I have been staying home for the past few days as I caught COVID-19, again. I could moan all day, but this isn’t what this post is all about. I am writing today to say THANK YOU. This year has been really challenging. I have to admit, at the beginning of the year, I did put too much on my to-do list. I moved jobs, I moved home, wedding planning, etc. My mum also had a medical emergency towards the end of September, so, I had to go back home and look after her throughout her hospitalisation. What a year.
I would like to express my gratitude to everyone who sent their love, prayers and support for my mum and my family. Just an update, my mother is staying at my cousin’s home and is well looked after. She’s been mobilising now with supervision and getting stronger everyday. I am thankful to God everyday for her life, and so is my mum. She is looking forward to celebrate Christmas 2023.
Me and Annie taking Christmas photos for 2023!
As for me, I have been back in the UK for a month now. I have adjusted well with the gray, damp and cold weather here. Despite the weather, and me catching COVID again, I am happy to be back. So good to see my colleagues and friends again. I am looking forward to spend the holidays with my amazingly patient and lovely fiance (he has been looking after me while I’m sick). Thank you Ray, love you! I am truly grateful to have you in my life, your love and support helped me through difficult times.
Me and Ray at the Winter Wonderland Hydepark 2023
On another note, my cutest nephew just turned 8 months! He is so cute, love him to bits!
Isn’t he the cutest? My little nephew.
Our wedding date is still not set, everything is still on hold at the moment. It’s been a busy few weeks and we haven’t had the chance to sit down and talk about what were going to do with planning and stuff. We do want to get married next year, Ray wont consider eloping though… Haha.
West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust Radiology Christmas Party 2023
It’s true that through hard times, you see who you’re real friends are, and we are truly grateful that we are surrounded by so many amazing people. I wish I could say thank you all in person. My heart is so full with gratitude and I just have to say it, THANK YOU and I LOVE YOU. Continue being an amazing, caring, loving and generous person. I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. May God bless us all!
On my previous blog post, I explained that my mother is diagnosed with Thoracic Ascending Aortic Aneurysm and had undergone repair for it. Her surgeon and attending physician were quite happy with my Mama’s progress considering how delicate her condition was post-surgery. Mama had a prolonged stay in Surgical ICU due to some respiratory complications. The doctors were all saying the same thing, we are fortunate that my mother is given a second life.
An aortic aneurysm is a bulge that occurs in the wall of the body’s main artery, called the aorta. The aorta carries blood from the heart to the body. Aortic aneurysms can occur anywhere in the aorta. They may be tube shaped or round. – Mayo Clinic
Mama’s diagnosis was completely accidental, she went for a routine 2D-Echo and they found the bulge. She was then sent for a chest CT, and later on a CT Aortogram which revealed a dissection.
Unfortunately, aneurysms very rarely have symptoms, unless they rupture. And that’s what makes this condition fatal, especially if the aneurysm is in the aorta which is the great vessel that supplies blood to our main organs and to the rest of our body.
Some people are fortunate enough to find out about the aneurysm early. Some will undergo a “watchful waiting” period in which the aneurysm will be managed medically and observed regularly. This is done for aneurysms that are still considered small and doesn’t create any problems. However, if it goes over 5.5cm in diameter, then it can be repaired surgically or endovascularly.
Working in Interventional Radiology, I originally asked if my Mama’s aneurysm can be done endovascularly because it will offer less stress to the patient’s body and faster recovery. However, our consultants in Watford General Hospital said that the best course of treatment will be open surgery because of its position. Despite the advances in technology, the ascending aorta is complicated, and stents/grafts are still on trial, meaning, they are not widely available yet. The open surgery means the patient will be under a cardiopulmonary bypass and due to the nature of the surgery, will require lots of blood products. My mother had a pleural effusion day 2 post-surgery. It was scary, she required more blood products. The surgical team called me at night to let me know that they are on standby and will take my mum to the operating table again if there is an active bleeding. I didn’t sleep a wink that night, I was terrified of a phone call. Fortunately, she didn’t have any active bleeding, but the team used more blood products overnight.
