How are you all doing?

[Lanny]

I just had a big scare today but, now safely back at home in bed. My blood sugars were rising fast all day on Thursday 14/05/20 despite me putting all of my insulin doses up & up all day. BS reached 15.9 after dinner & it took me all night of corrections to get that down, every 2 hours, until about 7am to BS 7.5 when I felt comfortable enough to sleep: it was going down so slowly. Got up today, 15/05/20 very late at 13:10 BS 11.2 & still very strong smell of sugar in my urine which was there all night every time I went to the toilet. Felt very rough & knew something was very wrong & it was no longer just hayfever anymore. Rang GP & he thought there was a slight chance I had CV19. An ambulance picked me up from home & took me to hospital. There was a clean side & a CV19 side. From answering questions in the ambulance they decided to take me into the clean side. Because of my history of tachycardia, bells palsy, temporarily stopped my breathing reflexes from working in May 2017, & asthma as well as being type 2 on insulin I had an ECG, chest x-rays where they wheeled the machine into my cubicle, not usually done that way & have to go from A&E to x-ray department & back, The doctor told me x-rays showed that I had pneumonia in both lungs but, worse in the left. They took blood tests to check oxygen levels in my blood immediately & they were the same 96% as was taken by fingertip pulse oximeter in the ambulance. Further tests for CV19, white blood cells counts etc. that I know, from previous admission for Bell’s palsy in May 2017, takes about 4/5 hours to do the blood work. It was a scary wait but, in the meantime they put 2 antibiotics injections into the vein Catheter in the back of my hand & 1 antibiotic tablet by mouth as well. I had a mask put on me by the paramedics in the ambulance that picked me up. They had to don protection gear too before putting my mask on & took me into the ambulance. Everybody in A&E had full protective gear on as well. Everything piece of equipment was throughly wiped down before & after using it. I felt scared AND also safe at the same time. Very odd feeling both at the same time. Blood tests taken around 18:00 & blood results came back around 22:30 & I didn’t have CV19 & my white blood cells count was normal. There were no ketones in my urine when I had to go on a commode, not allowed to use the toilets in the A&E as usually would do, but, blood test showed ketones of 0.1 just before I was discharged & left the hospital after getting antibiotics tablets for 7. days. Also oxygen levels had improved to 97% just before I left around 23:00 after antibiotics went in about 19:00.

I slept a little bit now & wide awake again after sleeping a lot the last few days. Felt the immediate change in my breathing being much easier while lying horizontal in bed.

Everything was very efficiently done, staff very busy but, nice & kind. I’ve never been more grateful for our NHS here in the UK.

I’ve seen healthcare in Hong Kong when my mum was dying of pancreatic cancer in 2015, diagnosed 01/06/15 & passed away 15/07/15. Sure, it’s very good for the rich but, for the average person it’s completely different. For starters, everything has to be paid for & you won’t even be admitted into hospital without paying first: 100 dollars; a bit less than, exchange rates, £10; 100 dollars per night thereafter & meds prices added on top of that. That’s the government hospitals for the average person. Private hospitals costing a lot more: not many but, the very rich can afford that. The doctors are nice & kind, in the main allowing for bedside manners but, the nurses very often are not.

Our NHS in the UK IS really good & completely free! We REALLY are very lucky & privileged to have the NHS!

 

[grovesy]

I just had a big scare today but, now safely back at home in bed. My blood sugars were rising fast all day on Thursday 14/05/20 despite me putting all of my insulin doses up & up all day. BS reached 15.9 after dinner & it took me all night of corrections to get that down, every 2 hours, until about 7am to BS 7.5 when I felt comfortable enough to sleep: it was going down so slowly. Got up today, 15/05/20 very late at 13:10 BS 11.2 & still very strong smell of sugar in my urine which was there all night every time I went to the toilet. Felt very rough & knew something was very wrong & it was no longer just hayfever anymore. Rang GP & he thought there was a slight chance I had CV19. An ambulance picked me up from home & took me to hospital. There was a clean side & a CV19 side. From answering questions in the ambulance they decided to take me into the clean side. Because of my history of tachycardia, bells palsy, temporarily stopped my breathing reflexes from working in May 2017, & asthma as well as being type 2 on insulin I had an ECG, chest x-rays where they wheeled the machine into my cubicle, not usually done that way & have to go from A&E to x-ray department & back, The doctor told me x-rays showed that I had pneumonia in both lungs but, worse in the left. They took blood tests to check oxygen levels in my blood immediately & they were the same 96% as was taken by fingertip pulse oximeter in the ambulance. Further tests for CV19, white blood cells counts etc. that I know, from previous admission for Bell’s palsy in May 2017, takes about 4/5 hours to do the blood work. It was a scary wait but, in the meantime they put 2 antibiotics injections into the vein Catheter in the back of my hand & 1 antibiotic tablet by mouth as well. I had a mask put on me by the paramedics in the ambulance that picked me up. They had to don protection gear too before putting my mask on & took me into the ambulance. Everybody in A&E had full protective gear on as well. Everything piece of equipment was throughly wiped down before & after using it. I felt scared AND also safe at the same time. Very odd feeling both at the same time. Blood tests taken around 18:00 & blood results came back around 22:30 & I didn’t have CV19 & my white blood cells count was normal. There were no ketones in my urine when I had to go on a commode, not allowed to use the toilets in the A&E as usually would do, but, blood test showed ketones of 0.1 just before I was discharged & left the hospital after getting antibiotics tablets for 7. days. Also oxygen levels had improved to 97% just before I left around 23:00 after antibiotics went in about 19:00.

