Doctor left bedbound by Covid calls for new
ADOCTOR who was struck down with Covid-19 in March claims more research is desperately needed into the long-term effects of the virus.
Linn Järte, a junior anaesthetist at Morriston Hospital in Swansea, became unwell with a dry cough, shortness of breath and flu-like symptoms in the days before lockdown began.
Despite being bedbound for two weeks, she returned to work and was redeployed to intensive care, where she looked after the most seriously unwell coronavirus patients.
But a month later her ill-health returned with a vengeance, leaving her incredibly fatigued and unable to perform even the simplest of tasks ever since.
Despite initially testing negative, Linn was later clinically diagnosed with the virus and is now warning people of the dangers of a “longhaul” version of Covid-19.
“It’s like my whole life has been taken away from me,” said Linn, who enjoys hiking and cycling in her spare time.
“I love my job but I’m unable to go to work. I’m also unable to do all the activities that I love. I just feel like I’m locked in my own body.”
Linn, 33, who is originally from Sweden, but did all her medical training in the UK, said Morriston Hospital was preparing for the first wave of Covid-19 patients when she started feeling unwell.
“We hadn’t even started wearing PPE yet because [the outbreak] was still in its very early days,” she recalled.
“I’d been on call, and I just remember walking from my car to the front door and being short of breath.
“I’m not an athlete by any means, but I’m very outdoorsy so this was very unusual. My first thought was that I had Covid.
“I wasn’t scared as such, I was just annoyed that I needed to take time off work. The disease was depicted as not really affecting those who were young and fit. I thought I’d just get ill for a while and then recover.”
A week after her initial symptoms arose, Linn said she developed sinusitis – a swelling of the sinuses caused by an infection – and remained at home for a further seven days.
“I’m very independent, so I managed almost completely on my own,” she added.
“Luckily, I’d done a big grocery shop beforehand, so I just had to live off that.”
When Linn returned to work, she helped out in the expanded Morriston intensive care unit (ICU) where she donned full-body PPE every shift.
“There were definitely moments when it did get really hot, and you get marks all over your face [from the masks and visors],” she added.
“We had a really good system to try and co-ordinate everything as well as possible. Everyone really pulled together and supported each other.”
But she admitted it was “extremely difficult” to see Covid-19 patients alone and unable to have their families by their side.
“The helplessness I felt was very difficult. A relative shouldn’t be on the end of a phone line, they should be with the patient,” she said.
“We should be so grateful to live in the age of the internet where people can have contact [without being there in person].”
While Linn felt physically fine during the first couple of weeks in ICU, she said her sinusitis returned which made her “really annoyed and frustrated”.
It was then followed by severe fatigue which continues to this day.
“I had such profound fatigue that I struggled to make it to the kitchen,” she admitted.
“All of May was basically just one big fog. I had short-term memory loss and struggled finding my words.
“My heart rate also shoots up from me doing very, very little, so I really have to pace myself and just do one small task at a time.”
After reading a blog by Professor Paul Garner in the British Medical Journal about “long-haul” Covid, she realised that was exactly what she was experiencing.
“It was a bit moment,” she said.
“I went to my GP and highlighted my range of symptoms back in March and was given the clinical diagnosis of Covid.”
Latest figures from a recent study suggest that almost 600,000 people in the UK are suffering coronavirus symptoms for over three months.
Linn believes there has been a “significant lack of focus or acknowledgement” of this large patient cohort by government.
She added: “Covid really is a multi-system disease – and all of the long-haulers are really experiencing this.
“Just focusing on the fatigue or lung issues really isn’t enough. At the moment I feel there is a one-sizefits-all approach and it just doesn’t work as some people have neurological signs, whereas others have heart or rheumatological problems.
“What I and other long-haulers believe is that we need a multi-disciplinary approach, with for example one-stop clinics where individualised plans can be made.”
Linn, who has also worked as a medic in Malta, has been referred to cardiology for her heart troubles but has still not been seen due to the Covid crisis. of a lightbulb