Any tips on moving house safely?

[Jds7]

I am new here but have been taking Ibrutinib and Venetoclax for 18 months on the UK Flair clinical trial. I have been shielding since 18th March. For personal reasons I have decided to move house and wondered if anyone had any experience/suggestions on how to minimise the risks posed by Covid 19?

[Hidden]

gov.uk/guidance/government-...

I'm not sure if this is going to be of any help..... It may be worth a look.

[Jds7 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you, very helpful and reflects my situation

[Hidden in reply to Jds7]

I hope you're moving to a nice, peaceful area.

[Jds7 in reply to Hidden]

I hope to! I was evacuated as a result of flooding earlier this year and do not want a similar experience!

[fapumpkin]

I moved at the beginning of March before the lock down and I anticipate that I will be moving again in the next six months so I have been thinking about this exact issue as I have been Ibrutinib for the last 4 years:

I am thinking that I will pack up all of my house myself, but I already have moving boxes, it you don't I would get the delivered to an outbuilding, garage or a room that you can avoid going in for 24 hours.

I am going to pack everything up in the house, and leave one room with key essentials that I can pack in my own car.I am fortunate to already have a mini fridge, a table top double hot plate, microwave and spare tv, so I will keep these separate.

I will then give the removal people a floor plan of the property I am moving to with colour coded rooms correlated to colour coded boxes. I am aiming to have one room with nothing move into by the removal company, this will be the room that I will disinfect whilst wearing PPE, and I will move my belongs from my car to this room and I will "camp" in this room for a couple of days before I start unpacking.

I am aiming to acquire a inflatable bed as well!

[Jds7 in reply to fapumpkin]

Thank you, some positive tips

[JigFettler Volunteer]

Probably worth remembering how Covid is reported to behave on surfaces. After 72hrs it will mostly have vanished. A virus needs a live human cell to survive. Unlike bacteria.

My car is being serviced next week. Garage collects (!) And I will leave it for 4 days before getting back into it, assuming any virus will have died off all surfaces. Garage delivers it back with any luck, keen, like any business, to retain the customer.

Tricky with home move. It may be possible to apply similar principles. Along with masks, gloves, distancing...

Moving home is stressful enough with out pandemic circumstances.

Best wishes

Jig

[Jds7 in reply to JigFettler]

Many thanks for the advice, having been evacuated as a result of severe flooding earlier this year, I do not really have a choice!

[JigFettler Volunteer in reply to Jds7]

Oh my goodness! That is severe. I cannot begin to comprehend what you have and are still facing. The very best wishes and all the best of luck. Stay safe. Jig

[chillsome]

Hello, I am afraid I cannot add anything helpful on the question of moving house but am interested that you, like me, are on the UK Flair trial. I started in Sept 2019. Would you be willing to share your experience of it - how bad were you before starting, how successful so far, side effects and how long you expect to remain on the drugs etc. If you do not want to give this kind of information, I quite understand.

[Jds7 in reply to chillsome]

Good morning, I’m more than happy to share my experience, let me know how you prefer to do so ,

[chillsome in reply to Jds7]

What would you prefer? Email or happy via HealthUnlocked? If you are mid house moving, happy to leave it until you have time.

[Jds7 in reply to chillsome]

this platform is fine with me

[chillsome in reply to Jds7]

Thank you. I guess that, rather than bombard you with annoying questions, I could start with a few pointers to see if we are in vaguely similar circumstances. I am 65, female and was otherwise healthy before the CLL/SLL thing emerged, also very active as I spend a lot of time outdoors looking after horses, dogs etc and also work quite hard (office work) as we have our own business. I continue with almost the same level of activity but finding it hard to keep going as I used to. I was diagnosed Jan 2018 following multiple large lymph nodes, one of which became large and painful in the back of my abdomen so that prompted the start of treatment in Sept 2019. I have not had an enlarged spleen. I remain very ignorant on the blood analysis side of things but I don't think my bloods were horrific although lymphocytes on the up before treatment. All has been good since starting treatment except successive side effects which are getting me down. I am still on full doses of I & V and, while extremely grateful for the success they are having in terms of blood test results, I am increasingly worn out. Many initial side effects have disappeared or I have just learned to live with them but others appear (crumbling finger nails) and the effect on my stomach and general feeling of exhaustion leave me feeling a bit dismayed at the prospect of having to continue on full dose for a year or two longer, at least, under the terms of the trial. As you have been on the treatment for that much longer, I wonder how you are doing on the drugs? I feel really bad trying to milk you for information and totally understand if you just say you do not feel it would be a helpful comparison if you and your personal experience of CLL seems very different from mine. Best wishes.