I slept a little bit now & wide awake again after sleeping a lot the last few days. Felt the immediate change in my breathing being much easier while lying horizontal in bed.

Everything was very efficiently done, staff very busy but, nice & kind. I’ve never been more grateful for our NHS here in the UK.

I’ve seen healthcare in Hong Kong when my mum was dying of pancreatic cancer in 2015, diagnosed 01/06/15 & passed away 15/07/15. Sure, it’s very good for the rich but, for the average person it’s completely different. For starters, everything has to be paid for & you won’t even be admitted into hospital without paying first: 100 dollars; a bit less than, exchange rates, £10; 100 dollars per night thereafter & meds prices added on top of that. That’s the government hospitals for the average person. Private hospitals costing a lot more: not many but, the very rich can afford that. The doctors are nice & kind, in the main allowing for bedside manners but, the nurses very often are not.

Our NHS in the UK IS really good & completely free! We REALLY are very lucky & privileged to have the NHS!

Glad you are home and feeling a little better take care.

 

[Browser]

Horrible experience but good that you’re feeling better.

 

[Carlos]

I am trying to make up my mind about resuming my longer distance cycling. I would normally go for a 30 to 40 mile ride early on Sunday mornings, but I stopped doing that when the lock down started. I have continued riding shorter distances, but now that the exercise limitations have all been lifted, I would love to start the longer rides again.

My main doubt is whether this is a reasonable risk to take. I go out well prepared, so I can deal with mechanical issues if they arise, and I am careful with my bg levels. Having said that, there's still the concern of having an accident, which is unlikely, but can't be totally ruled out, so my doubt is if this very small risk becomes now more significant.

I am minded to go out tomorrow, but still have a niggling doubt. Anyone else in the same boat?

I should clarify that I ride on my own, leaving the house around 6:30 in the morning, so I don't have any social contact during the ride.

 

[mikeyB]

What is your niggling doubt, Carlos? if you would do it without this epidemic, your existential risks are the same if you have no social contact. If you accept those risks routinely, then do it.

 

[Lucy Honeychurch]

How frightening @Lanny. I hope you continue to recover, take care x

 

[NotWorriedAtAll]

I am trying to make up my mind about resuming my longer distance cycling. I would normally go for a 30 to 40 mile ride early on Sunday mornings, but I stopped doing that when the lock down started. I have continued riding shorter distances, but now that the exercise limitations have all been lifted, I would love to start the longer rides again.

My main doubt is whether this is a reasonable risk to take. I go out well prepared, so I can deal with mechanical issues if they arise, and I am careful with my bg levels. Having said that, there's still the concern of having an accident, which is unlikely, but can't be totally ruled out, so my doubt is if this very small risk becomes now more significant.

I am minded to go out tomorrow, but still have a niggling doubt. Anyone else in the same boat?

I should clarify that I ride on my own, leaving the house around 6:30 in the morning, so I don't have any social contact during the ride.

I suppose it depends what view you take on risk factors.
The risks and implications are both for yourself and for others.

The likelihood of having an accident may or may not be greater than pre-covid. There are some indications that people are having car accidents at the moment because they are driving more carelessly as they expect traffic to be lighter. But then again there are fewer vehicles on the road. There are also pedestrians walking into roads to avoid other pedestrians so actual likelihood of an accident is difficult to gauge.