I am most grateful to the Lord for giving my mother a second life. I am thankful to everyone who offered help, support and prayers. My Mama is recovering well now, she just needs to work on her breathing exercises, and she will be referred for cardiac rehab. It’s still a long way to recovery but thank God that were at this stage now.
We are still in the hospital and incurring many fees while were here, hence I am asking you once again for support. Please donate to our gofundme to help with my mother’s medical bills. Any amount will go a long way towards her treatment and full recovery. Many, many thanks for your help. May God bless you all!
They found something on my 2D – Echo, I need to have a CT Scan. – Mama
My Mama, she’s only 63 year old, Hypertensive but not diabetic, she’s also a non-smoker. She’s been preparing for her first travel to the UK to attend my wedding to Raymond on the 18th of November. Her visa’s been sorted, she have travel insurance, she bought her luggage, she’s basically ready to fly. She had on and off stomachache and had previous hospitalizations because of it. We both made sure that she have a list of all her medications and that she have enough stock for her travel. Just to make sure she’s fit to travel, she decided to have a heart check-up. She’s always been hypertensive and on maintenance. Her cardiologist had given her a request for 2D-echo last year just for a routine check-up, she had one last year and she was told that her scan was fine. As soon as the result was out, she was asked to do a Chest CT.
The thoracic ascending aorta is aneurysmal.
After her chest CT result came out, I was terrified. Being a nurse, I knew how dangerous aneurysms are, especially in the aorta as this is the biggest vessel and supplies major organs in the body. I reached out to many people, tried to find doctors locally and overseas who would take on her case. Her cardiologist suggested a “watchful waiting” approach which I wasn’t very happy about. At 6cm, only an operation is the best course of action. My mother on the other hand was devastated, she became increasingly worried and depressed. I knew exactly how she felt as I was feeling the same way. I couldn’t sleep and could barely focus at work. I researched and talked to so many people, “she needs surgery,” they all said. It’s very risky to wait.
Let me book you a ticket to the Philippines. – Ray
I had a complete mental break down after work. We were meant to go visit my future in-laws house to celebrate the autumn festival, but I started crying when I keep hitting walls with regards to my mother’s potential course of treatment. I originally planned to get her treated in the UK but the cost is just too much, and I know I could never afford it. My fiancé’ listened to my concerns and took me home instead. At the end of the day, he booked me a ticket to go home.
This trip is not for leisure. – Novel
Going home was the best decision I made. That way I can focus more on Mama’s health. Her health deteriorated for just a short period of time. She lost some weight and her blood pressure is uncontrolled despite adjustments with her medication. As soon as I arrived in La Union, I accompanied her on her check up with a new cardiologist. She provided a better explanation to my mother and options. She mentioned TEVAR. If you have been reading this blog for a while, I work in Interventional Radiology. I have assisted in EVARs and TEVARs when I was working at King’s College Hospital. I knew it is rarely done on ascending aortic aneurysm due to limited availability of stents for that specific area. Anyhow, the doctor seemed optimistic that it is possible. I made sure that my mother knew that even though it MAYBE an option, an open chest procedure is more likely.
Let’s transfer her to the Philippine Heart Centre. – Cardiologist
The next day, we finally got the result of Mama’s CT Aortogram, after reading the report, I was terrified. My Mama probably saw the devastation and the sense of urgency in my face. I vaguely remembered hitting the table with my fist when I read “dissected” on the report. As soon as I got home, I made sure she took her meds and monitored her closely. At the same time I was calling in favors, calling friends and family who has connections. I called the hospitals where the recommended consultant worked and booked appointments. However, appointments are still a week or two away, I didn’t think I (or my mother) can handle that amount of stress while waiting. That night, my mother’s blood pressure and heart rate won’t come down, despite medical management and rest. I took her to our local hospital and intended for her to be observed in Medical ICU overnight. Fortunately, Mama’s consultant made the decision to transfer her to the Philippine Heart Centre. She personally spoke to her colleagues at PHC to make them aware that were on our way.
