Why Freedom Day is anything but for many people.

 

The last 16 months or so have been a difficult time for many people. Since Covid came into our lives, what we think of as our “normal” has shifted and many of us no longer know what normal feels like.

So much has changed; so many things we used to take for granted have been lost, destroyed or otherwise altered.

Talk of so called “Freedom Day” on 19^th July rings hollow for many people like those who have lost loved ones, either due to covid itself or as a result of other issues that have taken a back seat during the pandemic.

No matter how many times we hear that it is business as usual during the pandemic either from the NHS or from GP’s & Doctors there are many, many people who have stories of cancelled appointments – for screenings, treatments, surgery etc.

From the work I do running Womb Cancer Support UK, I hear constantly from people who have struggled to get a face to face appointment with a GP to discuss heavy bleeding or pain; those who have been diagnosed who have had their hysterectomy surgery cancelled at the last minute; had their chemo treatment delayed, etc.

It seems like cancer has been forgotten about and the only thing that matters is covid. This isn’t a dig at the NHS but it is to the people who run it, especially to government who seem determined to run it into the ground and sell it off.

Now I’m not going to turn this into a political post because anyone with eyes & ears should be able to see what is happening & why but there are many ill, disabled & vulnerable people who have been forgotten about or ignored (depending on your viewpoint) during the pandemic, and all this talk of “Freedom Day” means nothing to them other than dread. Because they know that once again their lives mean little to those who run this country.

Many have had their support cut during the pandemic and unpaid carers have been hung out to dry by having to take up the slack and look after family & relatives.

I know from my own experience just how little support there is for those of us that fall through the cracks of an already fractured care support system. Both myself & my husband have complex health issues but we have been left to just get on with it during the pandemic (not to mention the last 12 years since I was diagnosed with cancer, but that’s a whole other story!!)

The point is, that many vulnerable people are still scared to go out; to go shopping; to go to work. Going to the pub or a football match is not a priority for them – staying alive is. To see 60,000+ people in Wembley this week makes many of us feel that all those months of isolation & struggle have been a total waste of time. All that for nothing. The coronavirus is still here, it is mutating and despite the vaccine rollout out the numbers of people being infected is going up and the number of deaths as a result will climb again.

More familes loosing loved ones – and it could all have been prevented or at least not been as drastic if this whole thing had been handled properly, if the scientists had been listened to and common sense had been used rather than the irresponsible contempt that has been shown to the citizens of the UK.

The Red Rose of Labour has faded

 

The youth of today are much more clued up about politics than I was at their age. The internet has made it much easier for them to find alternative narratives than just what their parents believe so they are able to form their own views and opinions about things. They are also more likely to have experienced negative things that have affected their short lives like cut backs of school funding, parental unemployment, maybe homelessness, long NHS waiting lists etc.

I was born in 1963. My parents were working class but my Dad had aspirations for his children and wanted them to have a better life. They managed to buy their own home a couple of years before I was born and lived in it until the day they died. To them a house was something to live in not an investment. They never thought about how much the house was worth and whether they could sell and make a profit on it. They were lucky that for 25 years they had a fixed rate mortgage – something many homeowners would no doubt love these days.

Politics was rarely discussed in our home, infact I never knew who my parents voted for until it was time for me to vote for the first time at 18 in 1981. Can’t remember much about it, but I think it was local council elections. I remember being scared of what to do on the day and as we sat at the breakfast table on the morning of election day I asked my Dad what to do when we got to the polling station. He said just take the paper they give you, go into the booth and put your X next to the name that says CONSERVATIVE – so that’s what I did, to my now eternal shame.

The constituency I was in was a tory area, although I didn’t know it at the time. The local MP was Norman Fowler &the local council was tory run. 1 year later I moved away to a small mining village in north east Derbyshire when I married & shortly afterwards the miner’s strike happened. That’s when I started to learn about politics. Dennis Skinner was the local MP there. I’m proud to say that I voted for him every time there was an election during the 10 years we lived there. I also voted Labour at every local election too. Then in 1992 we moved to another Labour area where the MP was Alan Meale.

In 2002 we moved north of the border to Scotland and I soon realised that politics up here was a whole new ball game. Here on west coast, Labour are virtually non-existent so voting for them seemed a wasted vote. The local MP was Lib Dem with the SNP always close behind. Even the tories got more votes than Labour come General Election time. After the awful coalition with the tories, the local MP Alan Reid lost his seat to the SNP and so it remains, at the moment!

I did vote for Labour at the last General Election because as a Socialist, I believed in the vision of Jeremy Corbyn. We have lived in sub-standard rented housing and lived with the fear of being homeless; we’d seen how the mining community had been torn apart by Thatcher’s determination to crush Scargill and the miners union in the 80’s; we’d seen the rise of hatred towards ethnic minorities with frequent EDL marches in town during the 90’s.

When Tony Blair became PM in 1997 I, like many people thought things would change and to some extent they did. We had a Labour government, finally everyone in the UK would benefit, not just the rich like they did under the tories. We have a fairer society with more equality. Well, we did for a while until New Labour started to look like Old Conservative.

