Gaynor Leech LWO Community Guest Blog: "Time to Reflect"
With March and #LAW and #WLD behind us for now it is time to jump forward into spring. Both Mary and I have taken a break and a digital detox after the exhilarating and exhausting ride preparing for the awareness week activities. The analysis of our success we will leave for the May newsletter. We both intend to take time off for Easter.
"Now is a time of reflection of all things that the last 12 months has thrown at us. The official lockdown was started on the 23rd March but hubby and I along with many of our friends went into lockdown on the 16th March 2020. None of us could have predicted how the last year would pan out.
We have all lost someone whether a family or friend has died, some feel they have lost themselves, but for me personally the hardest loss has been of the people who are still with us whose spirit and mind have been ravaged by Alzheimer’s who could not be with or even see their families. That I find particularly difficult to deal with, especially as my dear sister-in-law, who is in her eighties has not seen her husband since early November 2020 and as a direct result his condition has deteriorated so fast that its doubtful now whether he will remember any of us.
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We have come through the darkness and while we still must be patient the sun is shining, the daffodils and spring bulbs are out, the birds are singing. To me COVID has brought:
Compassion – to each other and a return of community spirit
Openhearted – neighbours and communities coming out to clap, to say hello
Valiant – efforts by all our healthcare workers to care for our loved ones
Inspirational – who will ever forget Captain Sir Thomas Moore (30 April 1920 – 2 February 2021), more popularly known as Captain Tom, the British Army officer who raised money for charity in the run-up to his 100th birthday during the COVID-19 pandemic and the others who have raised money for good causes or volunteered their time to make someone’s life better.
Dedication – a big thank you to all NHS Staff, Front Line Services, Support Service and all Key Workers.
Our Teachers caring for and teaching pupils via teams have done an amazing job and the families who have home-schooled children across the country. The police officers maintaining law and order, and we must not forget the retail sector, transport drivers who brought our food to the supermarkets and the staff who turned up every day to serve us often being targeted with the vilest abuse by the mindless few because their favourite toilet roll was not in stock.
In one year, we learnt to survive, in some ways life became simpler and humanity found a resilience and strength we had forgotten was there. Many of us learnt new skills, new ways to get moving and new ways of connecting not only with our own tight knit circles but a world was opened too many of us in a way we had never thought would be possible.
compression #undepressure
While many lymphoedema services have been lost or suspended we must make sure these services are restarted. We need to look as a matter of urgency at measuring and fitting services for compression garments which are a fundamental part of treatment for lymphoedema. For those L-W-O Community members who did not have their compression garments already on prescription the struggle to receive garments has been a fight and in several cases, members are wearing compression that is not fit for purpose or in the worst cases not wearing compression at all.
For those who are newly diagnosed with lymphoedema they need to be seen by a lymphoedema specialist as soon as possible.
We still have a long way to go before community support groups will be fully operational and some sadly will not return. Therefore, I am thankful that online support groups have flourished, and L-W-O Community is thriving with new opportunities and projects coming our way.
Gaynor x