Can we stop by the bank so I can get some money? – Novel
If you wanted to be transferred to Manila, you have to pay in cash for the ambulance, nurse escort and doctor escort. We spent quite a sum of money just to get transferred. I went to the bank twice that night, and even that wasn’t enough. I asked the ambulance driver to stop at a bank with an ATM so that I can get more cash to cover the cost.
You need to coordinate with Blood Bank to secure donors. – Novel
I was like…how? I don’t live in the city, our relatives all live 7 hours away, how am I going to get blood donors? The consultants have decided that this is going to be an open-chest thoracic ascending aortic aneurysm repair and will require loads of blood products. I don’t know when and how to start. Fortunately, the Thoracic Cardio-Vascular Surgeon argued that Mama’s condition needs an emergency repair and that the bloods should be sorted as soon as possible.
This procedure will cost you 2.5 Million. – TCVS Consultant
I knew we were on the right place. The Philippine Heart Center performs many kinds of open chest surgeries. This is where the experienced doctors are. Still, I was scared. My mother, most specially, was completely terrified. She barely spoke to me on the day of the operation. She was shaking, her blood pressure and heart rate was high. Heck, even her blood sugar is high. We were both a nervous wreck. The surgeon explained to me what he was going to do, the risks and the cost. I nearly fainted when he said 2.5 million. F*ck it, just do the procedure doc.
It was a very long surgery, but she will be in Surgical ICU 2 in 30 minutes or so. – TCVS Consultant
I wonder how many movies I’ve seen where the family waiting outside the operating room pacing back and forth. I was like that. For nearly 9 hours. What’s worst is that during the day, that waiting area is full, and then every single person there is waiting for a family member/significant other. I was the last person waiting there, the operation finished past midnight. I was grateful when they finished. I don’t remember the rest of what the surgeon said after the …operation was successful.
9 days after the surgery, Mama is doing well. She’s finally out of Surgical ICU. Still needs a lot of care and support but otherwise okay. She hasn’t had the chance to use her phone yet. I told her to rest and recover. If she opens her phone now, she will see how I flooded social media with my pleas of prayers and support. We are still looking for blood donors, the hospital prefers for us to pay the blood products we used with donated blood. My fiancé and I also started a fundraising via gofundme to help us pay Mama’s rising medical bills. If you are thinking of donating, please follow the link here.
If you have been living and working in the UK for more than 5 years, you can now apply for “settlement” or “Indefinite Leave to Remain”. This is the next step before applying for British citizenship. ILR will allow you to live and work here in the UK for as long as you like! A lot of Filipino nurses, like myself, looks forward to this “settlement” status because it will allow you to do extra shifts (or bank shifts) for as many as you want. If you are a Tier 2 visa holder, without the ILR, you will only be allowed to do bank shifts for up to 20 hours. This was scrapped during the heights of the COVID-19 pandemic, but is now reinstated. Anyway, here are the list of documents you need to prepare when applying for ILR:
Passport
BRP – Biometric Residence Permit
COE – Certificate of Employment
COS – Certificate of Sponsorship
IELTS Certificate – this is the same certificate you used when you applied to enter the UK. It will be expired by the time you apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain, but should still be okay for this purpose.
Bank Statement
Payslip
Letter of Absences – This is a detailed account of all your travels outside UK from the time you first stepped in the country until you start your application. In this letter, I added my basic salary and number of contracted hours. I asked my line manager to sign the LOA to prove that all my travels were either my day off or paid annual leave. The easiest way to do your LOA is to write all your travel, travel dates and purpose of travel on a table form.
Signed Declaration – This form will be provided to you when you apply, you just need to print it off from the government website and sign it.
