New infections - 100000 per day?

That’s very kind Callistemon, and I’ll add Gran16 Marydoll and Callistemon for your kindness

It was Gran16 who said it, maddyone but I thought it was worth repeating.

Some for you too ???

I am sad to hear of the illnesses of other posters and admire their lack of self-pity and determination to carry on. I’m sorry you have to work Gran16 and hope you’re able to keep safe.

Miss Chatelaine, your explanations about your reasons for leaving your small children smack of nothing but self-interest. I’m fully aware of what was expected of married women back in the 70s and 80s and have first hand experience of a miserable marriage entered in 1970, which I remained in for 23 years. How silly of me, you will say, but I’d made my bed as they say and was brought up to honour my obligations. How very quaint. Having children immediately was no longer expected in those days and you had a choice in the matter; I was 15 years into my first marriage before I actually wanted a child. I was then lucky to have my wonderful son in 1985 who is and was from the day he was born the centre of my universe. When you left your children to get yourself a university education they were of school age and you certainly didn’t have to sit at home ‘knitting apple pies’ as you so disparagingly say.
I have already said I have had asthma since I was a toddler. I also developed epilepsy at 17 and had severe post-natal depression which has resulted in my taking anti-depressants to this day; I’m not addicted to them but it turns out that I need them. None of these conditions were self-inflicted unless you say that I could have avoided the last one by being childless. The first two place me in the vulnerable category so far as Covid is concerned - why so with epilepsy I have no idea. Others on here have far more serious conditions and I agree that you have shown no genuine empathy towards them which is surprising for someone for whose choice of career it would have surely have been a vital quality. Or were those you interacted with mainly druggies which you could understand? It seems to me that if you haven’t experienced something you cannot understand it or empathise with it.

You appear to have an obsession with obesity, which I can understand if you were (and maybe still are?) anorexic yet you say your wife is obese, through her own fault. It’s my belief this is a genuine problem you have but I echo the words of others that obesity is suffered by many in deprived areas who have little money, little education, have no idea how to eat healthily on their budgets because no-one has shown them, no access to a gym, have become too unwell to go for long walks in their miserable surroundings and thus sit in front of the telly comfort eating and perhaps smoking and drinking if the budget stretches to it by way of escapism. We can see how things might be different for them but they surely need sympathy and understanding and efforts to prevent this happening through the generations. I’m sure they would have preferred different lifestyles if they’d known how to have them.

Callistemon, thank you for distilling the nub of the discussion so succinctly. You are correct. Yes I am unbelievably lucky that I appear to have inherited excellent good health genes and I am thankful for this every morning when I wake up. One day I won’t be able to do the things that I can now and I never want to regret not doing all that I can whilst I am able. I have enormous empathy with anyone who suffers from an illness of any kind and I go out of the way to support the friends of mine who are not as healthy as me.
There are some things that many of us can do to improve our own health and I believe that it is the responsibility of each of us to do this if possible. An example. My eldest daughter was diagnosed with PCOS in her early 20’s and told that it was unlikely that she would be able to have children. Also that she was likely to gain a lot of weight and have an excess hair problem. She researched the condition, and whilst working full time studied for and gained a qualification in sports nutrition. She upped her exercise routine, started running marathons, changed her diet and because she was in Hong Kong at the time tried some traditional Chinese medicine. She now has 2 children, maintains a healthy lifestyle and has never had any problems in this area.
So what I am saying is that lifestyle and health are linked for me.

I still don’t get how you can hire 30 odd people when you are on a pension. Doesn’t make sense. Slave labour or what ?Most people here can barely survive on a pension. A few contradictions in your posts. Are you a troll?

But you also, on another thread, said that your way of tackling viruses was to exercise vigorously. Which, imo was a dangerous thing to say during a pandemic in which the virus often affects the heart. I do think you had a very unhappy childhood and the lack of love from your parents has greatly affected you. I also think you did your job incredibly well because you were able to switch off emotionally. That isn’t a criticism: sometimes work of that kind will grind someone down and, much as they want to help people they have to leave to protect themselves. I’m trying to understand how you could have left your children. I was in a very lonely marriage but could never have left my children. It had been happy but my husband changed when we had our children. I’ve always kept myself fit and ate reasonably healthily (even more so when the pandemic started as I wanted to lose weight and eat a more vegetarian based diet) but my arthritis has suddenly flared up badly and walking has become painful. It’s very difficult to exercise and maintain a good weight when, through no fault of your own, you’re in pain. Please just have more sympathy for those of us that do not feel we can shrug off the virus if we catch it.

