Emily's Long Covid recovery

Hello, thank you for visiting this page.

 

My name is Emily and I am currently a student in my final year at University with Long Covid. When the restrictions lifted in the summer of 2020, we were encouraged as instructed by the government to return to university with blended learning. Despite being incredibly careful, in my third week back at in person university, I contracted Covid. I started getting symptoms around the 13th of October 2020. I had a mild initial infection (this means I wasn’t hospitalised) and I thought I was getting better until the 4th of November when I was in A&E as I became so unwell they had concerns I may have been suffering a cardiac event. After and ECG, some x rays and blood tests, they found Costochondritis and a drop in my white blood cell count. I’ve been on neuropathic pain medication since December and have had to increase the dosage several times since.

 

Some of the symptoms I’ve been dealing with this past year have been: Extreme Fatigue, migraines and tinnitus, severe muscle pain and spasms, numbness, struggling with clear thinking, difficulty with concentration and word recall, breathlessness, dizziness, nose bleeds, increased vulnerability as my White Blood Cells (Neutrophils) level fluctuates, chest pain, anxiety and depression as well as severe GI issues, bleeding and loss of appetite because I get nauseous when I eat.

 

As you can imagine this has put an incredible amount of strain on myself and my family as I have been fighting through symptoms in order to complete my degree and continue chasing the career I have dreamed about for so long. I am only entitled to the minimal student maintenance loan which does not even cover my yearly rent. I am currently unable to get a job and am struggling to find anywhere I could work remotely that would take me on. With an increase in medical bills, travelling for appointments and treatments, therapy to help me cope, having to take more precautions and make accommodations for my illness, this has put me under a lot of financial strain. I am also unable to obtain support from the Disabled Students Allowance (DSA) as they do not recognise Long Covid as a long term illness due to it being such a new condition with little long term medical knowledge. In addition to this, unfortunately my laptop irreparably broke 3 weeks into the academic year and I have had to spend almost all of my remaining savings to replace it as is it currently my University, work, social interaction, entertainment and a means to accessing medical appointments.

 

With the current pressure on the NHS and a lack of concrete information on Long Covid, it’s been a struggle to get any medical attention this year even from my own GP. I have only been seen in person once by my GP and once by a Neurology nurse. Beyond blood tests, I have had very little medical inspection or treatment and as this prolongs with such a significant impact on my life, I feel that now is the time to be looking into alternative methods of treatment and private practices. I have reached a point of desperation and have seen treatments and suggestions in Long Covid patient groups that many have attributed to helping them recover and I would like to have the opportunity to try these as well as receiving support for my current financial struggles. Some of this includes alternative treatments such as acupuncture, hyperbaric oxygen therapy as well as investigative procedures that have been able to identify physical issues and work more efficiently and effectively to cure them.

 

Anyone who knows me will be aware that I normally feel uncomfortable taking money and support from anyone and wouldn’t be posting this unless I felt I had run out of options and sadly I do. To anyone who can afford to spare a little bit of money, no matter how big or small, to help me recover and get back to the person I once was, I will be eternally grateful.

 

Thank you for your help, I appreciate it more than you’ll ever know.

 

With love,

Emily