I had never regarded myself as particularly political but when Jeremy Corbyn was elected leader of the Labour Party in 2015 I realised that my views that had been formed over the years had found their home in a man of principals who wanted everyone to have a good home, a good job with decent pay, access to good healthcare & education. I began to believe that there was hope for a better future for everyone in UK but sadly the backstabbers in the Labour party & the MSM began to circle almost immediately. It became apparent that there were many in the Labour ranks who were not as red as they appeared to be. I believe they are called career politicians; people who go into power with the sole aim of climbing the ladder to the top, doing whatever it takes, including betraying the very people who elected them in the first place, to bolster their own ego.

I’m not a political analyist or a journalist or anything like that. I’m just an average person who believes that everyone deserves the chance to live a full and content life. Under the tories we have seen social housing decimated; our infrastructure like public transport, utilities, our NHS etc sold off. Capitalism & economics rule under the tories. As we’re seen over the past year with covid, lives mean little to them if there is money to be made.

127,000+dead bodies – that’s a huge pile, right. After everything that has happened over the past 12 months – the corruption, the lies, the incompetence over Brexit etc – last night the people of Hartlepool basically decided “We’ll take more of that, thank you very much”

I can understand them maybe not wanting to vote Labour at the moment but why the hell did they vote tory? Do the voters of Hartlepool have a serious masochistic streak or something? Was there no credible alternative? OK, maybe that’s a daft question!!

We’ve had a tory government since 2010, that’s 11 years of austerity, destroying civil liberties, incompetence, lies, rising homelessness & poverty – the list goes on and on and on.

I don’t know what the answer is but I do believe that Jeremy Corbyn offered a better future for everyone but it seems that is not what enough people wanted. That is the reason why Hartlepool went blue on 6^th May 2021. 

I guess turkeys really do vote for Christmas.

 

 

 

Finally we can say goodbye to 2020.

 Well, 2020 is almost over. Just a few hours now until we can finally say goodbye to what for many of us has been a dreadful year.

I think if anyone had thought a year ago on the eve of a new decade that we would end up in a national lockdown due to a virus pandemic that has killed well over 72,000 people, you would have been accused of having a fertile imagination or having too much to drink on New Years Eve!!!

It has been a tough year for a lot of people; from those cancer patients who have had treatment postponed to others who have had long awaited surgery cancelled. The many people who have been working on the frontline in the NHS and the countless people who have lost loved ones to this pandemic.

We face more of the same in 2021 unfortunately unless things change dramatically. I'm not going to get too political here but most right minded people can see only to well and clear that this whole covid thing has been handled disastrously by those supposedly in charge. From the lies & corruption to the total disregard for the value of the lives of the young, the elderly, the disabled and other vulnerable members of the population.

Hopefully things will improve soon but it is going to take everyone pulling together and doing their bit. Standing in the street and clapping for the NHS is not enough, 

Let 2021 be the year that people stop being selfish and start having some compassion and respect for others. It only works if enough people do it. How many more people are going to die before we say enough is enough? 

Those off us that care will continue to care but we can't do it all on our own. We all need to care for each other. 

Goodbye 2020. Please close the door on your way out.

Diabetes & Me.

 If you read my last blog post, you'll know that my ongoing health issues are causing me problems yet again.

I was taken into hospital over on the mainland back in the beginning of October and spent 2 weeks there. 

On the morning I was released, they told me that a blood test they had done when I was admitted had shown that my blood glucose levels were quite high but it seems that they had somehow overlooked this fact and only noticed it at the last minute.

So instead of leaving hospital thinking it was going to be good to get back home, I spent the whole journey back worrying about how diabetes was going to ruin my life.

Three weeks on, and I'm a little less pessimistic about the future. I am on drugs (metformin) and have altered my diet and have managed to loose some weight.

I was recomended a book by one of the GP's - The 8 week blood sugar diet by Michael Moseley - and found it quite interesting. He advocates a mediterranean diet to help reduce blood sugar levels and says that it is possible to come off medication in the long run which is exactly what I want to hear.

I eat a healthy vegetarian diet anyway which is full of fresh fruit and vegetables so basically it was just a case of cutting out the carbs and 3 weeks later I can definetly see the weight loss.

It is taking some adjusting too though as its hard to find recipes that are low carb, vegetarian & diabetic friendly but I will stick at it. At the moment, I'm eating lots of salad but it's getting a bit chilly for that now so I need to look for some alternative meals. There is also the issue of availability as the choice of fresh fruit and veg here on the island is often quite limited. I've not been able to get my hands on any radishes for ages!!!!

Until next time.

Kaz 😎

Air Ambulance, Antibiotics and Atrial Fibrillation

As some of the people wh read my blog may know, I have long term on going health issues as a result of being diagnosed with womb cancer at the end of 2009.

On 8th Oct 2020, things took a turn for the worst and I was taken up to the local hospital here on Bute and then transfered to the mainland where I stayed for almost 2 weeks.

Due to living on an island, some patients are taken off by air ambulance rather than by ferry, which is usually the only way on and off the island, so I had what turned out to be a rather nice trip over to Paisley in the big air ambulancc helicopter. Probably not the best way to experience your fist ever flight but I was accompanied by a couple of rather young, good looking medics so who am I to complain!!!