Life in the UK exam – You must pass this! It’s very easy if you read the book. I finished the exam in 5 minutes, only 24 questions! This will cost you 50 pounds and must be booked in advance. Make sure to bring a valid ID on the day of the exam.
If you just arrived in the UK, or if you still have a few more years to go before you apply for “settlement” status, I would suggest to save up. The application for ILR can be expensive specially if you have dependents. Currently, it costs 2404 pounds for standard application with decision waiting time of up to 6 months. If you want faster decisions, it will cost you additional 500 pounds for a 5-working day result or 800 pounds for next working day decision. Also, you need to book an appointment for biometrics. Some of the appointments are free (usually several weeks ahead) and some are paid (this are the earliest dates available). I saved up for a few years when I knew about the fees for this application. However, I couldn’t justify the additional 500pounds to expedite the decision. I chose to wait, and it took nearly 4 months! So, if you have travel plans and you want a stress free application, I will suggest to pay for it to be expedited.
When doing this application, I find that the most stressful part was completing the letter of absences. Pre-pandemic, I travelled a LOT! I go on short trips overseas, and once did a 24 -hour trip to Paris. It felt so long ago! I used to travel a lot, but because of the pandemic and the rising cost of living here in the UK, I am being more cautious with my expenses.
Anyway, if you have any questions, suggestions or violent reactions. Please leave me a message. Thanks for dropping by!
I have never imagined myself leaving my post in Interventional Radiology at King’s College Hospital, but here I am writing an actual blog entry about it after being quiet for a couple of years. The past few years had been pretty challenging in many ways. I’ve never escaped the tragic effects of COVID-19. Unfortunately, I lost my father from the virus, then my grandma, my aunt, and a couple more loved ones who passed away from other medical reasons. It was a huge blow to my family emotionally and financially. Fortunately, I had my job that I loved and I held onto it with both hands. My job as an Interventional Radiology Staff Nurse had been my distraction. While my father was hospitalised, I had an opportunity to take a secondment role as a Manager in IR. I am grateful that my father knew I got the job before he passed. While I was grieving, I poured my attention and efforts at work and it helped immensely. As time passed, IR had been my comfort zone. I learned so many things from my colleagues and I’m incredibly honoured to have worked with the best Radiologists in the field. I will miss all my nursing colleagues, they are all amazing and made work fun and easy.
I had worked for King’s College Hospital NHS Trust for nearly 6 years! Thank you for the opportunities and for the lessons learned. I might have left, but my heart will always be with IR. In fact my new role will still be in Interventional Radiology. Finding and joining this field is like striking gold! If you are a nurse and reading this, go ahead and look up IR. We do amazing things too without the stress and burn out that you get from working in the wards, haha. Don’t sleep on this, if you see an IR job role advertisement, apply! Thank me later.
Now that I’m leaving King’s, I am gaining some of my time back because I will no longer do weekdays and weekends on call. I hope to blog more this year and maybe do some more youtube videos. I just started a youtube channel with my fiancé (yes, I got engaged last year! Will post about this later). You can check it out here. You can also follow our instagram account @letmehavesomethat.
I may have left King’s College Hospital NHS Trust, I will, however, continue working for the NHS. Despite the challenges the NHS is under at the moment, I still believe and stand with the NHS. The NHS is celebrating its 75th on 05 July 2023. Happy anniversary!
Anyway, this is ME officially signing off from KCH IR. Goodbye and thank you!
If you have any questions regarding Interventional Radiology, please leave a message in the comment box below!
As of yesterday, 1,348 more deaths have been recorded in the UK, which brings the total number of deaths to 97,329 (source: BBC UK). Admittedly, the government is not handling the situation well. They just brought up swabbing people in the airports and putting up quarantine hotels…which I think is several months behind than other countries. Heck, even a third world country like the Philippines have swabbing stations in the airport and they go straight to hotels for quarantine until their swab result comes back negative. Anyway, this delayed response to everything is putting a lot of strain to the NHS. So, how does this affect us, the OFW nurses in the UK?
