Long covid

 Hi Everyone,

I realise that I've been a bit quiet for a while. Tbh, the pandemic really scared the life out of me. Having been told by my doctors that if I got the flu, it would kill me. I was convinced that if I got covid, I would die. Can you imagine the relief I felt when I got covid, and it was just like a mild flu? Fast forward a year, and I'm now using a mobility scooter as my leg muscles have become incredibly weak. Apparently there's a long covid syndrome where the virus has damaged the muscles in the legs. It takes 12 weeks to manifest itself, and that's exactly what happened to me. I had covid, mildly, in July last year, and in October I left my house to walk to Cogges, and my legs felt like they'd lost all power. 

I tried physiotherapy, but my legs got weaker. I also tried pushing myself, by trying to keep going. But my legs got worse. Eventually, the physiotherapist referred me to the long covid clinic. My gp is sympathetic, but has offered no help, even my Lupus consultant has offered no help. 

There's at least a year's wait to be seen at the long covid clinic. Meanwhile, I'm trying my best to keep going and live the best life I can. 

I'm aware that the longer I don't walk, the harder it can be at my age, to get it back. But what can I do? I also know that I'm only one of a very large list of people suffering from long covid, in an NHS, that is struggling. 

I'm lucky really. I can afford to buy a mobility scooter, albeit a reconditioned one, and I have a very supportive network. But I just wanted to write this to highlight that, covid is not just like the flu. It can have serious implications for the future. 

I don't know what else to say. Except, please think twice about getting your jabs, and doing all you can to protect your vulnerable friends and relatives.