Glasgow nurse opens up on 10-month Covid battle
AGLASGOW nurse who though she was dying when she caught Covid-19 and has told of her 10-month battle against the disease.
Lorna Graham caught the bug last April and spent six weeks on sick leave.
Despite this, the 27-year-old is continuing to suffer from the lasting effects of the illness and says it is the “worst thing” she has experienced in her life.
Lorna said: “The acute phase of my illness lasted a few weeks and I can truly say I felt like I was dying. Without question it was the worst I have felt in my life.
“It’s not that I haven’t been ill before – I have had sepsis and swine flu but this was different.
“It felt like I was drowning, at times I couldn’t get a breath. This all happened despite me being a fit 26-year-old. I wasn’t a fitness fanatic, but I was active on my days off.
“I would go hillwalking regularly, so you could say I was fit and obviously young too.
“In the first few weeks I was at the Covid assessment centre a few times and was sent to hospital, although never admitted.
“I had a temperature, no taste or smell and just slept and slept.
“I waited to recover fully and it just never came. It was October before I felt able to go back to work.”
She has since been diagnosed with long Covid and has returned to work in the city.
Lorna added: “My symptoms have changed throughout.
“Sometimes it’s shortness of breath, sometimes it’s actual chest pain. When it’s bad it feels like someone is digging their knuckles into my back.
“My sense of smell has not come back, so it’s been a long time since I tasted a meal properly.
“I can tell if something is sweet or savoury, or salty or spicy, but not what the actual taste is.
“I really only get textures – something like soup holds no appeal as it has no taste.
“I also get ‘fake’ smells.
I can smell smoke sometimes, when nobody near me is smoking. I also get a mouldy smell which isn’t pleasant.
“There is no pattern to my flareups.
“Right now I have felt unwell for about six days, and other times it can be three on, three off.
“I’m not unwell enough to be off work, but I am tired and fed up feeling like this.
“I probably look fine. I’ve lost more than a stone and my friends have all commented.
“As a nurse I know there are so many people in greater need than me right now.
“On the other hand I am 27 and need to know if this is normal and is there anything else I can be doing to help myself.”
For support on dealing the lasting effects of Covid, tinyurl.com/v105bz3m with visit:
AHOLIDAY food programme for children across Glasgow is set to run again this year, with more than £2 million recommended to be awarded to charities and community groups.
The project, which runs alongside existing activities offered by third sector organisations, provides a hot meal and snack to pupils during school holidays.
Glasgow councillors will be asked to approve the allocations for 2021/22 on Thursday. There are 37 groups recommended to receive a grant, a reduction on previous years.
However, £3.4m was requested by organisations this year, almost £1m more than 2019/20. Due to the number of applications to the fund, 42 of the 79 applicants will not receive funding during the upcoming financial year.
It is projected over 3.5 million meals and snacks will be provided through the programme, with 20,500 children set to benefit.
City Treasurer Ricky Bell said: “The children’s holiday food programme is part of our ongoing work to tackle food poverty and inequality.
“We allocate £2m to the holiday food programme so organisations can provide healthy meals and snacks as part of their programmed activity.
“We appreciate a number of organisations have been unable to deliver their usual programme due to the pandemic while many have adapted and expanded their services to ensure every area of the city is covered.”
Possibilities for Each and Every Kid (PEEK) would provide meals across the whole city while FARE, Achieve More Scotland and Partick Thistle Charitable Trust would cover both the north east and the north west.
The Urban Fox programme and Quarriers would deliver food to children in the north east and the south. All other recommended groups would focus on either the north east, north west or south.
A projected underspend of nearly £94,000 from this year’s scheme has been added to the assumed allocation.