is still alive and though only 4 stone, I do fear she will succumb to this Virus, she's been a tough cookie all her Life so hopefully she still has a bit of fight in her. I pray for all our Seniors & your Aunt in all these Care Homes and their Carers. Bless them & keep them safe. Much Love HH. XXX C.
Oh, I am so sorry. It is an appalling scandal. And the deaths we hear about are only in hospitals. I am so sorry that Sharon has had to go through this. And then having to watch you suffer with it as well.
I agree with everything you say I even read where paramedics went to a care home where 3 residents very ill with suspected coronavirus. They didn’t take them to hospital the staff just told to give pallative care how distressing for all. Did you get coronavirus 2 greys ? Take care all xxx
I am so pleased you are recovering well and sending such a positive message. I agree with you though that the elderly in care homes have been ignored so damagingly. I hope Sharon is able to cope, and thankful that she has your support. All the best to you both xx
Hi I am so pleased you are recovering as I have been worried about you. It's very comforting to know that even with your low lung function this is possible and eases my fears about catching it a lot. Rest and take it easy my friend. 🙂🧡 x
It’s so good to have you back, 2greys. Both you and Sharon, I’m sure, have pulled through a very rough time. I’m so pleased that you, in particular, have survived against all the odds. As you say, it does take some of the fear of the virus away for us.
As for care homes, I think the quality of our society is really being put to the test here. Somehow, it seems, older people in care homes just don’t count as much as others. So inhumane and unfair! I think improvements are happening, but I can only imagine the stress involved for all the dedicated but underpaid staff working to do the best for their charges.
I understand that many are already as affected by PTSD, as armed forces in wartime....will be more as the dust settles, if it ever does. I’ll try to post a link to survival techniques established by Help for Heroes, now being used by medical staff too.....next post, I’m not too good at this!!
I concur with all above that has been said about care homes. I want to add a further thought, 2greys: If there is plenty of profit being made from the owners of many of these homes, big companies, then one might suspect that because they are privately owned the Government is chary about tightening up regulations and access to inspectors and gaining entry to what is essentially private property. The owners can not be offended by their natural allies of the City of London and its stockbroker- led government. I mean no offence to the workers in care homes by this observation. They are it seems acceptable collateral damage and risk.
My feeling is that all care homes should be taken into public ownership and then where the duty of care lies would be clear. The fees of many people in private care homes are paid for by local councils, contributing to companies’ profits. I’m not a rabid leftie but the shambles of the current desperate situation should suggest a radical rethink.
I worked as a night care assistant for two and a half years. This was just over twenty years ago and I was played £3.10 an hour. ( no extra money for unsociable hours. ) . The minimum wage came in and it went up to 3.25 an hour. It can be a heartbreaking job at the best of times, so what it's like now I can't imagine. I am so glad to hear you and your wife are recovering from the virus.
I'm really glad you are okay. And very sad to read about the situation in the care homes. It is truly very troubling to know the awful reality for the elderly in care homes and the horrors they and the staff face. I hope you get stronger day by day. Take care. xx
Hello and welcome back to the fold 2greys. You will, by now realise how much we have missed you and I, like everyone else is delighted to know you and your partner Sharon, are recovering well from the virus.
You have experienced things as they really are in this turmoil - the disgrace of the care homes, to catching the corona virus and living to tell the tale. Yes, you have come through a very challenging time to say the least. But there is still positivity in your latest post as well as your usual good advice. It is such welcome news.
I can't really find the words to say how pleased I am that you have both recovered. I have only been a member of this forum since last Summer but soon afterwards I began to look forward to reading your regular posts about so many things.
So now is the time to take a step back and get stronger over the Summer months.
I hope it won't be too long before we hear from you again.
Please give my very best wishes to Sharon. Look after yourselves.
It is a marvelous thing that you have recovered from this virus and Thank you so much for posting it here. I realise that you are fully aware of the fear this illness has generated in so many of us with lung issues and I imagine the fear for you must have been great as you waited for its arrival. Thank you for your courage and for sharing this priceless hope and reassurance with us.
💕💕 goodness me brings faith and hope to all of us your post and your strength to overcome it.
The plight of the care homes is a sad sad time for all the older generation who have helped shaped the future for the younger... also the older generation living at home sometimes last to be considerd for treatment and help. Its a tragic situation all round.The carers like sharon do an amazing selfless job
Hi 2g I welcomed you back on your post further up but again, Im SO pleased to see this one now.
What you say about nursing homes is so pertinent. It's shocking the negligence and delay if getting proper PPE, and the Panorama programme revealed what some may have already read, that when the government realised they did not have enough PPE to go round, they downgraded the status of the virus, i.e. not so serious, to try to cover up the lack of proper equipment. And nursing home residents have been lambs to the slaughter.
A senior manager at our local hospital where ive been hospitalised in the past lives in our road and visits us regularly and told us that ironically smokers do quite well when they catch the virus because they have strong accessory muscles - who knew?
Anyway you and Sharon ok, very best to both of you.
I’ve already welcomed you back in a post above but thanks for drawing our attention to the plight of residents and care assistants in care homes from Sharon’s direct experience. It’s a situation in need of urgent reform and I hope the government will address this intolerable situation. Older people need to be treated with more dignity and respect and care workers should be paid a decent, fair wage.
