Panic

[Stage4Gir]

I’m so scared. If Italy is making the choice to let over 80 patients die what will they do with Stage 4 patients here??

[Lyndy]

Hello....sending you a hug! I know the saturation coverage of Covid 19 is making us all jittery but let’s just pause a minute. Your oncologist and chemo unit will be on it in terms of your care...having spent effort getting you this far they are not going to surrender you to the vagaries of the virus! Follow their instructions and prevent contact with the disease as far as possible. We are not Italy and most people say that our NHS is best placed to cope with this pandemic. Did you know that women seem less badly affected than men according to recent stats?

I think we need to hunt out some of the better news and the fact that so many are recovering now and hold on to that in the days to come. xx

[Neona]

I have to travel to London for my treatment as well as to the local hospital and I’m on steroids and have interstitial lung disease- so I know that I musn’t catch the virus. I bought a Moldex 7000 series mask with P3 filters and I wear it every time I go out and all day in the hospital. Yesterday I took my own food and a flask and sat outside to eat it and then put the mask back on. You also need goggles although I’m just relying on glasses so far. I bought a box of nitrile gloves and take spares with me as hand sanitiser is all gone. Also have Miltons wipes and Miltons cleaning fluid to clean mask. When get home I remove clothes and wash them and have shower. Paranoid yes but noone else will stop you catching it except you. Really helps your confidence to take control although obviously I am still scared. The nurses in the chemo unit were not wearing masks and were going from patient to patient- so was the tea lady- have to look after ourselves!

[bamboo89]

Let's get a bit of perspective - the only reason Italy is having to make some very difficult choices is because the virus ran out of control, which means their health service and equipment could not possibly be used for all the people that needed it. If the wave of general infection is kept subdued, then a steady stream of seriously ill people needing hospital help will be reduced, and the health services will cope.

Deciding who to save and who not save is a constant choice for intensive care units, particularly so if the health service is overwhelmed by a flood of seriously ill patients. Everyone is in the same boat - I've thought about this a lot, and I concluded that, should I get Covid19 and need oxygen/ventilator support (likely because I'm nearly 70 and have lung problems, as well as Stage 4b OC) and the choice was trying to keep me alive rather than someone 10 years younger without other major health problems, or even my 42 year old son, I would rather they saved the other person. But let's hope it doesn't come to that - its all down to being as careful as possible in limiting your exposure, isolating wherever possible, in an attempt to reduce that wave of cases and keep it at a manageable level.

Miriam