I think it was said that it was being updated, but no, not addressed directly.
1 Like
I am in North West hotspot and not a word about shielding except âbe extra carefulâ thatâs not enough when working with people. Iâm lucky to be able to work from home most times, but have been fighting to get zoom meetings rather than face to face. Itâs shocking how many people think that face to face is absolutely fine although the recommendations say online meetings as much as possible. sorry rant over 
2 Likes
Oh, @MoMo please donât ever feel you need to apologise for having a rant, that is what we need this forum for, I am sort of feeling neglected and tearful. Thank goodness we have each other for support and if you would like to talk you can contact the wonderful Blood Cancer UK Support Services Team on 0808 2080 888 10am-7pm Monday-Friday and 10am to 1pm Saturday and Sunday or via email at support@bloodcancer.org.uk
1 Like
Iâm just so fed up and can definitely understand you feeling being neglected and tearful 
Thank goodness for this forum where we can share our highs and lows. And I do have to say that I have had some lovely chats with Blood Cancer UK Support Services Team. They are just marvelous!!!
3 Likes
Hi @MoMo arenât the Support Services Team absolutely marvellous, we are so lucky to have them.
1 Like
Oh now I am angry. The Chief Medical Officer said yesterday that we would be told today the measures that would be put in place with regards to shielding. We have not been addressed directly but by an updated guidance. Do we not belong to the population at all? The rest of the country has been directly spoken to by the PM and we have to plough through updated guidance to find out the plans for the extremely clinically vulnerable. Itâs laughable as what it tells me to do in my area is more than I have actually done since shielding was paused because I am not comfortable with the behaviour that is going on around me. Can someone please explain to me why, if the infection rate and hospital admissions are equivalent to March/April when we were told to shield, and many of us had started earlier, that it is now safe for us to be out there with everyone else who is following their own agenda. I understand that they believe that our mental health and other physical issues are worse in shielding but I, for one, can say that my mental health is currently suffering because I am not being addressed as a person belonging to the same society as everyone else. I am sorry I have ranted now.
5 Likes
I so get you! Just listening to Health Secretaryâs speech at the Parliament and it seems that shielding isnât in the cards because its effects our mental and physical health⌠But what if I get the Covid and end up being really poorly etc⌠all that would have been avoided by asking to shield, something that wider community can understand. Just like you, I am now more stressed because there is lack of advice to us.
2 Likes
Hi @Lababe and @MoMo I am so glad we all have each other on this forum and I think we are the experts on our our health and welfare, as well as our medical team and Blood Cancer UK and we know what we all individually need to do to keep ourselves well and safe.
I really do realise how difficult these times can be for some of us especially in difficult relationships or living on their own. I realise that my emotions have been all over the place and really heightened this year. It is so easy for depression and other mental health issues to set in. A lot of people have not got the support that we have on this forum.
So I am going to do what what is best for me to keep me safe and well and use all these all of you lovely people on this forum for support, and we will get through this together.
I have just read that those who shielded earlier in the year do not need to shield again just yetâŚalthough that would only apply to those who were able to do limited trips out from August. Obviously we each need to assess how much freedom we are happy with according to which tier we are in, and also with our medical teamâs advice at the forefront. Stay safe everyone
1 Like
Hi everyone, new to this forum but like many feel let down and in limbo. Having had my diagnosis and watch and wait treatment early in the year I spent five months shielding like many of us. Apparently on the first of August, according to the government, I was âcuredâ and could go out and resume my life, shielding not required. I should also go back to work as long as my employment is coved safe. Since September I have been doing that, teaching in a secondary school in classrooms of 30 teenagers as the government calls that safe. Teachers with blood cancers have been abandoned in this process!
3 Likes
Hi @Groves1103, a great big welcome to this forum and if you have not read them already there are topics and posts from teachers saying exactly the same as yourself. There are also a lot of posts from people saying how in limbo and forgotten they feel. Blood Cancer UK are campaigning the government on these exact issues too.
You must have been diagnosed at exactly the wrong time and have been and perhaps still are in double shock and having to immediately shield in these weird, scary times as well.
If you donât mind tell us a bit more about what this year has been like for you.
Hi @Groves1103 and welcome. I completely understand where you are coming from. As an assistant head in a primary school I feel extremely vulnerable. Itâs such a scary time. Have you had any positive cases in your school? Are the school being proactive on risk assessing etc?
1 Like
Hi @Nichola75 thanks for the reply. My school are being proactive as much as they can. The conditions we have to work in would never be accepted in an office and certainly not in the House of Commons! Students are in bubbles and do wear masks when moving around the school. Windows are open and hand wash is everywhere. However we are still working in close proximity with 900 young people. Luckily we are one of the few schools in the area that have not yet had a positive case and had to send students home. Just keep fingers crossed.
1 Like
Mine too - as much as they can. We have had one positive case, no more as yet. Youâre right, there is no way you can avoid contact in a school, as much as we try!
1 Like
I can relate to much of what you say @Groves1103 as I work in a university. Itâs impossible that in a small area with 4 or 5 buildings being used by 1000âs of people that there wonât be a significant outbreak at some point. Weâve already had a small outbreak and whilst stringent measures are in place, they are not policed so a significant number of students ignore them.
@MoMo and @Erica I completely get where you coming from. Itâs really distressing to find that people like us donât matter enough for there to be a plan. On the one hand itâs my personal choice to go to work and get out of the house, it places people who donât feel they want to take that risk in a no win position as they have no security to fall back on.
1 Like
Completely understand your rant @Lababe. But then the whole thing has been handled so badly and so many different groups of people have been sidelined in the thinking that I despair for our country and the futureâŚ
1 Like
@Franko Hope youâre okay Franko? I was just reading your post and can only imagine how difficult it must be when you see people not adhering to the stringent rules which have been put in place. I donât suppose thereâs a designated person at your university to whom you can go to, to talk through concerns around this?
Iâm so sorry for how much worry this has caused you.
Su
1 Like
Welcome to the forum @Groves1103, really glad youâve found it. Iâm so sorry youâre feeling abandoned, though as you can see, youâre certainly not alone in feeling this way.
In case itâs helpful, thereâs some other conversations about working in a school when youâre clinically extremely vulnerable, in these threads
1 Like