Heya - hope this update finds you all well and I hope you’re all continuing to outrun the dreaded Covids.
This weekend just gone, the government have updated the advice for folk like me, the shielders. Not only do we appear to have jumped up the alert scale, but my original advice of “Stay Home for 12 Weeks” has been overwritten twice in the space of a couple of days; originally set to end on June 14th, then June 30th, and then with updated guidance. It appears to me that us shielders were forgotten about when updated restrictions were announced for everyone, and so we were thrown a dog biscuit late on Saturday night. In a nutshell, the advice offers that it’s ok for us to go out for a walk (yay!), with new people (mmm, ok), no gatherings or buildings (well, duh) and DO wash hands & maintain social distancing (goes without saying, chief). This is all fine, but the other people seemingly forgotten about over the weekend were the scientists. Where’s the science we were following gone? Why did Chris Witty have to block Johnson’s bid to change the alert level from 4 to 3? Why are they making it all up as they go along while 60,000+ people have died? Anecdotal feedback so far from shielders on the news and in tweets etc is that they will start to manage their own destinies. It suggests people are now ignoring the government, and with today’s announcement that today’s Covid deaths is around 3 times LARGER than it was yesterday, who can blame them? The government would quite rightly argue that it’s just guidance and not legally enforceable (don’t get me started on Dr Doom’s Barnard Castle Death Drive) but looking at the stats for the UK I’d argue that stronger, earlier lockdown rules (and for people to abide) might have been useful back at the start. Myeloma-wise, whilst my recovery continues at a slow pace, there isn’t much to report. The PET scan I had in February appeared to show some myeloma cell activity but there was some positive news in April following a re-scan; April’s scan showed no disease progression & indicated that the myeloma is in plateau phase. Good news for sure after a bit of an initial fright. More recently, a fortnight ago I had a minor set back with a touch of fever taking hold and my lower back in agony. After a chat with the alert line they sent an ambulance to bring me in to the Freeman for a couple of nights. Not my favourite weekend place to stay, but I was extra nervous what with Covid-19 and everything. I was given a Covid test almost on arrival (negative I’m pleased to say) and I was pleased to see staff had at least the basic PPE items, although one guy I spoke to bemoaned the general lack of enough PPE to go round. The stay in hospital was purely precautionary is it turns out, and as hoped medics were able to settle my high temperature, the issue with my lower back appearing to resolve itself after a few days. With my historic back problems still in memory naturally it was concerning to experience more back trouble and the consultants were nervous enough to send me for an MRI scan whilst I was there. So all good under the hood - as good as it can be anyway and the old hair is coming back in thick & fast! It’s more or less the same colour as before although the only thing is, it’s currently curly.
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About meI'm David Jameson, I live in Whitley Bay with my beautiful wife Janine, our two children and our two dogs. I love music, and Newcastle United. And I have multiple myeloma. Archives
June 2020
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