I certainly lose track of the days and had no idea that I've been absent from here for a three week period. We seem to have had a run of medical appointments which always manage to affect my health because of the additional driving. I've also had a bit of a blip with regards to my own health and so there has been a ramping up of some of my Long Covid issues including digestive issues, problematic PoTS and swollen glands/sore throat, muscle aches and pains.
The Chancellor's Autumn Budget and the usual Tory attack on chronically sick and disabled people was incredibly worrying, and since we are stuck on 'welfare' it did not bode well. I was so fed up of the narrative that we should all be working from home that I decided to undertake my own experiment and the results are as follows:
Jeremy Hunt V A Chronically Sick Person: Just how easy is it to get a work from home job?
After taking my pills washed down with a morning cup of tea I decided to investigate this conundrum. For clarity which will become obvious later, I was still in my pyjamas and in bed and it was around 8:30 am.
My first task involved a Google search entitled, 'virtual assistant work from home jobs in the UK.' I chose the first site that was recommended to me which involved Data Annotation. After setting up a basic profile I was given a series of tasks to complete, which involved looking at social media images and declaring if they were hateful in any way and if not why not. I also had to find an NPI number for a counsellor in New York and proof read chatbot responses. In addition there was also a short creative writing piece which necessitated a Google search concerning Sam Bankman Fried. I was quite pleased with my initial response but in hindsight had neglected to include some form of dancing with regards to the octopus! If I had been an English examiner I would probably have docked some points to reflect that oversight :-). The whole assessment procedure took well over an hour to complete.
I then decided to check my stats using my trusty Garmin Venu watch and the results were illuminating. My heart rate had increased significantly (over 105 bpm sitting upright with legs elevated) and my Body Battery had begun to tank (starting battery which measures heart rate variability and blood pressure changes had gone from 47 - 22!), bearing in mind I hadn't even moved from my bed! I have conditions that are made worse by exertion of any kind - cognitive, physical or emotional and as a result my health continued to nose dive that day and my heart rate shot up to 127 bpm just moving around the home and my Body Battery eventually dropped to 6, the worst it has been in over six months.
Government ministers are not medically trained and to arbitrarily declare that all chronically sick people are capable of working is erroneous. For some folk being able to work from home, provided appropriate disability accommodations are put in place would work just fine. For others, myself included, we need to be given the time and space to recover fully and then some form of consistent work might be an option in the future. Forcing people into work when they are unwell is at best unwise and at worst downright dangerous.
I think it is safe to say that for 'now' you'll find me by the fire with my knitting and/or a good book, and the usual pacing programme to get through each day x
9 comments:
The whole thing is awful and just another distraction to try and alienate certain voters from voting against the Tories. Pick on the most vulnerable. It's horrid. x
Just awful. O, San, I have so much empathy, and sympathy, and companion outrage with and for you, from afar! I was exhausted and cognitively and physically stressed just reading along! *shudder* I cannot imagine (except, I can, actually, imagine) being forced by the government to work — that fear lurks, always, in the background ... (note that I am 'surviving' on a gov't disability stipend that forces me to remain in poverty) .... Well, offering prayers and love and support! I hope your health takes a bettering turn.🕊🙏🏽🕯
Thank you to you both for your love and understanding it really is appreciated xxx
I hope that Great Britain will continue to support people that are unable to work. My sister is in a similar situation in Germany. I think here in the U.S. it is very hard to get any kind of support for people in situations like yours. Without a network of friends and relatives, you are more or less stuck here. Not much support exists at all. That is why poverty is a real problem.
I hope that the driving will decrease and that you will feel better soon.
Thanks Eva. Yes I’m very glad that we don’t live in America as I’m well aware the situation is a whole lot worse! I’m sorry to read about your sister, is she still living with daily migraines? I used to get them several times in a month as they were hormonal and I thought that was bad enough. I really feel for her x
My sister has still her headaches and feels tired a lot. She is not working anymore because she could not handle that. She will go and see my dad soon.
Morgan laughs when people complain about your National Health Service because she knows how wonderful it is, while acknowledging that it isn't perfect. I hope everything holds so you can continue to be fully supported. You are so smart to create such an experiment and I'm sorry it was such a crash afterwards. I hope you still have your feet up and your knitting on your lap :) You are so correct that first one must heal and get well, and then work is welcomed. xoxoxo
And it is December 1st by you! I have two hours to go . . (sigh) November whooshed by!
Hi San . I think your work experiment brilliant , and succinctly demonstrates ( with real time data) why Hunts plans cannot work ( and that’s without factoring in the lack of humanity ). It chills me to think of all the desperate plans Sunak et al will try to put in place in an attempt to stay in government .
Siobhan
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