After being assessed and covid tested, which was defenetly not a pleasant experience (and was negative by the way) I was rather surprised to be admitted to the coronary care unit. Turns out I have something called atrial fibrilation or an abnormal heart rhythm which means I am now on heart medication. Took a while to get things under control in the hospital but after lots of tests and a good Consultant I am now doing ok and happy to be back home. 

I also had an infection, which was the reason I ended up in the local hospital in the first place. 10 days of anti-biotics which played havoc with my tummy but did the trick.

Whilst that was all going on, covid 19 hit the ward I had been moved to and we all had to be tested again (another negative thankfully) This all added to the issues I had in getting home but after 3 false alarms I finally escaped on Wednesday and am now back home.

It is going to take some time for everything to sink in but I will go with the flow and see where it takes us. I used my time in hospital to raise some awareness of womb cancer and also lymphoedema so a bit of good came out of it.

If you are still reading this, then thanks for sticking with me. 

Until next time.  😄

Kaz

What day of the year is it?????

So,  how is every one coping with lockdown, isolation, boredom & not having anyone interesting to talk too?

To be totally honest with you, nothing much has changed for me as I'm virtually housebound most of the time due to various health issues. Up until lockdown became official I'd only been out of the house 5 times since last September.

The only thing I am missing is the hour or so to my self that I got each weekday morning when hubby used to pop into town on the bus to the shops. That was his little routine and it gave me a chance to sit in absolute peace and quiet (apart from noisy neighbours, barking dogs & lawnmowers!!) and just chill out.

My mental health hasn't been all that good for the past few years since cancer came into my life but I've tried hard to not let it get to the point where it totally controls my life. I have my ups & downs like most people but the fact that I can sense the darkness descending means I am able to work through it and not let it take control.

Thankfully there are a lot more people being open about their mental health issues (at least online) which is good. Seeing posts on social media about awareness is good but that only works if you walk the talk. If you have friends who have mental health issues then it is important that you really are ready to listen to them if and when they take the huge step and open up to you.

I've seen so many posts on Twitter from people with mental health issues who have said they tried to open up to someone they thought would listen to them only to be met with indifference or getting the brush off and told to "man up". 

There are so many people who are really struggling at the moment during the current situation; many were already close to breaking point before this all started and it is only going to get worse.

Please, if you know of someone who has mental health issues or who you think may be struggling - let them know you are there for them and mean it. 

If you are the one who is struggling then please reach out. There is always someone out there who will listen. You are not a burden. You are not worthless. 

2020 Vision

So, we will soon be starting a new decade and as usual at this time of year we look back before we look forward, right? Well, I'm looking back to the end of the previous decade, back to 2009.

23rd December to be exact. That was the day I found out that I had womb cancer. 

Great Christmas present eh?

I had no idea that 10 years on I would still be living with the consequences of that and that my quality of life would be virtually zero.

Cancer unfortunately has a habit of seriously screwing up some peoples lives. What is the saying about "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" Well, thats a load of crap for a start.

Cancer, or rather the treatment that you have, in my case surgery, chemotherapy & radiotherapy, can leave behind a series of life long side effects which often means that your health is worse post cancer than it was when you were diagnosed.

Now before anyone jumps down my throat, I know I am generalising here and I am only speaking from my own experience but I really think that the medical profession need to change the way they deal with cancer patients. 

Many are not told about the possible long term side effects of treatment, I know I certainly wasn't. I totally understand that some people don't want to know and thats fine but to subject peope to barbaric treatments without giving them full information is wrong.

It's not called the "cut, poison & burn approach" for nothing. 

How can patients be expected to give their consent for treatment if they are not given all the information they need to be able to make an informed decision? 

Call me naive but I didn't realise that I would go into immediate surgical menopause right after my hysterectomy. I was not given any help or support and have still not had any 10 years on. 

I was told no HRT but not offered any alternatives and so many other women are in the same position.

Since I set up Womb Cancer Support UK back in April 2011 I have discovered so much information that is relevant to my diagnosis, treatment and side effects that I was never told about.

It is wrong that patients have to resort to googling for information that should be provided by their medical team; their GP, Consultant, Oncologist etc.

If I could turn the clock back a decade I would do so. I would refuse the treatment and would take my chances. At least I would probably have had some decent quality of life for a couple of years, maybe even linger who knows.

What I do know is that the chemo & radiotherapy destroyed my quality of life. You may think I'm being over dramatic or exagerating things a bit but you are not living my life.

It is time that quality of life was a factor in assessing treatment outcome. It is true that I no longer have cancer (well, I've never actually been told that as I never had any follow ups at all after my treatment ended, but that a whole nother story!!) but at what cost?

I have spent the past near 9 years with WCSUK trying to empower women to speak up, ask questions and not accept the status quo. We deserve better; I deserved better.

So as a new decade dawns,  I think it's time to move on from cancer if I can. Not sure how I can best achieve that but I'm sure we'll figure it out somehow.

Here's to 2020.