MortuaryGem

Anatomical Pathology Technologist

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Catastrophe!

I’ll start this post with a big thank you. Thank you to everyone recently for your support, and in fact, a huge thanks to everyone for all your love and kindness in what is now pretty much a year since this all kicked off and the world changed. I remember being really tired of the word unprecedented when the first wave and lockdown happened. Absolutely everything was unprecedented, to the point…

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Time To Stop & Stare

Time To Stop & Stare

As we continue into 2021, we approach now something that feels familiar, practiced almost and, still, unsettling. Things are calming down, there is a sense of being able to think outside of the here and now, yet feeling heavily the exhaustion both mental and physical. I’ve noticed I’m more able to think about things other than work, which I haven’t really done since December. As always, I can…

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Here We Are, It's Somehow February

Here We Are, It’s Somehow February

How strange was January? It came and went in what felt like a fleeting, pandemic stricken moment only to become February in a blink of an eye. It is not putting it lightly to say that it was a very tough month, when you examine the statistics that are out there you can see that the death rate was incredibly high and increased at a quicker rate than we had experienced previously. It would seem…

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A Perfect Analogy

As I predicted, I didn’t have the capacity in any way in order to write my twice weekly blog posts in January. Much like everyone else, in whatever nature you experience, my days are all very much the same and repetitive. To try to write anything interesting about my own experience that wasn’t full of sadness and frustration would have felt near impossible. The pandemic continues to challenge the…

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Pandemic Update - January 2021

Pandemic Update – January 2021

I won’t be posting a weekly update this week, and maybe not for some time. I will continue to post when I can, but I think at present I need to convey some thoughts that are rumbling around in my head like waves. I have a lot of thoughts and huge number of emotions too. My return to work after three weeks of being absent due to COVID-19 has led to me having a perspective on the current pandemic…

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Life Interrupted - Grief’s Visible Impact

Life Interrupted – Grief’s Visible Impact

Since the last lockdown in November I have undertaken a few new crafty projects. I’m not sure where the inspiration came from or why I enjoy them so much but I became a little obsessed with the calming effects of a needle and thread. This so far has included turning a dress into a crop top, a maxi dress into a shorter version and several embroidery attempts. My latest, and most ambitious, attempt…

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Long-term Defiance

It would seem that although there was no need for me to access any medical assistance while I have been unwell with Coronavirus, there has been a kind of long-term effect upon me which I did not expect. ‘Long-term covid’ is a phrase that is thrown about by people, a strange and mysterious term which seems to explain a lot of the symptoms people continue to experience long after the fever subdues…

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Coronavirus, Cats & Christmas

Coronavirus, Cats & Christmas

I have come to the end of my ten days isolation after testing positive for COVID-19, which should feel like a cause for celebration. It does, however, coincide with this part of the country entering Tier 4 and being told that we cannot mix households for Christmas. The entirety of this is giving me huge deja-vu vibes, earlier in the year I had very similar symptoms the end of which coincided with…

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The Paperwork of Death - Cremation Forms 6-13

The Paperwork of Death – Cremation Forms 6-13

As promised, here is the second part of my cremation forms post and another in my series of the paperwork that is involved in death. While my first part covered the forms 1-5, there was quite a lot to talk about in terms of those forms and how they were established plus what is currently in place during the pandemic. For forms 6-13 there is less of an explanation needed but it is important to…

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Fighting Mortuary Malaise

It has been a strange week, mostly in the fact that it has not been very strange at all which can only raise suspicions in 2020. After discussing with most of my colleagues, we confirmed that there is a general feeling of weariness among us all but it is alongside this general feeling of unease about what lies ahead. I can only describe it as feeling discomfort around how it is currently fine but…

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Ilford Pet Cemetery

The PDSA Ilford Pet Cemetery is fairly easy to find, if you know where you are looking. A quick Google maps search told me that the postcode given was going to take me to a dead end road which was close but not actually near the cemetery. Hence, I found the exact location and headed there early one chilly November morning. While I know you could argue that this was not a essential lockdown visit,…

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Perpetual Pandemic

My mood is every changing at the moment, flipping between despairing over what is going to happen in the coming weeks and then sometimes I feel like I have a grip on the fact I have no control over this. Whatever will happen is going to happen no matter how much I fret about it. London enters Tier 2 on Tuesday, my feelings about this are very cautious. I am very aware that many are upset we are…

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The Paperwork of Death - Cremation Forms 1-5

The Paperwork of Death – Cremation Forms 1-5

As mentioned in my previous posts, I have planned on covering the forms for cremation from the start but covered the initial (and somewhat more straightforward) forms first. Cremation forms can seem complicated in nature, but once you understand the principal behind them they are easy. Firstly, there are 13 official cremation forms used in the UK which cover different scenarios. The important…

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The Paperwork of Death - The Green

The Paperwork of Death – The Green

Second in this series exploring the paperwork that is involved in death I am going to be looking at the Certificate for Burial or Cremation, also known as The Green. Often when a funeral director or other official person collecting a patient arrives they will let us know that they have a copy of the green. This is obviously called the green because, well, it is green.

This certificate is what…

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Impending Sense Of I-Have-No-Idea-What

Edit- this was written yesterday and just to highlight how quickly things change I’ve since thought it best to get a Coronavirus test as myself and my husband have developed mild symptoms. I still wanted to post this as it felt important, but bear in mind we are now isolating and awaiting results.

Each week I think it will be straightforward and simple for me to compose my weekly update.…

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The Paperwork of Death- MCCD

The Paperwork of Death- MCCD

It’s time for a new mini series, and I’ve often thought about explaining a bit around what paperwork is involved in death. On the outside it can look rather complicated and messy, with bits of official paperwork going here, there and everywhere before it is all done and complete. For my first few months at the mortuary it took me a while to understand what was needed and when. Sometimes even now…

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