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Louise's Story

Louise’s Story

Published 25.11.20

I started feeling ill on the 15th March. I had a fever and chills and the following day had a dry cough. There was no testing so I presumed I had Covid and started isolating with my family.

A few days later I lost my sense of smell and taste. After a week I felt a little bettet and thought I’d got through it. However I started to get a lot worse and on day 13 rang 111 as I was really struggling for breath. They said apologetically that there was no where to send me and there was no where to go and if my lips turned blue to phone 999.

It was very hard as I was really ill. It took me some time yo get over this and I strugglec for three months with shortness of breath, muscle twitches, earache and then the fatigue and brain fog kicked in. In June my knee and ankle were swollen and sore. I was diagnosed with reactive arthritis which I still have.

At 7 months I am left with pleurisy pain, arthritis, earache, lactic acid in my arms, short term memory loss, elevated heart rate on exercise and fatigue. I tell people it is like living a half life. I can function but cant do what I used to. If I go out for a walk it means I have no energy for anything else. I teach adults and have been working from home but in November I go back into the classroom. I ask myself can I fo it?