Yet another wet day yesterday filled with one thing and another around the house. Really must find a way to get out for some exercise later today, even though it's forecast to be another wet one. I suppose this will end sometime.
It occurs to me that one advantage of not having heard from Dr.Zo (private neurologist) yet is that I haven't had his bill either. The longer it stays in my account rather than his, the happier I am.
Yesterday's post included a package from RUDY and its "Prepare" research project which I signed up for - the main purpose is to monitor effects of COVID vaccinations on Myeloma patients. Stage 1 is to get my GP surgery to take a blood sample which I then send off to RUDY in Oxford. They've sent me some very fancy packaging and a couple of explanatory letters. I've copied them and will put them through the surgery door later today. The surgery should feel happier when they get the confirmation that they get paid £16 for every time they do this (quarterly, I think). The plan is to combine this one with my next B12 injection on Jan 6th which means that I won't be doing the B12 shot myself this time. I shall almost miss that...
I've also put my name forward for some "panels" at Myeloma UK. One way to put something back and hopefully make a positive contribution. I'm particularly interested in the "Early Diagnosis" one which is mainly about better GP education regarding myeloma. A commonly quoted figure is that most GPs only see one new myeloma case in five years so it's not surprising that it isn't in the forefront of their minds and opportunities to spot it early are often missed, leading to years of ineffective treatment for the wrong thing. I was very lucky in that my GP did think about bone cancer early and that put me on the road through MGUS diagnosis and myeloma a year later - before much bone damage had been done. And that's why my "myeloma journey" so far has been as good as it has. Another year or so's delay and things might have been a lot worse.
COVID-19 new variant - I fear that we are in deep sh*t with this. It looks as if the new variant is already present across all parts of the UK, which makes the imposition of Tier 4 and travel restrictions including the effective cancellation of Christmas look like a bad case of mistimed stable doors and escaping horses.
It's 99.9% inevitable that before long the whole country will be in full lockdown again, with incalculable damage to the economy, not to mention the performing arts and etc. which are on their last legs already. As for schools and education, now that the new variant seems to go for young people as much as older ones, more school closures are inevitable apart from the need to use school premises for vaccinations and testing of teachers and pupils. Home learning is all very well, but we already know that its main result will be to widen the gap between those able to take advantage and those without the basic level of computer equipment and quiet study space needed to make effective use of online learning resources.. The impact of the virus will go way beyond last year's dubious GCSE and A level results. It's not looking at all good.
No comments:
Post a Comment