"Part 2 - My Long Covid Jorney"

On my release from hospital my Journey continued.

But I have a brilliant daughter and she looked after me for a few weeks at her house. As I was still breathless, couldn’t walk far, couldn’t do much. I eventually was able to go home. Had to learn to do stairs and things all over again.

Then other post Covid symptoms started, I lost half my hair, I was picking it up everyday from my floors, had to throw out alot of clothes it was just coming out in clumps. I Did cry as I thought I was losing all my beautiful hair. I lost 3 stone in weight, I had dizziness, brain fog, just really debilitating symptoms. So I had Survived the initial infection but I now had this all to deal with.

I worked right through the pandemic. I was working alot of hours the week I contacted Covid.

Unfortunately we were not told Service users had Covid so we were always being put at risk. It has ended up I couldn’t get back to work so had to resign in November 2022.

This illness has left me that I’m not the person I was. I am scared of hospital settings and anything to do with breathing I panic . I have developed a fear of getting my oxygen levels checked I do get flashbacks as well. The illness made you feel you were drowning and suffocating..

So I have had Counselling from the Mental health team at my Doctor’s surgery they have been brilliant. Who then referred me on to Clinical psychology to Dr Elaine. She was brilliant and was able to explain the illness I had because at the hospital they didn’t disclose a lot of information, so hearing my medical report was a bit of closure I guess on how the illness affected me.

The conversation was really interesting as she went into depth as I could never understand how I became so ill at around Day8. Elaine had explained to me the difference in pneumonia illnesses. And my immune response to it.

In November past I was unwell and I had to go to the hospital, I had to get my oxygen level checked, it doesn’t seem like a big thing, but it was a big for me . I was sitting in pure panic. And it turned out all was ok but that was traumatic for me. The 2nd night I was in hospital my oxygen levels dropped, I had to get the cpap machine put on. It was quite traumatic, claustrophobic, having air forced down your lungs, then I was put on wet oxygen. It was ok but my oxygen levels dropped again, they put me back on the cpap, there was no air coming through, the nurse saw I was panicking, the nurse took it off but the machine stayed beside me. I wasn’t comfortable with the machine beside me having it removed was a great relief, I feel like I never want to see one of those machines again.

I’m going to take part in Elaine’s Long Covid support group in March or April. I am also going to a support group meeting through Chest Heart and Stroke for people with Long Covid.

I feel I am a completely different person now to what I was, I speak my mind, I am a lot stronger, and if you can fight covid you can fight anything. I remember watching it in China thinking I hope I never get it like that. I ate my words, I got it like that. When you see people wheeled in at any age it’s scary. I just remember watching the medical team and wishing I was one of them ’normal’. At the minute I have accepted who I am and I just have to get on with it.

When I was feeling a wee bit better before I left the hospital a man came in who was very unwell, his phone kept ringing, and he couldn’t answer it this night, but managed to press the button. I was able to tell his family he was ok just sleeping. They never forgot that.

Covid affected people differently for some it was a mild illness. Some were Critical and some passed away.

I wanted to tell my story and wrote emails to various people. Including the health minister, different MLA’s which were ignored For what reasons I don’t know.

I do believe Care workers were treated unfairly and I am the result of this. And I wanted to have a voice for people who were scared to voice there opinions.

I do hope I will continue to recover and put this whole thing behind me hopefully in time.

And Thankyou for listening.