Part 5. Happy new year

Keith, Haemodialysis patient, UK

Over the last year I have written reflections on how COVID-19 has affected my daily way of life, the themes were:

• Invincible to Vulnerable
  • Having started dialysis in Dec 2016 I feel I had got my headspace and expectations pretty well sorted, but COVID-19 threw a massive curveball which significantly knocked my confidence levels
• Unshielding- what it means to me
  • De-shielding offered some new freedoms but also heightened fears. Since places which had previously been unsafe to go in, now were ok at less busy times, we were to make our own judgements
• What a difference a week makes…
  • Now the risk assessment I used was based upon the balance between fear and boredom
• Unshielded
  • De-shielded, un-shielded, discarded, abandoned, and many other words from my renal social media friends

Thinking back now over the last year, and looking forward to the next twelve months, I struggle to predict what the future holds. I would hope to receive one of the vaccines at some point soon being described as ‘extremely vulnerable’ but have no idea really as to their effectiveness especially with the recent timeline changes.

The transition from self-shielding to unshielding, and various shapes of lockdown have offered some sense of security on the one hand but instability when tiers have been introduced and when rules changed quite quickly.

I asked some of my renal Facebook friends:

What one word would you use to describe the new Covid Tier rules in UK?

I received the following responses which I converted into a word cloud.[1]

I did have to edit out some naughty word responses but appreciated the sentiments…

I am writing this on Sunday 3 January 2021 having attended a ZOOM church service and had Tesco deliver my shopping. There is a film called Groundhog Day which seems to sum up how I feel at the moment. Someone once said ‘same stuff, different day’ but in more colourful terms!! My life revolves around staying alive through dialysis, being tested for COVID-19 each week and getting out for a walk when I can.

UPDATE

Lockdown version 3 has arrived bringing fresh anxiety and news that people are already panic buying. We need to KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON as best we can within the law. But….

Progress is being made, as vaccinations are rolled out and as scientists around the world find out more about the virus. The grief of those who have lost loved-ones cannot be imagined, and my thoughts and prayers are with each one of them.

Keith Bucknall

To find out more about COVID-19 treatment and vaccination, visit the Kidney Care UK website here.

[1]The size of the lettering relates to number of the same responses