Thank you Callistemon.

The problem as I see it is that people can’t help the conditions they have inherited, or that they discover they have. My family appear to have a depression/anxiety gene, if the number of people in the family who suffer from one or the other, or both, are anything to go by. It’s not physical, no one can see it, but it’s there. At the moment I’m struggling myself with depression. After being hospitalised with serious Covid in January, having the responsibility of my elderly mother who has fallen three times in the last six months and who has been hospitalised three times, plus the general responsibility of her care and seeing to her affairs, and lastly my beloved daughter emigrated with her her family to New Zealand two months ago, all this has brought on a major depression which I am currently struggling with. I was diagnosed with depression brought on by the menopause some years ago, but I recovered and returned to work. So long as I took the medication I was happy and normal, but the events of the last six months made me wobble, and then become very depressed. I’ve increased the dose of my medication which has improved things, but I’ve got a telephone appointment in a week to discuss with my GP for the best way forward. Maybe maintain the increased dose or change medication, I’ll see what she recommends.

I haven’t made myself ill. I eat plenty of fruit and vegetables. I try to go out each day. This all helps my mood, but I no more deserve the depression anymore than Marydoll and Gran16 deserve, or brought upon themselves, their illnesses. My husband is rarely ill, he even had Covid very mildly, whilst I was very ill with it. Good genes that result in excellent health are a gift that should be appreciated. People who have these good genes are extremely lucky. Not everyone is so lucky as shown by the posters on this thread.

nanna8

I still don’t get how you can hire 30 odd people when you are on a pension. Doesn’t make sense. Slave labour or what ?Most people here can barely survive on a pension. A few contradictions in your posts. Are you a troll?

Please stop making these ridiculous unfounded and positively nasty accusations. I explained earlier in the thread that throughout my working life I managed to save each month. I earned at the end of my career 5 years ago approx £1700 per month. I obviously started on a great deal less 15 years before. Out of this I put in an ISA £500 per month and lived on the rest. I often worked additional days for the organisation at weekends and was able to squirrel away more. So when I retired I had saved over £100,000. What is so difficult about understanding the idea of long term saving and spending it on something important.

I currently receive a full state pension and a very small work pension and I still manage to save. Yes I have been lucky that when I have had a small mortgage I have been able to pay this off early through a small inheritance. But many of our age are fortunate to be in this position.

Please stop making unpleasant judgements about me. Luckily I am reasonably thick skinned and it passes me by. I think MayBee70 is correct when she says that I was able to disassociate myself emotionally from the horrors that I heard and expernced in my workplace from clients and in the courts. Levels of unimaginable domestic and other violence, child pornography, murder, drug related violence and kidnappings just to name a few of the areas. You develop a thick skin and a dark sense of humour. So no I’m not a troll…….neither am I prepared to discuss any further my children or my marriage. Though my first husband has recently written a book, semi autobiographical, which I feature in one chapter. Thankfully it’s not a best seller and names have been changed.!

.^It’s very difficult to exercise and maintain a good weight when, through no fault of your own, you’re in pain.^

Yes, it's a Catch 22 situation, Maybee.

Sometimes inherited diseases require medication which can result in weight gain too.

Message deleted by Gransnet. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

Oh please give up with your petty vitriol. I am human and I have feelings. I genuinely disclosed my history for the first time on here particularly regarding my marriage with the view to opening a rational discussion. I certainly didn't expect this venom. Im not going to discuss this any further but I will tell you that I have a lovely close relationship with both my daughters and have done since they were small. They spent a great deal of time with me as they were growing up and are beautiful, talented, loving and happy adults with great children of their own.
Enough is enough unless you would like to say these things to my face.

