THE Prepping thread - a new beginning :)

[Deleted User]

Life IS hard at all stages of it but it's up to each of us as individuals to try and make the best of what life has dealt us at all stages of it. Things change and sometimes for the better, sometimes not but there is usually help in some form unless it's something that can't be changed and then there is management. We intend to live our lives as fully as is possible for as long as we have them, my in-laws constantly said from 60 onwards that they'd lived too long as their money was running out??? life isn't about money or material things although both of these make it nicer, life is about living and not feeling you are lesser because you get older in fact the older we get the more I appreciate the life we have, the little things as well as the big things and family too even on days like today when I ache all over and feel shattered. Life isn't for giving up on, find a new adventure to make you want to live as long as you can Money, don't give up on yourself it's too precious to do that to!

humptydumptybits

I'm quite happy to live into my 90s, means I'd get to see my new grandchild become a self sufficient adult which would be rather nice. Bit like the Queen getting to go to Harry's wedding.

moneyistooshorttomention

Not gainsaying that, at any age, most of us have challenges?/problems? to deal with. I can think of just one person (an ex-boyfriend of mine) who had got through to his 50s with apparently no challenges/problems at all as far as I could make out. The whole kit and caboodle - of healthy/only child of doting mother/good-looking/been bought a house by his parents and they were still subsidising him heavily/etc/etc.

Though I know even people leading as "charmed lives" as that probably cop for problems at some point. In his case - though there was absolutely no sign of it when I knew him - but I'd got a strong feeling he was lined-up for dementia in later life. So probably better to have a series of smaller problems throughout life than a major one like that later on.

Very glad I no longer have to do jobs or claim benefits for my income:T That's a huge relief of having got to my age. I regularly think "Thank goodness for that". Since moving I still find the occasional person trying to tell me what to do - but they're not "entitled to" and I'm thinking up a spectrum of ways of telling them to stop that LOL.

But it does concern me to see the health (or lack of) of many people in latter life and the older one gets then the greater the chances of it. So yep....the odds going up on having health problems as one gets older is a concern - even if one doesnt take into account the state of play in the NHS worsening - and reading the prospects for this part of the country is enough to turn anyone's hair white (they have been trying to shut Haverfordwest Hospital by stealth for some time and are now planning to shut its A & E).. Also they have the same plans for Carmarthen A & E as well.

I've needed A & E once since moving here and it wasn't a great experience:cool:. Prepping has been done though on that one - I've just worked out the return taxi fare to what is likely to be the nearest A & E if it comes to it ever again - and will be asking for the receipt (to forward to the NHS asking for reimbursement). Doubt I'll get it somehow - but the point needs to be made.

maryb

If you really need to go to A&E then it's probably blues and twos

Just because they close A&E doesn't mean you will have no facilities. Minor injuries and urgent care units can deal with most things that one thinks of as falling under the remit of A&E. Are they planning one of those as a replacement?

I know you don't think much of the NHS but speaking for myself and my family I think it's wonderful. When DH first retired and no longer had medical cover he thought he would have to pay for BUPA privately. They wanted an eye-watering amount and excluded loads of conditions. He did go privately to see a consultant about something and didn't find it any better than the NHS in terms of getting an appointment when he wanted.

Occasionally paying for a private consultation can be money well spent. Not because you get better treatment but they will give you better information. For example my consultant told me to ask for a referral from my GP to hospital A rather than hospital B because they had a very good team. They will tell you if budget restrictions mean you have no chance of getting an operation under the NHS in their trust but another trust will fund it. Mostly, those are not major matters. If you need it the NHS will do it despite the scare stories. My sister had heard all the stories about not being able to get cataract operations. In actual fact, she will have to wait about four months, which is nothing given that she has been putting it off for as long as she has

GreyQueen

I, and any number of other people, owe our lives to the NHS. I give daily thanks for having them there. Yup, it isn't perfect, but very few things are.

Re a long life, a GP told me last month that 87 is the average lifespan a woman presently in her early fifties (i.e. me) can expect. Obvs, some die younger and some older, or it wouldn't be an average.