The consequence of an accident however is more foreseeable.

1. An accident would increase your likelihood of interaction with people who may or may not be infectious.
2. An accident may result in you having to attend a hospital with the potential of more interactions with people who may or may not be infectious.
3. An accident may result in you needing to involve the resources of various support services.
4. However careful you are there is no 100% certainty that you are not yourself infectious as it is possible to be infectious without having symptoms and without developing an obviously identifiable bout of the covid flu - so there is that to factor in as well.

What you consider to be an acceptable level of risk will probably be very different from what someone else considers acceptable. There will be people who wouldn't even hesitate and others who wouldn't even contemplate taking the smallest risk that they could avoid taking. This is your choice to make and I don't think you should be swayed one way or the other by anyone. Do what you are comfortable with doing.

 

[Carlos]

What is your niggling doubt, Carlos? if you would do it without this epidemic, your existential risks are the same if you have no social contact. If you accept those risks routinely, then do it.

The doubt is that the risk of ending up in hospital is the same regardless of the pandemic, so very low, but the risk once in hospital now is higher than before the pandemic.

Just cross posted with @NotWorriedAtAll. Thank you, I am leaning to still go and to see what the road conditions are like, and then see if I carry on or not.

The reason I want to go out is that it really helps my glucose control and mood.

 

[mikeyB]

I understand that worry, but it is groundless. Hospitals now are strictly divided between areas where CV patients are treated, and normal patients can go in bleeding with limbs hanging off without any risk of picking up the infection. Unless the bleeder in the next bed has it, of course, which is statistically very unlikely.

In addition, the road accident rate has plummeted. Now is perhaps the safest time to go out cycling on a Sunday morning.

 

[AJLang]

I understand that worry, but it is groundless. Hospitals now are strictly divided between areas where CV patients are treated, and normal patients can go in bleeding with limbs hanging off without any risk of picking up the infection. Unless the bleeder in the next bed has it, of course, which is statistically very unlikely.

In addition, the road accident rate has plummeted. Now is perhaps the safest time to go out cycling on a Sunday morning.

Unfortunately not strictly true at the hospitals at the moment Mike. When my Mum’s friend had what sadly ended up being a fatal fall just a fortnight ago she was mistakenly put in a Covid ward - absolute no reason why should have been - it also meant that her family couldn’t visit her when she only had hours left to live.

 

[Carlos]

Well. I did go out and rode a thoroughly enjoyable 43 miles, I even inadvertently strayed into Warwickshire. Traffic no different than before the lockdown on the way out, ie, non existent at 6:45 on a Sunday. It got a bit busier later, but probably quieter than it would have been before the lockdown.

It's done me a world of good, and I think I will resume the Sunday rides, Covid-19 permitting.

 

[trophywench]

Oy! - Warwickshire isn't toxic!

 

[Stitch147]

Grass cut - check
Trevs hair cut - check
Delicious roast pork dinner consumed - check!
Ordered some meat from a local company that normally supplies pubs/cafes but they've been supplying anyone who wants to order from them since the lock down started. I ordered a pork loin from them last week average size was 4 - 5 kgs. Well I ended up with one that was just over 6 kgs! 4 good size joints and 12 chops later. Was delicious.
Before



After

 

[silentsquirrel]

Grass cut - check
Trevs hair cut - check
Delicious roast pork dinner consumed - check!
Ordered some meat from a local company that normally supplies pubs/cafes but they've been supplying anyone who wants to order from them since the lock down started. I ordered a pork loin from them last week average size was 4 - 5 kgs. Well I ended up with one that was just over 6 kgs! 4 good size joints and 12 chops later. Was delicious.
Before
View attachment 14207


After
View attachment 14206

We need a drool button!!

 

[Carlos]

Oy! - Warwickshire isn't toxic!

Now you tell me.

 

[eggyg]

Managed to bag a Tesco Click
And Collect for this morning. Don’t know how but we did. Had to pick up between 10-12. I wasn’t going to go but Mr Eggy persuaded me to, haven’t been in the car for a while. It’s doing 30 days to the gallon at the minute! Anyways, back to click and collect story. Got there just after 10 no other cars there. Showed email confirmation through window, popped the boot, shopping in. Home. Fab! No contact whatsoever. On opening boot I noticed straight away a carrier with fish fingers and potato waffles in. Yep! Someone else’s shopping! Mr Eggy admitted he wouldn’t have noticed and would have brought it all in. Back to Tesco, we have a very common Cumbrian surname and there was 3 of us in that time slot, he had asked me my name, I said Elaine, we got Diane’s shopping! Boot emptied and refilled with our shopping. Home, shopping emptied and we found some frozen peas and Colombian Chocolate ice cream we hadn’t ordered but no vanilla Haagen Daaz, which we had, Mr Eggy’s guilty pleasure. I went back, handed over peas and choc ice cream and luckily Diane hadn’t been and our Haagen Daaz was still there! What a faff! I thought it was supposed to be less stressful! I’ve had a lie down with a wet flannel! 😛

 

[trophywench]

I don't Like your post @eggyg - I'm still chortling!