Well, I have been working for the NHS for the past three years. I am working at one of the biggest trauma hospitals in London, King’s College Hospital. We have been fighting this Covid-19 virus since 2020 and I can say that this second round is causing more strain and mental stress to all member of the staff. A lot of nurses contracted the virus (me included) during the first wave, mostly from the BAME community. This time around, with the new strain, everyone is getting it a faster rate and causing more death and devastation to the country. I have been seeing posts in Facebook groups of more staff dying from the virus, and just imagine the emotional trauma it brings to their family, friends, and colleagues. Our trust have been providing a mental health line for everyone who needs it, and if I’m not mistaken, we have free access to meditation and relaxation apps on the NHS website. Anyway, that’s all about the mental stress, Novel, what about the physical stress?
*Sigh* With the rapid rate of transmission of the UK variant, a lot of people are falling ill, staff included. We have a record number of sickness. Normally, the NHS is always under pressure during winter due to staff shortage, hence their massive hiring of nurses from the Philippines, India, and other EU countries. But this pandemic is something else altogether. We can no longer do elective procedures because there are no beds, most of the beds are already filled with COVID patients. We’ve opened up more temporary wards for COVID patients, but they are filling up quickly. Those “temporary wards” are mostly comprised of redeployed nurses. Some of my IR colleagues have been redeployed to this makeshift wards, and I heard their horror stories. Working with a motley crew of nurses, some of them haven’t been working in the wards for so long and just winging it every shift. It’s something I’m not looking forward to, but will have to do soon, if these freaking people wont stop going out, socializing outside their household and getting infected with the virus! Sorry, I’m just really fed up.
On the brighter side, we have rolled out vaccinations. I had my first dose on the first week of January. I was a bit under the weather a couple of days after getting the vaccine, but its mild enough that I could still work with just regular doses of Paracetamol. Some of my colleagues weren’t very lucky, some of them have to call in sick to recuperate. But most of our team members had the vaccine already. Hopefully, it will be good enough to fight off this new variant.
So, if you are an OFW nurse and still thinking of applying to work in the UK, if you ask me, it’s still a good option. I mean, the pay is not great, and we don’t see any pay rise in the horizon (I feel like its always a losing battle when it comes to pay rise), but it still pays better than back home. Also, applying to the UK is still easier than applying to the US or Canada. Living condition is better, if you ignore the fact that people are not following restriction rules, social distancing and wearing of masks. Working conditions, well, the UK have better resources than we have back home, but staffing wise, ah, we are absolutely trained for this. You could be looking after 4-6 sick patients, and if there are unexpected absences with the staff, probably more than that. This are the hard facts, specially if you are looking to work in the wards here. Heck, we don’t even complain about the PPE’s anymore, we just want a better staff: patient ratio.
Anyway, as I’ve said, the UK is still a good country to work in. The government is trying their best and I hope, this time around, with the vaccines and tighter restriction rules, we can finally defeat this virus.
If you have any questions, suggestions or just want to say hi, please feel free to leave a message on the comment box below. It’s actually very cold today with a chance of snow. Please stay warm and stay at HOME.
“Dear reader, if there is a scandal, I shall uncover it.”
— Lady Whistledown, Bridgerton
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What are you watching on Netflix these days? In the past years, I barely watch any TV series because I had so many things to do. It doesn’t help that I don’t have a telly, or a Netflix subscription. Well, I still don’t have both! LOL! But, my good friend Mark lets me borrow his login so that I can watch shows he recommends and I watch them on my laptop.
Before the year ended I watched The Queens Gambit and The Crown on Netflix. Both are amazing shows. The former being thought provoking and the latter full of juicy royal scandals. I really enjoyed them and I highly recommend it . Since I was on a British themed show mood, I decided to watch Bridgerton next…and OMG! It’s so addicting and sinfully amazing. It takes me back on the days when I used to read tons of historical romance novels. The costumes were great and the actors were brilliant. It’s hard not to love a romantic rake like the Duke of Hastings.
