Let’s do this together

Legend has it the husband was in the car waiting for his wife to get ready

The good news is my close friend with the delayed diagnosis of melanoma has now had his CT scan and there is no sign of secondary cancer.

His op has been provisionally set for next week and although he’s not out of the woods yet, his prognosis is greatly improved.

But not all of you have had such a lucky escape. Reader John Reid’s friend began to suffer back pain at the start of lockdown, and despite trying to see a GP, she had to settle for telephone calls and was told on several occasions to just take painkillers.

John says, “One night in early September the pain was so bad her husband called 999 and the hospital diagnosed cancer in a main organ which had spread through her whole body. She died three weeks later.

“Had the GP been more proactive, our friend might have been with us a while longer, and her husband not left shell-shocked and alone.”

Bereaved Kim Crosby in South London is also cross that she lost her mother as a consequence of Covid.

She says, “My beautiful 95-year-old mother died in May this year. Like many older people, she had a urinary tract infection which became so horrific she needed hospital treatment.

“The GPS wouldn’t allow me to take her to hospital as, ‘She wouldn’t come out alive’ so they tried to treat her at home, despite my daily pleas that she needed intravenous antibiotics and IV fluids.

“When my darling mother was eventually admitted to hospital, she had sepsis and couldn’t be saved.”

I’m sorry for the loss both of you have suffered. It’s not the shock that people die that is the problem, but the fact it seems that both these deaths could been avoided, or at least had their final journeys eased.

This is going to be a long winter, but I think if we can learn anything from these sad stories, when it comes to managing our own health – if something feels wrong, it’s because it probably is.

Email me at siobhan.mcnally@mirror.co.uk or write to Community Corner, PO Box 791, Winchester SO23 3RP.

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After being furloughed from her job in the cosmetics industry, Gina Conolly, 37, has turned her sewing hobby into a thriving little business.

“I was worried about the future, but one way I de-stress is to sew as it calms me down and lets me focus on something else,” says Gina, of Letchworth Garden

City, Herts.

“I had a teddy bear p pattern stashed in the cupboard and had been too nervous to attempt it.

“I finally did it and the result was gorgeous.

“I went on to make more bears and add a personal touch.

“And I now have an Instagram account @my_ teddy_bears where I take orders for custom, mohair miniature and full-size bears that are all unique to their new owners.”

Have you made something you’re proud of – or do you have a hobby that you’d like to share with us?

Send a photo of yourself and your craft work, your age and address to siobhan. mcnally@mirror.co.uk