Unless life became a total and utter unmitigated misery, I think I'd always strive to stay in this particular arrangement of stardust as long as possible; the world is full of wonder and interest, after all.:)

[Deleted User]

Health as you get older is a bit of a lottery, we've always had dogs or dogs to walk and get out into the garden or to the allotment every opportunity that presents itself. We stay active and try hard not to say 'I can't' to anything. Mostly we still can do whatever it is but it just takes a bit longer these days. I find other peoples kind attempts to make me into an 'old lady' rather funny. We took an old wardrobe to the recycling depot the other week and He Who Knows and I had put it into the back of the car here after bringing it down from DD1's shed where it had been used for storage. We were just lifting it out of the back of the car when a lovely man who works there actually dashed over and took my end saying I will do this, not for you to lift so much, bless him!. I can still carry a sack of spuds with relative ease from the car to the store room, and He Who Knows regularly lets me be 'equal' when it comes to shifting things in the house and garden. I won't be made an old lady ever, I WILL be equal as long as I am able and I WILL always try to do whatever needs doing. To me that feeling and attitude is part of prepping too, I'll do anything I can to hedge our bets against an uncertain future for as long as I draw breath, I want to be an active part of whatever world we find during our lifetime and NEVER give up!

humptydumptybits

I had a friend who campaigned tirelessly against her local a and e closing. When her child became ill she was taken to the larger hospital that was further away. When they assessed her a a helicopter took her from the roof of that hospital to a regional centre of excellence. She said the time that might have been wasted at the local small hospital could have cost her child her life and she became an ardent supporter of bigger better equipped hospitals.

It is always swings and roundabouts isn't it.

humptydumptybits

GreyQueen wrote: »

I, and any number of other people, owe our lives to the NHS. I give daily thanks for having them there. Yup, it isn't perfect, but very few things are.

Re a long life, a GP told me last month that 87 is the average lifespan a woman presently in her early fifties (i.e. me) can expect. Obvs, some die younger and some older, or it wouldn't be an average.

Unless life became a total and utter unmitigated misery, I think I'd always strive to stay in this particular arrangement of stardust as long as possible; the world is full of wonder and interest, after all.:)

Have you seen the BBC2 Hospital series, it is based in Nottingham and I have been reduced to tears by some episodes. This week I was just amazed at the dedication of the Consultant in the children's intensive care unit. Last week a woman who lost her lower jaw to cancer was having a new one grown for her, her surgeon fighting for a bed for her amindst the winter bed crisis.

How anyone can watch that programme and not be amazed at what the NHS does amazes me.

Reading that I think it is clear that I find it amazing!

humptydumptybits

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Though I know even people leading as "charmed lives" as that probably cop for problems at some point. In his case - though there was absolutely no sign of it when I knew him - but I'd got a strong feeling he was lined-up for dementia in later life. So probably better to have a series of smaller problems throughout life than a major one like that later on.

I'd be interested to know how you could work out his chances of dementia when he was presumably not suffering from it at the time? Even the early stages are difficult to diagnose let alone predicting in advance.

GreyQueen

humptydumptybits wrote: »

Have you seen the BBC2 Hospital series, it is based in Nottingham and I have been reduced to tears by some episodes. This week I was just amazed at the dedication of the Consultant in the children's intensive care unit. Last week a woman who lost her lower jaw to cancer was having a new one grown for her, her surgeon fighting for a bed for her amindst the winter bed crisis.

How anyone can watch that programme and not be amazed at what the NHS does amazes me.

Reading that I think it is clear that I find it amazing!

Heartily agree with the sentiments, but have been TV-free for 31 years now, so haven't watched the programme.

Good health is not the reward for a life of righteous choices nor is bad health the punishment for poor choices/ poor mental attitudes/ the sins of your ancestors.

Yes, there are some things which are always unwise, such smoking, taking drugs, living entirely on takeaways and never walking any further than from couch to car, but there are people who do these things for decades and get off scot-free. And there are lovely lentil-eating organic yoga-practising personages who will die of horrible diseases before they hit their fourth decade.

Should a person go through her life rigidly thinking along the lines of; I don't do unwise things therefore I'll be OK, jack, a person might have some very rude awakenings in the coming years.

Many years ago, I cannot recall where, I saw a quote (I paraphrase from memory): If all the woes of the world were to be piled up, and we were each obliged to shoulder an equal share, most of us would be happy to pick our own burdens back up again, and carry on.