“Stare into my eyes.”
— Simon Basset, Bridgerton
The Netflix series is based on novels by Julia Quinn, a New York Times best selling author. The story revolves around the Bridgerton family and is set in a Regency-era London. I finished the series in just one weekend, and I can’t wait for more! I am currently looking at the books and considering reading it instead of waiting for the next season in Netflix.
Being described as “Gossip Girl” meets “Downton Abbey”Bridgerton was a very entertaining show. It has drama, gossip, scandal, romance and passion…so much passion! Make sure you watch it without children in the room, unfortunately, Bridgerton is rated MA (Mature audience only) due to graphic violence, crude language, and sexual content. If you haven’t seen it yet, watch the trailer here:
I know, I am late to wish everyone a happy and prosperous new year, but, its better late than never!
I took some days off (because I have plenty of unused annual leaves) and I finally, have some time to sit down and make an entry here. It’s been a while since I blogged. I have been busy for the past few months with work and other things. 2020 was indeed a very challenging year, but it looks like 2021 is going to be one as well.
My last entry was on March 2020, and I wasn’t able to update anything after that because I had COVID on April 2020. I’ve busied myself getting healthy and living my life. One important lesson I learned from getting this deadly virus is that, I should live my life to the fullest and enjoy every moment of it. It was a very scary experience because I had all the symptoms. I had difficulty of breathing, temperature, loss of sense of taste and smell, even eating exhausted me. I lost a lot of weight and couldn’t get to work. While I was confined in my room, I promised myself that I’ll stop procrastinating and do all the things that makes me happy. I went wall climbing with my cousin. I applied for a higher job post which I got after trying twice. Yay! I am now a band 6 Interventional Radiology Junior Sister/Team Lead/Coordinator. I was also able to travel locally in between the lockdown and restrictions in the UK.
2020 wasn’t great but it was eventful for me because I’m a frontliner and was able to continously work during the pandemic. A lot of people were furloughed and confined at their homes, unable to catch up with friends and family. The hardest was during the Christmas holidays, when you can’t even spend it with loved ones. It felt like the holidays were cancelled altogether. Now that 2021 is here and COVID is still rampant in the country and pretty much all over the world, I feel like I should atleast make my idle time useful. I mean, my only other hobby aside from reading is travelling. I love exploring a new city, seeing sites and learning their culture. Since I can’t travel anywhere now, I thought that maybe I should have a lockdown project. One of my friends came up with this idea to do something fun while in isolation, she’s doing paint by numbers at the moment, others do knitting, sewing, stock market trading, working out, etc. For me, my lockdown project is this blog. I want to update it, revamp the site, and post as many entries as possible.
I will be posting about my previous travels, Netflix series I’ve binged on, nursing (work) issues and maybe a a bit of money saving advise. I may be YOLO-ing but I still stick to my budget!
It feels great to be active online again! If you want to catch up with me, you can follow me on Instagram and Twitter.
Shout out to my aunt Teresa R! It’s her birthday today. Happiest Birthday Auntie! xoxo
Hope you all have a great year ahead despite the pandemic!
Hello fellow nurses, I hope you all are doing well. I know some of us are down for the count because of being exposed to patients who are COVID-19 positive, please get well soon!
COVID-19 is spreading quickly across Europe and the continent is currently the epicentre of the pandemic. Panic buying everywhere. I went to my local shop early this morning and the shelves are bare. No pasta was spared today, and I don’t have any eggs for breakfast tomorrow. Anyway, i’m hoping that the panic buying will die down eventually so that I can have a decent breakfast over the next few weeks.
