UKCVFamily: Episodes six, seven and eight - talking science, everything being poop and mean people

In episode six, Caroline speaks again with our resident expert Dr Harriet Carroll who gives us further insight from a more scientific point of view. Episode seven digs deep with a look into fear and its effect on us, while in episode eight, Charlet and Caroline discuss encountering hatred and long-lasting friendships.

"I had a reaction, and for the first six or eight months, I didn't really talk about it because, like a lot of us, I thought it was just me" - Dr Harriet Carroll, NHS Researcher and UK CV Family Volunteer.

In 'Episode 6, The Scientist's Back', Harriet returns to talk with Caroline about the placebo effect, open-minded doctors, and acupuncture of both the intentional and accidental kinds! And let us know in one sentence — why did you REALLY get the v?

For more information on Dr Harriet Carroll's work, follow her on Twitter @angryhacademic and visit www.dontbelievehype.co.uk.

The videos for episodes six, seven and eight are available below and can be shared with your friends on social media by linking to our page here: htpps://ukcvfamily.org/ukcvfamily-episodes-six-seven-eight. Alternatively, the links to YouTube and Twitter can be used on your preferred sharing platform:

Links to episode six -

• https://youtu.be/R3-zNKf6hz8

• https://twitter.com/ukcvfamily/status/1552320214221611008?s=20&t=oKlbJrK-kLD2mGTr8I0TiA

UKCVFamily - Episode 6, The Scientist's Back

In 'Episode 7, Being Shit', Charlet and Caroline talk about their hospital adventures and different ways of thinking about fear.

Link on YouTube to Episode seven (Twitter link currently unavailable) -

• https://youtu.be/zH25V23OEDc

UKCVFamily - Episode 7, Being Shit

In 'Episode 8, Nobody Likes Us', Charlet and Caroline talk about what it was like being injured through the very divisive early months of the rollout, how you cope when it feels like the world hates you, and the space that trauma unexpectedly creates in which beautiful friendships can blossom.

Links to episode eight -

• https://youtu.be/y41N_EE-JEs

• https://twitter.com/ukcvfamily/status/1555621799500587010?s=20&t=aLQBGbAApAhOsxEusP7xTA

UKCVFamily - Episode 8, Nobody Likes Us

If you are based in the UK and have been injured after receiving your Covid-19 Vaccine, you can reach us by email at enquiries@ukcvfamily.org or visit us on our Facebook page.

UK CV Family is run by Covid-19 vaccine-injured volunteers living in the UK. We need your help to keep our group going and raise awareness to support all of our UK CV injured family members and others affected by the Covid-19 Vaccines. If you would like to offer support, we accept donations via GoFundMe using this link https://gofund.me/2d72aac8.

Thank you, we are truly grateful for any help you can provide.

UKCVF's Picnic in the Park, Hyde Park. Written by fellow member, author and advocate Caroline Pover

Image© by Caroline Pover

UKCVFamily's Picnic in the Park

- by Caroline Pover

I spent a day in London last month and, as is my new life, I had no idea whether I’d be able to make it until I was actually on the train, and I had no idea what state I’d be in afterwards.

I hate London — the last time I went was for an old friend’s fiftieth birthday and I was appalled at the extent of the homelessness there, none of the public transport services seemed to be working properly, and a very married friend from uni pretended to be chilvarous by walking me to the station only to hit on me as I was waiting for the train. I couldn’t wait to get home and said I’d never go again.

So it was for a very special reason that myself, Matthew, and Chia took the train to London on July 16th — it was to meet up with my beloved new friends and fellow members of UKCVFamily! Those of us that were well enough to attend, anyway.

We have been wanting to do “something” as a group for a while. Something where we could reach out to the public and let people know that we exist. We hear about protests, marches, or events that are supposed to be about us but we are rarely involved in them and if we are, we aren’t well enough to attend anyway. So we decided to organise our own event that took into account our limited capabilities — a Picnic in the Park. So if those of us who made it were unable to do much more than that, we could literally just lie on the floor the entire time and not need to do a thing!

Wayne was there first — having travelled the furthest from the Midlands and navigated his way around London in the wheelchair he is growing accustomed to. Brian was waiting there with him by the time I got there and I couldn’t wait to give them both a big hug. When you’ve spent most of this year regularly talking to people who just GET IT, it’s easy to forget that you haven’t even met in person before. It really did feel like I was meeting up with old friends.

We weren’t just there to socialise though. We had created posters of over a hundred of our members, which we strung together and hung along the railings at the Speaker’s Corner entrance to Hyde Park. We sat our picnic down just far enough away from the posters for curious passersby to feel they had the space to look — we weren’t there to intimidate or pressure anyone. We just wanted to let people know that we exist.

The posters drew a lot of attention, and when I saw people spending a lot of time studying them, I went over and gently told them that some of us were actually here if they wanted to talk about anything. Some people smiled politely but didn’t want to talk. Some were surprised that we were actually real people and I wondered if some people think that these stories about the injured are made up? I was surprised at the number of people who hadn’t had it and wanted to discuss its science. Some told me stories of their own friends or family who were injured so it was nice to be able to point them in the direction of UKCVFamily so we can help them.

