An unusual club

This week I received a letter from Matt Hancock, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care,  with 'Important advice for you about new guidance for clinically extremely vulnerable people' (my italics).  My initial reaction was 'Thanks Matt, I didn't need you to rub it it in!'

Because of the treatment I'm receiving I am in this category and apart from a daily walk, weather permitting, my only outing is a visit to the hospital each Friday for some additional treatments.  Strangely, this is something I look forward to, mostly.  I enjoy the short drive along the beautiful tree-lined grid roads of Milton Keynes - knock Milton Keynes at your peril!  And then there is the experience itself, seeing some familiar faces above masks, and meeting new half-faces.

This week it was so good to see Adrian, whom I missed last week because he'd been admitted to a ward because of an infection.  And then I met Lucy and Stefan.  Lucy was sharing a very positive experience of the next phase of treatment which I'm to undergo in the new year and which was encouraging.  The conversation was light-hearted and humorous.  We then spoke about a particular procedure which isn't very pleasant and at the end of it, after a momentary pause, Stefan said, 'It's a shit club, isn't it!'  And we laughed, and yet in those few words was forged a deep connection which was special.  You might even say it was a moment of grace.

And then add to that the angels I encounter who care for me each week, and Samantha, who brought me tea and offered me a sandwich, and then as I received my treatment a conversation with Alice about star-gazing, picking up on her memorable experience of a holiday in the north of England in the summer.  Moments of connection, of small but special connection.  Moments of grace.  Overall it was a good outing.

(All names have been changed to retain confidentiality)