People in the UK are scared about how the NHS will cope with the virus, and they have every right to panic. Each year, during flu season, people are scrambling to A&E, beds are scarce, under staffing, budget cuts…so many factors are affecting the NHS services and we are barely getting by. With the pandemic, the hospital is like a war zone these days. I work in Interventional Radiology and most of our elective cases has been cancelled to make way for the COVID patients. We were also told to get ready to be deployed back to the wards to help with the overwhelming numbers of COVID cases. Our work schedule may change over the next few weeks which is going to be a nightmare for staff who have families to look after. However, this is what’s expected from us. We have to be in the hospital and work as usual.
So, if you are a health worker, doctor, nurse, care support worker, porter, lab technicians, radiographer, etc. Please take care of yourself. Eat well, sleep well, take your vitamins, avoid large gatherings, wear your PPE’s. We can’t maintain social distance at work, but practice it outside the hospital. Shower after work before getting close to your family and friends. The only thing that can keep us safe from COVID – 19 is a strong immune system and good hand washing technique.
If you develop symptoms please follow the NHS’s advice. Here’s the link for NHS 111
I don’t know for how long we have to battle this virus here in the UK, however, we are expecting it to get worst over the next few weeks. Every day we are updated with regards to the changes on our protocols. Our protective equipment, cleaning solutions and hand gels are centralized due to people stealing them and rationed deliveries. This is just the beginning. It will get crazier over the next few weeks, so nurses, brace yourself!
Last night, on the way to Tottenham Court Road Odeon, I got pickpocketed! I lost my mobile phone and 2 cards. Although I was quick to freeze my credit card, my Revolut card was used twice in a store in Tottenham Court Road. I’ve never imagined this ever happening to me, ever! I thought I was smart and careful enough, since pick pockets are just as rampant in Manila, I thought I knew how to avoid them, but I was caught off guard and sh!t happens. Anyway, kudos to my companion last night who had the presence of mind and told me to report it to the Metro Police.
Honestly, I was in denial at first, I was sure that I will find it eventually, but when we tried to call the phone and it was turned off, then we knew that its really stolen. So, what should you do if you get mugged and lost important items such as a mobile phone, IDs and credit cards in London? First, report your cards as lost or stolen. I was shocked for a bit, then I remembered I had to cancel my cards that were stolen with my mobile phone. Luckily, I have a back up phone that I use mostly for banking purposes. I immediately noticed the unusual transaction in my Revolut account and froze the card right away. I checked my credit card next, luckily it wasn’t used yet, maybe the pickpockets were saving it for last, IDK. The customer service of my American Express card was very helpful, she immediately cancelled the card and reissued a new one. Last one was the hard part for me, my phone was a present from my aunt and I am included in her phone plan. I had to tell her that the phone was stolen and she had to report it to the network provider to make the sim card and the phone useless by blocking it.
Fraudulent transactions in my Revolut account was already reported, however, it wont be refunded until the investigations regarding the theft has been concluded. So, if you want your money back, a crime report must be submitted. I did talk to the police and I was given a crime reference number. Of course, it’s still under investigation, so, I wont get my money back until it’s resolved. I’m not holding my breath for that though. I’ve done my part, it’s up to the police now.
I’ve learned my lesson last night, I should always be vigilant when in London, specially in the China Town – Tottenham Court Road area. It’s known to be the hub of thieves and pickpockets. Also, it helps to back up all your files and pictures online- google drive, dropbox, cloud, etc. Most importantly, I learned that I must always have a back up card that is hidden in my bag or somewhere else safe that I can whip up in case of emergencies. A back up phone wont hurt either, definitely saved me a lot of trouble last night.
While I was talking to the police last night, I was given a website where you can register your properties, so in case it get lost and the police found them, they can easily return it to you. Its free and easy to register. Its called immobilise.com.
I’ll update you later if my phone will be returned to me, again, i’m not holding my breath. I actually ordered a new one already. Sadly, I wont get it before I travel to Brussels. Anyway, I got to get ready for my trip tonight. You all have a good day and stay safe!
my point of view 
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