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MEGA POST: What’s Been Happening To Me – The Welsh Mountain Zoo, COVID Positive, Certificate in Counselling Skills & A Double Ear Infection

By Adventures, Education, Friends & Family, Health, LifeNo Comments

In June, I visited the Welsh Mountain Zoo with my good friend Simon. Here are some photos from the day:

In June I also tested positive for COVID-19. It floored me. I didn’t have any of the usual COVID symptoms: no cough, no temperature and no changes to my sense of taste or smell. Instead I had the following symptoms:

  • Exhaustion
  • An intermittent rash
  • Lumps on my hands
  • Headaches
  • Insomnia

I had been double vaccinated, used the face masks and remembered about social distancing. It made me so ill, I was off work and generally out of action for nearly 6 weeks.

Part of the reason I haven’t blogged recently, is as following COVID I had to catch up on a Certificate in Counselling Skills I had signed up to at my local college. I am pleased to announce, that subject to external moderation, I’ve successfully passed the course. I’m now about to start undertaking another course a Certificate in Mental Health Awareness.

The great thing about these courses offered at my local college, is that they’re free. Unless you don’t complete them, then you have to pay £125 – a good incentive to get them done.

At the moment I’m struggling with a double ear infection, meaning an infection in both ears. Its been very painful. But thankfully I’m on some antibiotics now that seem to be doing the trick.

Blog soon,

Antony

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Saturday 18 September 2021

A Typical Essential Worker’s Week?

By Life6 Comments

There are many types of essential workers out there. As a Nurse, I am one. The national Coronavirus updates by the Government and NHS England change day by day, as do our local updates. I want to give you a walk through of my week, to give you an idea of what it has been like.

Monday – A very mixed day. An early start and I hadn’t slept well. A colleague brought in a bacon bap, which would have been enough to make my day. But then we got a huge delivery of food from the local Nandos for us NHS staff for free. I was overwhelmed by the kindness of both my colleague and the Nandos staff.

It was a pleasant day weather wise, as it would be for the rest of the week. But on my drive home I was so disappointed to see so many people out when the Government had told people to stay at home.

Tuesday – I start my day by checking for Coronavirus updates on our NHS Tust’s intranet. This will become daily practice over the course of the week as I try to remain up to date at all times. I’m working from home today, as I’m on a rare non-clinical day. It feels weird not to drive into work, I guess this is what all the other home workers must be feeling.

Social distancing starts.

Wednesday – Today I complete an appraisal with my colleague. The best thing about managing staff is watching them grow and develop. The feedback I gave in the appraisal was extremely positive and I used a coaching approach to look at planning for the next quarter and year.

Although I don’t do appraisals every day, there was a feeling of everything being normal. This was despite the challenges of implementing plans around Cornonavirus around the hospital.

Thursday – The day was over before I knew it. I spent a lot of time getting up to date with tasks that I needed to get done. I also put together a rota for the next few weeks (obviously subject to change). Overall a productive day. I got home, put my lounge wear on and began to relax. Then I heard the noise of horses hooves outside.

Who the heck is riding a horse when they should be at home? I thought. I looked out of my window and was touched to see several neighbours clapping for the NHS and other essential workers. It left me feeling appreciated, privileged to do the job and honoured to work in our NHS.

Friday – Today I spent the day covering the office phone, bleeps and mobiles, ready to give telephone advice if needed. Good fortune appeared to smile down on me because nobody called or bleeped. This meant I managed to get some clinical auditing done.

I hope this post has been of interest. Write soon,

Antony

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Friday 27 March 2020
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