[healthwork, plague diaries] a miscellany

[kaberett]

This morning: another COVID-19 test, though I've lost count of how many that is now, again as part of the ongoing symptom study. This was notable mainly in that it was possible to book a drive-through test (and indeed would have been possible to book a walk-in) within five miles of our actual address, so that was nice.

Alas, the pharmacy was indeed closed, as I'd grimly suspected it would be but hadn't quite managed to check, which means we did not pick up my meds on our way to get flu jabs.

The GP practice did provide me with a flu jab, after enquiring what precisely my grounds for eligibility were, seeing as I'm under 65 and all (where A skips this step completely, because he's Officially My Carer and registered as such, and Carers Get The Flu Jab For Free), but did provide it. Social distancing from other patients while queueing was only slightly nightmarish.

And: my GP, having expressed Surprise and Dismay that he hadn't been aware of my fall back in April, referred me to the local physio. The local physio have written to me telling me to call the on or up to two weeks after the 4th of November, at which point they will be able to make an appointment for me. I am not best pleased with this manner of arrangement, but sigh, we shall see, and maybe they'll be able to sort my out with exercises that don't make everything worse, though my hopes are not high.

(... we think you would be best off with a senior physiotherapist, they said.)

Comments

[alexseanchai]

…carers get the flu vaccine with no hassle and the disabled people who, presumably, that rule is intended to protect don't.

[me_and]

So the idea of carers getting to flu jab isn't to protect against the risk of flu transmission per se, it's to protect against them being incapacitated by flu and therefore not able to do the care work.

If it were a direct health concern, the disabled person would be eligible for the vaccine in their own right because they meet one of the other criteria. If they don't, they're not believed to be particularly at risk of flu complications, so they don't need the jab.

It's more-or-less the same logic as employers paying for the jab: it's not so much about the health of their employees but about avoiding the disruption of the two week sick leave.

[buttonsbeadslace]

So they don't... want you to get the flu vaccine? Or they do want you to get it but they want you to pay?

This is a little mind-boggling to me because in the US they encourage everybody to get it, and it's one of very few healthcare things that you can actually get for $0 up front even if you don't have Good Healthcare Access generally. Like. My employer is giving free flu shot vouchers to any employee who wants one.

[me_and]

Folk who aren't eligible for the NHS vaccine can get it privately for about £8–12 (US$10–15). And some employers do buy vouchers for their employees.

The impact of flu on an otherwise reasonably healthy person is two weeks of feeling miserable and being off work, but they'll otherwise be fine without treatment. And the NHS is sadly sufficiently underfunded that things like that just aren't on the priority list.

[lilysea]

The impact of flu on an otherwise reasonably healthy person is two weeks of feeling miserable and being off work, but they'll otherwise be fine without treatment.

This is not true.

The 2019 Australian flu - which was long before COVID -

killed several healthy 20, 30, 40 year olds with zero pre-existing conditions

and put several other healthy 20, 30, 40 year olds with zero pre-existing conditions in comas.

It even killed a healthy 15 year old who had no pre-existing conditions.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05-07/teenager-among-ten-influenza-deaths-reported-in-sa/11088168

[macey]

I have in the last two years managed to find myself a physio, within a mile of my house, who actually has made a dent on my permanent RSI, by dint of taking one look at me doing the assigned stretches and going, 'huh. your elbows go past 180. neat' and then actually adjusting the exercises. it's magic. last week she showed me how to do thread-the-needle. 'this is comfy,' I said. 'I could take a nap like this.' '...maybe something else, then'

may you find a physio who works better than their byzantine scheduling rituals!

[lunabee34]

Hugs

[vass]

(... we think you would be best off with a senior physiotherapist, they said.)

I'm glad at least that they didn't blithely tell you it'd be fine.

Good luck with it, and with the test results. <3

[kaberett]

I have absolutely no reason to believe they won't be negative. I just spent most of a week not hydrating properly and generally having allergies playing up. <3

[silveradept]

Huzzah for a flu jab and hoping for a negative test.

And for a competent physio who will listen.