Victorian people with long COVID begging the community to get vaccinated

Kim Han Rahan didn’t know how her COVID symptoms would get worse because she couldn’t sleep because she was bedridden, and her body aches and pains were so intense that she couldn’t even relieve the pain.

But they did.

“I couldn’t speak properly during my daily COVID call with the DHHS. They thankfully understand how sick I am and call an ambulance right away. I advised him, “Han Rahan said.

“The blood oxygen level was so low that I was taken to the emergency department at Footscray Hospital. I gave him liquids, steroids, and drugs to replenish oxygen and fight the disease.”

The two mothers were infected with the virus in July 2020, before the vaccine became available.

She was one of two who spoke at a COVID-19 press conference on Tuesday and urged Victorians to be vaccinated and avoid a similar fate.

Han Rahan, who has two 9-year-old twin boys, spent the next six days in the intensive care unit trying to get rid of the virus.

Still, the 49-year-old said she was luckier than many.

“”[I was] I’m very lucky not to use a ventilator like many patients around me, “she said.

“My lungs were collapsing and required a constant flow of oxygen. I regularly used a machine with an invasive full head mask with fast flowing air. “

“I’m 10 years old”

But COVID-19 took more than her health.

“It also stripped me of my dignity and I couldn’t go to the bathroom or wash myself,” Han Rahan said.

“I appreciate their altruism and the sacrifice of their personal and family life.”

After the ICU, Newport residents said they spent nearly a week in isolation in the hospital room because blood oxygen was still very low.

“I was eager to improve my health so that I could go home and meet a beautiful boy every day,” she said.

“My husband was taking care of them in isolation at the expense of all of them. We were fortunate to have a great community of dropping food at the front door.”

However, her symptoms did not stop after she removed COVID-19. Recovery was slow.

“Several months after I was discharged from the hospital, my hair started to fall out unexpectedly, and in 6 weeks, about three-quarters had fallen out,” says Han Rahan.

“This temporary hair loss was due to the trauma of my body being infected with COVID.”

She said she was a “moderately healthy woman” with no underlying health problems before being infected with COVID-19.

“14 months later, I feel I’m 10 years old,” said Han Rahan.

“Because of this horrific, debilitating illness, I feel a lesser version of myself, and it makes me sad for my boy.”

Han Rahan said there was a message to convey to the community.

“We are very fortunate to have vaccines and good medical care in this country,” she said.

“If you get the delta mutant before the vaccine is introduced, you really don’t know if you’re standing here and talking to you today.

Former athlete struggles to get out of bed after COVID

He will catch COVID-19 in March 2020, three days after returning from Boston, where he was studying.

Since then, he has been fighting COVID for a long time.

“The first illness was incredibly scary. It’s a feeling of straining my body,” Will said.

“I’m struggling to breathe, trying to dilate my lungs against this invisible force.

“But medically, it was a” mild “case. I wasn’t hospitalized. I wasn’t in ICU. And it was officially cleared a few weeks later. “

However, he said, many people are unaware that even mild cases of the virus can result in long COVIDs that can have serious life-threatening consequences for much longer.

“Conversations around COVID often focus on two dramatically different ends of the spectrum,” Will said.

Will said he was an athlete, but the virus debilitated him.

He said long COVIDs were genuine and “random” and featured periods of remission with interspersed relapses of severe symptoms.

“It can take many forms, and it was months after my diagnosis that I was still crazy and couldn’t lie down and walk around the block without having trouble breathing. Meaned, “he said.

But he hasn’t left the forest yet.

“Recently, it’s as easy as walking a dog or kicking a paw to cause a recurrence,” Will said.

“The physical impact has diminished over time. Now I can do long stretches in places where there are few problems, but I’m still not near normal.”

Will said the long COVID-19 made its sacrifice in many ways, and it was an invisible effect that hurt him mentally.

“It’s a shame that you have to constantly tell people what’s not good yet,” he said.

“Frustration of my body that seems unable to overcome this post-virus syndrome, and constant fear and anxiety that symptoms may recur at any time.”

Will said there was no vaccine available when he got sick, but people now had a choice.

“It doesn’t matter how young you are, how healthy you are, and how indestructible you feel, COVID can still attack you,” he said. rice field.

“And you don’t have to use a ventilator to turn your life over for months or even years. Why take that risk?

“I have long felt very helpless.

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Time: 8 minutes 10 seconds8NS

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