 

[eggyg]

Had a good day today. Decided to do a long walk, local, door to door. Not ready for travelling far yet. Had to postpone it to after lunch as it rained this morning. Set off at 1pm, we were headed to the River Eden, Carlisle’s largest river, to get to it was an hours walk through uncharted territory, well it has been for the last 9 weeks. Yes, we had to venture amongst the people! We actually had to walk through housing estates, I was a bit nervous but the dull weather put the fair weather walkers off I suppose. Got to the river and veered off to a part we hadn’t explored, Mr Eggy said he used to fish there 50 years ago, but I’d never been. Apart from two fishermen out in their waders we didn’t meet a soul. Lots and lots of birds though. Swifts, sand martins, ducks and ducklings, geese and goslings, coots and cootlings?, swans, common sandpipers and a skylark. I was in my element. 10 miles all told, a wee bit achy but I’ve done my stretches so hopefully be ok tomorrow. I’m loving this unshielding!
Edited to add some cute photos.

 

[Robin]

Had a good day today. Decided to do a long walk, local, door to door. Not ready for travelling far yet. Had to postpone it to after lunch as it rained this morning. Set off at 1pm, we were headed to the River Eden, Carlisle’s largest river, to get to it was an hours walk through uncharted territory, well it has been for the last 9 weeks. Yes, we had to venture amongst the people! We actually had to walk through housing estates, I was a bit nervous but the dull weather put the fair weather walkers off I suppose. Got to the river and veered off to a part we hadn’t explored, Mr Eggy said he used to fish there 50 years ago, but I’d never been. Apart from two fishermen out in their waders we didn’t meet a soul. Lots and lots of birds though. Swifts, sand martins, ducks and ducklings, geese and goslings, coots and cootlings?, swans, common sandpipers and a skylark. I was in my element. 10 miles all told, a wee bit achy but I’ve done my stretches so hopefully be ok tomorrow. I’m loving this unshielding!

Glad you had a good time. We did a longer walk yesterday (longer for us, I mean, only 6 miles compared with your 10!) and got far enough from civilisation not to meet anyone else. We came across a pair of canada geese trailing a load of fluffy goslings on a dewpond in the corner of a farmer's field. Never seen that before in our area. Also saw several hares in a couple of the fields, one quite close to, because we were downwind from it and kept still, and it had no idea we were there. Nearer home, grrrr, we saw a woman walking across a field in the middle of the crop (she was on a tractor track, but they tend to turn the corner before the end of the field and come back on themselves, so don't know how she was going to deal with that) and worse, she was letting her dog freerange through the crop, where there are larks nesting, by the sound of the twittering there’s been ever since early spring.

 

[eggyg]

Glad you had a good time. We did a longer walk yesterday (longer for us, I mean, only 6 miles compared with your 10!) and got far enough from civilisation not to meet anyone else. We came across a pair of canada geese trailing a load of fluffy goslings on a dewpond in the corner of a farmer's field. Never seen that before in our area. Also saw several hares in a couple of the fields, one quite close to, because we were downwind from it and kept still, and it had no idea we were there. Nearer home, grrrr, we saw a woman walking across a field in the middle of the crop (she was on a tractor track, but they tend to turn the corner before the end of the field and come back on themselves, so don't know how she was going to deal with that) and worse, she was letting her dog freerange through the crop, where there are larks nesting, by the sound of the twittering there’s been ever since early spring.

The skylark we saw just kept fluttering up and landing a bit further away until we got nearer again. I hadn’t seen a one this year so was really pleased. Our geese were Greylag, only know that because I looked in my Collins when I got home! As for the common sandpipers I have never seen those before and asked the advise of a FB birdwatching group I’m a member of. The swifts were amazing to watch, so graceful, I could have watched them all day. No photos unfortunately, far too fast! Also saw this wader, still haven’t identified it! 😉