I’m pleased that yourself and Sharon have got through this awful virus. Care staff have had a terrible time but hopefully the media have highlighted the faults in the systems. There are so many carers giving up their families to stay with the residents and protect them Truly heroic 🌈Anita x
Oh 2g I am so sorry you have both had such a dreadful time. I can only imagine what the daily toll it takes on Sharon and all the other caring, dedicated staff, especially when you hear of front line A&E staff who are used to death, but nothing on the scale they are seeing daily, are having mental health issues. The latest lack of PPE we are hearing of is in the Hospices.
Not that it is the right time in the middle of a crisis but I hope it will make people re-evaluate the value of many generally under paid staff who frequently go above and beyond the call of duty. That includes all the staff cooks, porters, clerks and cleaners all carrying on where many fear to tread.
It is good to see you posting 2g - you have been missed. Lots of R & R for you and I hope you both improve and feel better soon.
The Nursing Home problem started when I was still working, the NHS/Government decided that Geriatric Hospitals no longer needed, closed them and sold the land off. Then everyone wondered where they could treat the older people who needed more Rehab/Time to recover than 30 and 40 year olds, Then these older people were viewed as "bed blockers". In the Geriatric Units, they had Consultants, staffed as wards with qualified Nurses, Physiotherapists etc 5 days a week. Now into nursing homes, Medical backing reduced to a local GP who visits infrequently, few medically qualified staff, virtually no Physiotherapy input, so no rehab. just permanent residents. But hey-ho these are old people after all. Maybe this rate of losses will encourage people to think of older people as valuable members of society.
This whole episode.which thankfully you have survived now opens up a whole new scenario.will Sharon being a care worker now be eligable for a test to confirm she is virus free,will you as a co habitant and shielding also be elibible for a test and be confirmed likewise,but given the absence of the anitibody tests until late May where does that leave you both?Neither having confirmation that you have had the virus,and that you carry antibodies that may protect you to certain degree in the furure.?
Anyway welcome back and you are indeed a survivor given your current lung condition and the recent cancer treatment which i hope will continue within the desired timescales now that hospials are slowly returning to business as usual.
It leaves us precisely in limbo. Theoretically, according to the Gov spin, we are now both entitled to the antigen test, but I will not be holding my breath over that, either way, true or not it is of no personal use to myself at all, only for Sharon in regards to the residents at the nursing home. In reality not much use either, in theory she could be contagious shedding the virus for a few days before getting any results from an antigen test. This is what is making it so dangerous in care home environments, the virus "doing the rounds" whilst waiting for staff to get test results. To be effective, the staff would need testing daily with results in hours, not weekly, for it to keep residents safe.
The antibody test however will be a different kettle of fish. It will mean a certain degree of confidence being attained, Sharon will be able to do her job without fear to herself and the residents.
For myself it could mean the end of house arrest which is now in it's 8th week and more importantly to get my lung cancer issues attended to. My next Oncology consultation has been changed from face to face to a telephone consultation and my next CT Scan delayed for another 4 months which is not exactly inspiring. I still do not have answers to what is going on in my other lung.
Our Gp's are however saying that they think we both had the virus. "The Hub" who also dealt with Sharon's infection, because of her job, said she had it as well. As for myself, I was basically left to fend for myself, although I did not actively seek any help either.
As an aside, a month ago you stated that "you were going to be another one who would not read my posts anymore", what happened? change of mind?
No change of mind .obviously the virus hasn't affected your memory. I just thought i would be gracious enough to welcome back a member.maybe i shouldn't have bothered as they say a leopard never changes its spots. 😊
So sorry to hear that you and your partner have had such a horrific time. It's so good to hear that you beat this horrific virus, I wish you both well and hope you feel as good as you can as soon as possible ❤ My step sister works in a care home and a friend works out in the community as a care worker . The lack of ppe is disgusting, my heart and admiration goes out to all those involved in caring, amazing people. As for the residents and elderly and vulnerable in the community, my heart bleeds for them. Such a broken system, I just pray out of this nightmare, care workers get the recognition they deserve and the elderly and vulnerable get the respect and care they deserve. So glad your back 2greys, love reading your posts. Best wishes to you both ❤ xxx
Excellent news that you both are through the worst and thanks for taking some of the fear away. My dear father is in a care home and i only wish i was able to care for him but his medical needs prevent this. Take care you two and get your strength up.x 🐿🌈💕
So sorry to learn that you and your partner have had the dreadful disease but pleased that you are now recovering. I hope that you have some immunity now, so that you will be able to visit the hospital safely to get your other problems sorted as a matter of urgency.
Until I get an antibody test to prove it, I will still remain self isolating, for what it is worth, as Sharon returns back to work today, exposed to the virus once more. The other antigen test was not available to us when we started to get symptoms, at that time testing was still only being done when admitted to hospital, which neither of us was. Once I am tested positive as having antibodies, I can then crawl out from being stuck between this rock and a hard place.
I will have more confidence, after Sharon has been back at work for a few weeks and nothing untoward happens to either of us. The feedback via "face-ache" from her carer colleagues/friends is that their PPE now consists of just a plastic apron, gloves and a face mask with no eye protection. Little wonder that the virus has run rampant through care homes if this is standard equipment. Hopefully now the story is "out there" in the media, PPE quality will improve in care homes. When Sharon was sent home, all she had been supplied with was a very thin tissue paper surgical type mask that did not seal across the nose or at the sides. gloves and her standard "scrubbs" uniform. I will also have an idea of how many of the residents have died, since she has been away, in quarantine, both because of her and myself. The manager is still taking in new/replacement residents straight from the hospital into the nursing home.
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