LFT

Always “When” rather than “If” . .

/ Tony / 4 Comments

After about 2½ years of mask wearing, stepping into the road to avoid people, and hand sanitising, I finally succumbed to the virus. We had both tested negative on Friday morning (we have to do a lateral flow test [LFT] before R*** can come home for a visit) so everything looked okay. I had been feeling a little off colour since waking up but put it down to simply being a summer cold.


Saturday came, and I spent most of the either dozing in the chair or in bed. I was still thinking it was a cold and nothing else. By Sunday, I was thinking that the cold was lasting longer than it should. K*** said I should do a LFT to be on the safe side and I was beginning to think it might be a good idea. Then it showed … positive … which was not too unexpected. What was unexpected was the feeling of relief. Relief that I now knew what it was. I called K*** and let her know, before calling the boss. That’s another story, which I may put in writing when the anger dies down.

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Flash forward to today (Monday) and we are testing again as R***’s care home had said that he could go back as long as he tested negative. Well, nightmare time again, this time K*** tested positive. R***’s test was negative, so he was picked up around 11:00. It’s messed him up a little as cannot do any of his normal activities, has to be tested every day and his team have to go back to wearing the full PPE.

Then, at around 12ish we got a phone call from his care home. They are obliged to do a test when he arrives as a matter of course. Amazingly he tested positive. Could not believe it. So now, not only can he not do his normal activities, he is not allowed out of his flat until Tuesday.

Not been in the mood . . .

/ Tony / 1 Comment

I’ve had a cold since around the 16th of the month. I started with a bit of a sniffle on the previous Wednesday and I did a few Lateral Flow Tests (LFT’s) on the basis that the new Omicron variation had cold-like symptoms. All showed negative thankfully, but by the afternoon of the 17th (Monday), my cold was in full flow. So bad that I decided to ring in sick on Tuesday, which was probably the best idea. I spent the whole day in bed, sleeping which was very unusual for me.

By Saturday, I was beginning to feel much better and was almost looking forward to returning to work on the following Monday. I duly went back, but by Tuesday afternoon, I was beginning to feel bad again. More LFT’s followed, but again all were negative and I had to give in to the fact that either my initial cold had not gone, or that I had a new version. It’s just coming to the end now, ready for work tomorrow. Oh, joy!

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Wednesday is not going to be a good day. The trust that funds R***’s placement has decided that they don’t it to be fully funded by them. It has been for the past 10 years, but they now think that the funding should be shared between them and the Local Authority. I find it very wrong, that people make decisions about people, without even really knowing them. But apart from him getting older and becoming more tolerant, he still has the same diagnosis. He has not been ‘cured’ of Autism or ADHD. His medication has been reduced, but that is down to the team he works with.

So on Wednesday, we are having a Zoom meeting with the Social Worker that has been allocated to him. It’s going to be very stressful, especially as he’s been in lock-down since he went back to his residential place at the end of December. Hopefully, he can get home for the weekend, but much depends on how the virus spreads over this next week.