The Light at the End of the Tunnel
Imagine the action of a vaccine not just in terms of how it affects a single body, but also in terms of how it affects the collective body of a community.
Eula Blis
Okay, so this week I was scheduled to have the vaccine however, I was part of the Oxford/Astra Zeneca double blind, randomized study and participants have been told to contact the team at Oxford to discuss unblinding once they have been offered the real vaccine, the idea being, if you’ve had it, you don’t need it again however, there is no evidence that having a double dose is detrimental to health.
By coincidence a friend and colleague of mine were both due to have the vaccine this week and had both participated in the study. As we were on shift together, we decided to get the result together. I spoke to the researcher first and as I’d suspected right from the start, I had indeed received the vaccine as part of the study, subsequently I decided to pass on a double dose and let someone else get the advantage of the vaccine. My friend went next and to our relief, she too had had the vaccine!
Whilst I was pretty sure I’d had it, I wasn’t massively surprised however, it did dispel that nagging doubt in my mind, I think I felt relieved more than surprised, I remember letting out a subconscious sigh when I was told. I felt happy, happy turned into elation, elation turned into jubilation, I’d found the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel! I know we really shouldn’t have however, after a brief hesitation and smile we hugged the living day lights out of one another!
We’d got the results in my office so, after the fabulous news we went back to the central patient monitoring station, we’d tried to get the results on the quiet however, as we were potentially going to be a while, (we weren’t, it took like ten minutes!), we’d told one of our other colleagues what we were up to, subsequently, because nothing is secret for very long on the unit, when we got back there were more than the usual number of nurses, doctors and physios at the station, all hushed, all eyes on us, there were even fully PPE’d faces pressed against the window of the door going into one of the pods.
When I said, “we’ve both had it”, to my surprise, the place erupted, people clapped and cheered, people smiled, a rare thing over the weeks and months in there, people did the universal, wrapping your arms around yourself, virtual hug and people cried, my friend cried, I cried.
One of our consultants made a little speech in which he described us as heroes, I don’t feel like a hero, even when people paused in the early days to clap NHS and key workers, even when my neighbours once got up at stupid o’clock am to clap me off to work, (another crying moment!), I’ve never felt I’m a hero. That’s not to say I’ve not felt pride, I have been proud that I’ve been able to contribute something positive to the fight against COVID, I’ve been immensely proud of my team who have wobbled more than once or twice but have not once wavered in the execution of their duty of care and I’m proud of all the people out there that have thought about us, putting our and our families lives in harms way, and have stuck by the rules, to those people, I salute you!
To the inconsiderate idiots that flouted the rules, went to parties, went to secret pub lock ins, went drinking in each other’s homes, I’d love to have taken you into work just once so, you could see the pain and suffering, the anguish, the tears, the despair, the fear, the anxiety, the torture, to see the thirty-five-year-old father of toddlers slipping away from his family on an iPhone, I wonder then if you would have broken the rules quite so readily – perhaps not for many of you.
But I don’t want to finish on a negative because the light is there, I’ve seen it and it’s bright, warm and comforting. It’s really given me a boost, I still feel the jubilation when I was told, it’s given me hope and for the first time in a long time, I’ve started making plans for the future, this weekend I’m going to get together with some friends, virtually obviously(!) and we’re going to book a summer holiday, that warmth from the light will turn into the warmth of summer sun. So, when you get the call, don’t think twice, go get that vaccine!!
With that in mind and as it’s the holidays over the next few weekends, I’m going to do a couple of blogs on my holiday bucket list, not just for this year but for this year and beyond!
Merry Christmas to those that celebrate, to those that don’t peace and love over the next few weeks!
What’s on this week?
Head & Eyes – LeLUTKA Head Fleur 2.5
Hair – TRUTH Eternity Rigged Blond
Skin – [the Skinnery] Karima (LeLutkaEVO) honey
Body, Hands & Feet – Maitreya Mesh Body - Lara V5.2 + [ session ] BOM Addons
Ears – ^^Swallow^^ Urban Ears
AO – Vista Animations *HUD 5.34* - NINA BENTO AO CURVY V1.2
Shape – [the Skinnery] Karima (LeLutkaEVOFleur) Shape - Slightly Modified
Necklace and Earings – EarthStones Mr. & Mrs. Gingerbread
Face Piercings – ^^Swallow^^ Indira
Rings – Real Evil **RE** Festive Rings - Maitreya
Boots – **UTOPIA@Design** - "TALIA" - (Maitreya)
Pictures taken at the palacial and opulent Angel Manor Estate
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