The man who invented jogging died of a heart attack aged 52.
Just saying ?

contradictions again Miss C regarding your kids upbringing. You certainly don't like it when people stand up to you and call you put!!! Enough!!!

Out not put

I am extremely uncomfortable with the pile-on towards MissChateline .
I have underlying health issues and fortunately I am able to go to the gym and walk frequently which helps me.

MissChateline

Oh please give up with your petty vitriol. I am human and I have feelings. I genuinely disclosed my history for the first time on here particularly regarding my marriage with the view to opening a rational discussion. I certainly didn't expect this venom. Im not going to discuss this any further but I will tell you that I have a lovely close relationship with both my daughters and have done since they were small. They spent a great deal of time with me as they were growing up and are beautiful, talented, loving and happy adults with great children of their own.
Enough is enough unless you would like to say these things to my face.

To be fair you did make it sound as if you just totally walked away from your daughters. Having said that, your story is an interesting one especially looking back to a time when society had different expectations of people in so many different ways. It makes me think of my FIL who was a prison warden at a time when there was still a death penalty. He was probably able to do that because he’d been through the horrors of WWII. I’m sure there was as a nice side to him but he buried it so well that me and the children could never warm to him and my ex, a sweet gentle man was brought up having to embrace his fathers just get on with it attitude which ultimately brought about the end of our marriage.

But to get back to the OP I’m sure an ME sufferer said in DrJohns blog last night that if infections do go up to 100,000 a day that will possibly result in 500 long covid sufferers per day and long covid does not respect age, health, severity of covid symptoms. etc. Which, imo is terrifying.

We were born in the 70s and my Mum put up with an abusive husband for far longer than she should have done because of the expectations on her from her own family, let alone society. Lots of excuses were made for my bio Father which really would be completely unacceptable now. I realise this has nothing to do with coronavirus

Thank you to those who have offered positive and supportive posts. Thankfully the most recent and nastiest post has now been removed by GN.
I attempted to raise an issue which was considered taboo at the time in the early 80’s and it appears that people continue to have very strong feelings about it. Understandably as it is a very emotive issue. I didn’t expect the personalised venom and downright nastiness that I received. I apologise if I have upset anyone but I really thought that this was a safe place to be able to discuss things.
I am actually very happy to answer any questions that anyone may have as people seem to think that I am a troll. But I will only do this through a PM as I am not prepared to open up again about this in a public forum.

MissChateline, this thread most probably just wasn't the right place to discuss it. I'm sure there are lots of women on here who can empathise either through lived experience or witness of it. I'm glad you have a good relationship with your daughter's now.

MissChateline you're obviously not a troll as you've been posting for some time - but I have to say you've rather invited criticism with your boasts of how super-fit you are and that others are responsible for their own ill health.

I remember at the height of lockdown you got into a scrap on here by boasting how you do 2-hour runs, sometimes 2 or 3 times a day, which was against the guidelines. You said then and since that you do this to maintain your mental health.

Would it be boastful of me to say that my mental health is very robust and certainly needs no more than a trot around the park, or a stroll around Peter Jones to keep me bright and perky. We're all different.

Maybe you're more fragile than you think.

And finally, it wasn't very nice to say your wife is fat with dodgy knees - a bit unkind.

So Pfizer have tweaked their vaccine to cover the Delta variant. Given that Sir Patrick Vallance is one of the government advisors advocating the opening up of the country thereby increasing infections and making the Pfizer vaccine more necessary isn’t the fact that he has thousands of pounds worth of shares in Pfizer a conflict of interest? Hancock denied that it was a conflict of interest last autumn. I assume he still has the shares?

god they are all bunch of self serving toss pots

JaneJudge

god they are all bunch of self serving toss pots

MissChateline, apologies if I contributed to upsetting you. You obviously understand mental health difficulties as you run to maintain good mental health. I was merely pointing out that at times I have not had robust mental health, but I know these difficulties run in my family. Anyway, I was certainly not trying to be judgmental. In fact, I think you’ve been very brave during your lifetime as you found the courage to leave your husband and come out as gay. As I have a gay son I am aware how difficult this is to do, but of course he’s younger than you, and times have changed over the years. I understand you probably got married because that was what people expected everyone to do at that time.