Guidance on social distancing for everyone in the UK and protecting older people and vulnerable adults - and THAT'S ALL OF US.

[Jm954]

From the UK Gov website.

"There are some clinical conditions which put people at even higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19. If you are in this category, next week the NHS in England will directly contact you with advice the more stringent measures you should take in order to keep yourself and others safe. For now, you should rigorously follow the social distancing advice in full, outlined below.

People falling into this group are those who may be at particular risk due to complex health problems such as:

People who have received an organ transplant and remain on ongoing immuno suppression medication

People with cancer who are undergoing active chemotherapy or radiotherapy

People with cancers of the blood or bone marrow such as leukaemia who are at any stage of treatment"

Here is a link to the rest of the advice: gov.uk/government/publicati...

In addition there is this article about Medical Distancing which sounds good to me

cancertherapyadvisor.com/ho...

Jackie

[G1llHa1n]

I won't pretend to 'like' any of this but thank you for giving us the official position - clear, unambiguous and the links so we can explore it in greater detail.

[AussieNeil Partner Administrator]

Social distancing: What it is and why it’s the best tool we have to fight the coronavirus

theconversation.com/social-...

[mrsjsmith]

Thank you Jackie,

I am sure after 12 weeks my home will be so clean and so tidy 🤔

Colette x

[Beattiem-UK in reply to mrsjsmith]

Ha ha. I've just made my list of Isolation Opportunities (trying to be positive) and it has "spring clean the kitchen cupboards". I'm with you.The house will never have been so clean.

B

[G1llHa1n in reply to mrsjsmith]

Would love to be able to say the same -

but with my well-known love of housework I'm going to need to be awfully bored to get to that stage.

[mrsjsmith in reply to G1llHa1n]

I was bored by Monday afternoon. So it’s a question of doing a little each day, or sit and watch Say yes to the Dress all afternoon.

I am going to spend more time reading recipes and finding new pasta and risotto recipes. And trying not to eat biscuits to alleviate boredom.

Colette 🙂

[Jm954 Administrator in reply to mrsjsmith]

Colette,

I LOVE Say yes to the Dress, I even record it for when it's not on which is only about an hour a day!

Weather too miserable today for gardening.

Jackie

[mrsjsmith in reply to Jm954]

Jackie I know,

You are the one who got me hooked on it. But every time I watch it I am reminded of Luckyliss who got her dress from the shop and got to meet Randy 🤔

Colette x

[Jm954 Administrator in reply to mrsjsmith]

I remember that, she was thrilled! Sad she didn't live long

[Ernest2]

Thanks Jackie for publishing that.

I think it's very clear that as CLLers we are "all In" but I'm not yet totally clear what "being in" means exactly, in terms of social distancing etc.

I understand it doesn't mean you can't go out at all (which would be detrimental).

E.g. If people aren't currently doing internet food shopping then it is hard to get slots at the moment. Supermarkets are though trying to improve provision, and help out vulnerable groups, so that area will hopefully improve in the next week or so. I would encourage those that don't to have a go at internet shopping, which is useful when you are in a tight corner (not just Corvid-19).

E.g. Should I go for a physio appointment. ? (The physio has just cancelled, so sorted for me)

I'm sure (from experience so far) many of these questions will answer themselves, e.g. as blanket cancellations occur, and things change. One step at a time.

On a positive note I've just changed a hospital outpatient appointment next week to do it on the phone. So life can go on.

Time then to read Kevin's "part 3" to keep things in balance:

healthunlocked.com/cllsuppo...

Best wishes to all,

Ernest

[Red49]

Thank you for posting this. I finished chemo a month ago supposed to get my regular bloodwork done but I am too afraid to go to the collection clinic, too afraid of most things these days.

[Jm954 Administrator in reply to Red49]

I'm sorry to hear that but I know what you mean

Jackie

[Zia2]

Thank you for this information. I’ve emailed links to my family and friends.

[Beattiem-UK]

Thanks Jackie. That's pretty clear. I'll wait for the phone call. I'm sending the link around friends and family as there is so much confusion around....

B

[Jm954 Administrator]

In addition there is this article about Medical Distancing which sounds good to me

cancertherapyadvisor.com/ho...

The study found that, among the people with COVID-19, those with a history of cancer had a much higher risk of severe events — admission to the intensive care unit requiring invasive ventilation, or death was 39% of 18 cancer patients vs 8% of 1572 non cancer patients.

Jackie

[terryI_uk]

Hi Jackie, what confuses me in the leukaemia section is "any stage of treatment" . I am back on watch and wait at present, Terry

[Jm954 Administrator in reply to terryI_uk]

You're in the very high risk group, as we all are - even those that have never had any treatment.

Jackie

[terryI_uk in reply to Jm954]

Thanks Jackie, I have explained to my employer this morning that this is what I thought, they have been very good with members of staff in the 70 + age group so I imagine the same will apply, God bless, Terry

[jendur]

Yes I wondered what 'any stage of treatment' meant, as I haven't had any treatment yet?

[Bluejays]

The challenge really is where we all have regular checkups or follow ups for previous blood results and the next checkup demands a fresh blood sample which requires an outpatient visit.

If my UK hospital is like anyone elses the waiting room for blood tests depending on time of day can be packed with little chance of distancing from anyone although guess always the chance that people seeking routine tests will have deferred..

The other challenge is when you only have a single month left on a prescription and to get a new prescription written for future months you need a doctor to write one which is usually done at a regular checkup.

Given number of patients probably in the same position yet to see a plan B to issue new prescriptions without an appointment automatically if no ongoing issues or at least move to a phone appointment

Then you have a pharmacy that insists only only dishing out Ibrutinib a month at a time , no home delivery so requires face to face hospital collection from the pharmacy.

Of course being on Ibrutnib at least if the supply/prescription issue is fixed I can stay at home , could be worse off in middle of chemo with no choice but to attend a day clinic.

Hopefully these challenges will be overcome in next few weeks but sometimes the system doesnt seem to want to make life easy.

[Jm954 Administrator in reply to Bluejays]

There are lots of us in that situation and we can only follow our Dr advice and do the best we can.

Best wishes

[CathC23]

Have you all had a letter from the nhs? I have CLL but am watch and wait. Still not received a text or a letter.

[Jm954 Administrator in reply to CathC23]

Nope. Makes me laugh but worried for people not as well informed as well are.

Jackie