[Jds7 in reply to chillsome]

Good afternoon, it is no problem at all, I have only recently discovered this forum which would have helped me sooner I am sure. I am 63, male and was diagnosed with CLL in August 2017. I had a pain in my calf which was a DVT, very unexpected as I had been very healthy and active gardening, walking etc until then. As my white cell count exceeded 500 I had to begin treatment in January 2019 as the lymphocyte count was doubling in less than 6 months. The Flair trial was offered and accepted. I am sorry to hear of the side effects you have been experiencing, and I hope they improve. I feel quite guilty in admitting that apart from bouts of gout I have not experienced any other problems. I too am on the I&V option. A recent hospital review showed my bloods are normal, so I am very pleased with the results to date, plus the local clinical trials team here in Shropshire are brilliant. I run my own business too, and working from home has been a bonus during these crazy times. I sincerely hope that matters improve for you.

[chillsome in reply to Jds7]

THANK YOU so much for your reply. It is great to hear that you are mostly without side effects and what you said will hopefully give me the kick up the backside I need to stop me blaming everything on the drugs and focus on how much they are helping me. Were you MRD negative (if I have got that right) at your 9 month check when I assume they did the bone marrow biopsy etc? If so, I wonder how much longer they have said you will need to stay on the drugs.

Going back to your original post, having moved house twice within a very short time (clearing out two different houses that we had had for 30/40 years and far too much stuff accumulated) just before I got ill, I often wondered if that played a part. So, if I was you, I would worry as much about the stress and energy needed for moving as I would about Covid but perhaps that sounds rather pathetic. Anyway, good luck with it all and with the rest of your treatment.

[Jds7 in reply to chillsome]

Thank you, I hope you progress too. I am still not MRD negative but am awaiting results of a recent test. Even if that reads as negative then I think I will need another negative test within 6 months to then perhaps temporarily stop the drugs after the same period I have would have been taking them. If that makes sense then the earliest I could consider stopping the drugs is 4 years after starting to take them. One patient on our local trial group is negative but I believe that person is nervous about stopping the drugs-so perhaps one cannot win. I wish you well, my final thought is- what is the alternative? PS Last weeks webinar with Professor Hillmen by Leukaemia care/ CLL association was excellent if you get chance to view it. Regards

[bennevisplace]

I'm wondering how to manage this too. It looks like we may be moving July or August, though until exchange of contracts don't know if the sale will go ahead, given economic uncertainties. If it does, we will need somewhere to live, whether that be renting or a place we've bought. We have had an offer accepted, but it's too distant to go and see in one day, so we are relying on an architect and surveyor having done so for us (it's a re-build).

Current gov advice to accommodation providers is that they can only offer room/ board to non key workers in certain circumstances, one of which is moving house. But that doesn't cover going to see the place you want to be living in come September! Meanwhile, B&Bs and self-catering are not taking any bookings until 4th July, but this date doesn't feature in gov advice, so maybe they know something I don't.

Shielding only complicates the issue.

Anyone got any suggestions?

[Jds7 in reply to bennevisplace]

Thank you. If certainly is a challenge, but having been evacuated as a result of severe flooding earlier this year, I have no option. I have found that online property viewings have helped the process and a good friend agreed to view one potential property on my behalf. She wore PPE and the agents were very helpful. I have arranged a professional deep clean prior to moving in, and whilst there are risks involved overall, I believe these can be managed. Good luck

[Yngerberg]

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