Received a second letter from the Scottish Government giving an update on what is available when Shielding. Lots of information / advice.
One interesting paragraph :-
Other people who live with you.
Other people in your household do not have to shield themselves at home for 12 weeks. This means that if they have to leave the house to go to work, such as if they are a key worker, they can carry on doing so. However to keep you safe ,they must follow guidance on social distancing and reducing their contact outside the home where the can.
My wife and I have not been over the door for over 4 weeks now.
From above it would appear that she could go out once a day for some exercise.
This is a change from how we thought shielding was meant to work.
Would appreciate any thoughts you have.
All the best everyone
Alex.
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Alex15alex
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Hi Alex. It would probably be ok for Your wife to go out for exercise providing she observes the social distancing advice, and washes her hands upon her return. I go out for a walk late evening as there are less people out. Stay safe.
Same in UK Alex. We have decided both stay at home not taking any unnecessary risks. Why, what in your case your wife does is one thing but other people may not comply and compromise you both. It has to be everyone’s own personal choice in these situations. We choose not to take any risks.
There will be many who have to take risks if there is a key worker in the house, but that is a different story.
Not easy decisions to make and everyone is different and in different situations. We feel if it is not necessary don’t take the risk.
Thanks for that Alex, my Consultant differs, but I suppse that is normal, conflicting advice is not unexpected. You just have to do what you think is right for you. All the best
Friends in England, and one in Scotland have said that their spouse is able to go to work or shop for essentials, and a few who are in rural areas have gotten outside. What I would find impossible is the distancing required inside their homes. I wonder how many are strict observers of that if they are otherwise strictly isolating. It isn't a part of distancing in the various states here in the US, but we are also on the honor system as far as knowing that we are at greater risk and avoiding contact. There are no lists of highly compromised.
My husband got the letter for shielding, and my son's been staying in, because he's got asthma, but I've still been going out once a week for food shopping, and following the guidelines. If you follow the guidelines then it should be ok.
In Scotland with CLL and haven’t yet received one letter!! I’ve been shielding at home but my husband has gone out for his exercise once per day. Wonder if the letters are still being sent out or if I’ve just been missed?! Only diagnosed in October 2019. Keep safe x
I have taken that paragraph to mean those other family members that need/have to leave the house. My husband, young son and dog are all isolating to the same level as me. Thankfully we have a large garden so the child and dog can run them selves down with the football. The late night walks have slowly wound down because of joggers who just appear from nowhere and do not keep their distance, people who pop out from their garden gates without checking the pavement for distance. Also, there is a risk the dog, who is low to the ground could pick it up, though we were wiping his feet on returning home. For now we can all exist normally in the same rooms, eat together etc, this is precious time, as I fear this will change when they go back out to the world and I retreat to one room. For now we have the sun and each others company to keep us going 🙂. Take care.
Thanks for our reply. In the absence of any good news re. the virus we have decided that total isolation for both of us is best, We too have a large garden without which it would difficult. I too was on the Flair trial and drew the FCR arm. My treatment was triggered by anemia and required blood transfusions. These were 3 units per week for almost a year until a medication was prescribed after 3 bone marrow samples. The FCR had to be abandoned after 2 rounds as it was harming my bone marrow. I am now on Ibrutinib (nearly 2 years) and everything is under control except for fairly regular infections (3 or 4 a year) requiring hospital stays. Was put on IVIG at start of year to help stop the infections however this has been suspended for 12 weeks due to the virus. Another reason to isolate.
I am retired with grown up children so only 2 of us at home. It must be difficult having a young child at home in these circumstances. We do have grandchildren and not seeing them is the hardest part of this.
Yes, I miss my other grown up children and my two grandchildren, who are growing so fast I fear they won't remember me. Hardly saw them through FCR then straight into isolation. Strange times, but I console myself that they are all well. Hopefully they will be under our feet and messing up the house soon 😊
My husband is doing a run or cycle each day, socially distancing, and he goes to his allotment at some time most days - he is working from home so he sometimes goes up before work, when everywhere is quiet. He spent much of Friday and a lot of yesterday up there, he said hardly anyone was there and everyone was doing social distancing. Everything else is being delivered, and not touched for at least 24 hours unless it needs to be put in the fridge or freezer, using gloves. I have Zoom; I am doing Zoom get togethers of people I miss.
Zoom is great - I actually bought the upgrade because I am organising regular meetings of a support group I belong to - most members need support for this right now. This means I can have a lot of people in a meeting, and it can last for an unlimited time. And I am using it to talk to people abroad - which you can do with the free version. I was in a meeting last week, hosted by someone else, who is in Spain, and most of the group were in UK, apart from a guy in NYC.
I am also in Scotland and got my letter last week and the follow up letter yesterday. I think most people here are taking the safe option of everyone in a shielding house staying home.
The guidance on the most recent letter you quoted is correct, but the following paragraph in the letter clearly spells out how you should act at home if one of you does go out from the house, even for a local walk.
It means self isolating yourself from the person shielding in your house for two weeks - don't share rooms, eat separately, use different bathrooms, different bedrooms and different eating spaces. Do not share the kitchen at the same time. If you can't use a different bathroom it must be cleaned between each persons use.
We decided that would make life intolerable for us, so we are both staying home. As many of you have decided to do.
Thanks , yes I did read all of the letter. the points you make were highlighted early on in the virus on tv by a lady doctor who had recovered from the virus while loving alone with her husband who did not catch it. She put that down to separate bedrooms and bathrooms and
keeping apart mostly. we have these facilities and are utilising them. The best defence we have is staying home.
You must weigh up the consequences of any mishap no matter how unlikely. Say your wife slipped and cracked a bone or cut herself and needed a stitch or two.... visit to hospital required. Also people exercising vigorously either running or cycling need more than the two meters and are not always as considerate as they should be. The likelihood is extremely low but the consequences are very very high. To offer varying advice just to be seen to be relevant is not the most responsible of actions.
Good decision, we are in this for the long haul. Might even be more than 12 weeks. When some sort of normality begins to appear we are in the group that must avoid re-emergence of pockets of infection which will happen. Let’s hope for a vaccine to get along with the flu jab. Good luck to you.
You are absolutely right Alex. Best defence is for the whole household staying home. I just didn't want anyone without our letter thinking it was OK for a sharer to head out without risk or extra precautions.
I suspect that many people do not have the luxury of being able to choose separate bedrooms and bathrooms. You and I are both fortunate in that respect. Many people must be finding even lockdown, never mind shielding, very difficult if they have only a small flat and no outside space to use.
Good luck with your CLL journey and take good care.
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