Claire Morgan 07/09/2020 Member StoriesNews

10^th August 2020

Since we last did a diary update, the person who kept borrowing things from us has been told to stop.  We involved the Council and they sorted it out but they told the person that it was us who had complained, so it all feels very awkward now.  The person was shouting at us the other day when Neil was talking to his support worker outside, because the dog was barking.  There was nothing we could do about it – Neil had to talk to his support worker outside and sometimes it’s hard to keep the dogs quiet.

Town is still really busy and we’re finding it difficult when we go shopping. Anne needs to rest regularly and often we can’t find an empty bench to sit on. Her walker broke so we’re using her old one which has a seat on it, so that’s helpful if there are no benches free.  There’s tape over the seats at the station and even on the buses.  It’s difficult when you have mobility problems if you need to sit and rest for a bit.

Neil went on the bus today – they are now allowing up to 18 people on a single-decker bus at any one time – that doesn’t feel safe to us and people aren’t listening to the social distancing rules.

Anne has a hospital appointment tomorrow and we’re not sure what to expect.  No-one has said what will happen when we get there.  We had to make an optician’s appointment last week they told us we  could arrive up to 10 minutes early to have a sit down before the appointment   When we actually got there at 11.30 for an 11.40 appointment, the person on the desk said we had to wait outside because it wasn’t our appointment time!  She said that the person who told us we could come early was wrong.  It’s so confusing!  Everyone is saying different things.

We went on a protest march last Saturday in support of a pay rise for hospital staff.  It was really well attended.  We’ve been on marches all over the UK; we go independently of support staff with our friends. We are active in the community.

Neil is keeping busy with Co-production and Citizen’s Panel meetings on a weekly or fortnightly basis but the last few months have been weird and not knowing what to expect can be nerve-wracking.

24^th August 2020

We’ve got to isolate again for 14 days! Anne has to have an operation on her eye and the hospital have told us we have to stay in for 14 days prior to the operation and then once it is done, we will have to isolate for another 14 days.  That’s miserable and we’re pretty fed up.   We don’t know when the operation will be – we’re waiting for a letter and we don’t know what will happen on the day of the operation either.

We can’t do a big shop to last us for 14 days because we wouldn’t be able to carry it all and it would be too expensive so our friends are helping us out.  Neil still has to walk our two dogs though.  We’re really finding it hard this time, especially as everyone else is out and about.

We went to the hospital for Anne’s consultation – Neil was only allowed to walk with her to make sure she was in the right place but then he had to wait outside.  It was lucky it was a fine day weather-wise as there is no shelter outside.

We’re getting bored stuck in the house all the time but we’re looking forward to some Zoom events this week.  We’re helping out with the Ambulance event this week and also attending the Human Rights session, so they will be something to look forward to.  Thank goodness for our internet access!