But the person I will never forget is the woman from Israel. Visibly distressed with tears in her eyes and her voice shaking with anger, she held her child tightly to her, and told me about how she was coerced into it in order to keep her job, even though she never wanted it. And about how she ended up fleeing her country when it became mandatory for children. I can’t imagine how that must feel.

In the current situation, we have to put a lot of effort into thinking about how others feel — how does it feel to still be isolating? To be afraid of getting sick? To believe with all your heart that your government is doing the right thing? To believe they are doing the wrong thing? To be working in the medical profession and actively participating in the rollout? Or to be in that same profession and be vehemently against it? Is our current social climate presenting us with the biggest test of collective empathy that we’ve ever known?

I wonder if we’re only going to get through it if we make that effort to understand how people feel. To learn about another’s perspective. To step outside what the mainstream media is telling us — and yes, to step outside what new media is telling us too. To bring it back to human experience, human connection, and human kindness. Maybe even remembering what it was like when we were society’s outsiders?

Two of my non-injured friends joined our picnic. Two gay men, married to each other. They know what it is like to be society’s outsiders. In recent weeks I had told them that the language we use in our particular group of outcasts mirrors language used within their community. We talk about “coming out” and “allies” too. Some of our members won’t sign up to the Public Enquiry for fear that their names will be in a public space and their friends and family will find out. Perhaps they have told some people who responded by not mentioning it ever again. By pretending they don’t know. Since I told my gay friends this they said that they now look at our situation with more empathy. They are more curious. They want to learn more. They read every single one of the stories that were swaying in the breeze at Hyde Park. Our conversations are much more open. I like to think that our friendship is more meaningful because of it.

You don’t need to be pro or anti any particular medical procedure or philosophy to create meaningful relationships. You just need to be pro-compassion and pro-connection. That’s what UKCVFamily’s Picnic in the Park was all about — nurturing love and kindness amongst strangers, amongst existing friends, and amongst our own members.

My world has felt a little less lonely ever since.

Copyright Caroline Pover, published initially at https://carolinepover.com/blog/f/ukcvfamilys-picnic-in-the-park.

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Find out more about Caroline's CVARS Guide

The Covid Vaccine Adverse Reaction Survival Guide can help "If you’re dealing with a range of complicated and confusing health problems following a Covid vaccination." Caroline's CVARS Guide is also "essential reading for anyone providing personal or professional support to someone who is dealing with an adverse reaction".

For further information about Caroline, the CVARS Guide and how to order, please click here or use the 'Resources' link in the menu.

Need support, or are you interested in offering yours?

If you are based in the UK and have been injured after receiving your Covid-19 vaccine, you can reach us by email at enquiries@ukcvfamily.org or visit us on our Facebook page.

UK CV Family is run by Covid-19 vaccine-injured volunteers living in the UK. We need your help to keep our group going and raise awareness so that we can support all of our UK CV Family members and others affected by the Covid-19 vaccines. If you would like to offer support, we accept donations via GoFundMe using this link https://gofund.me/2d72aac8.

Thank you, we are truly grateful for any help you can provide.

UKCVFamily: Episodes four and five delve further into Covid-19 vaccine injury and recognition of it

In 'Episode 4, The Scientist's Insight', Caroline and Charlet are joined by UK CV Family member and SARS COV2 NHS researcher Dr Harriet Carroll who raises the issues she and other vaccine injured have with the medical community. She also shares how similar topics also curtail academic awareness and discussion.

"If we're not testing patients, then we can't be aware of their pathophysiology... It blocks not just the patient's well-being, it blocks scientific progress" - Dr Harriet Carroll, NHS Researcher and UK CV Family Volunteer.

For more information on Harriet's work, follow her on Twitter @angryhacademic or visit www.dontbelievehype.co.uk.

Links to episode four -

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJaOvPaxW-c

• https://twitter.com/ukcvfamily/status/1547115089576206337?s=20&t=3zTCMdQID0e_EfOwR19NnA

UKCVFamily - Episode 4, The Scientist's Insight:

In 'Episode 5, Testing (again)', Charlet's got the lurgy! She and Caroline talk about different kinds of antibody tests, overloading our human or canine systems, and much more!

Links to episode five -

• https://youtu.be/g0YpFB2we24

• https://twitter.com/CarolinePover/status/1547977649921802241?s=20&t=3zTCMdQID0e_EfOwR19NnA

UKCVFamily - Episode 5, Testing (again):

If you are based in the UK and have been injured after receiving your Covid-19 Vaccine, you can reach us by email at enquiries@ukcvfamily.org or visit us on our Facebook page.

UK CV Family is run by Covid-19 vaccine-injured volunteers living in the UK. We need your help to keep our group going and raise awareness to support all of our UK CV injured family members and others affected by the Covid-19 Vaccines. If you would like to offer support, we accept donations via GoFundMe using this link https://gofund.me/2d72aac8.

Thank you, we are truly grateful for any help you can provide.