I'm back!

Some of you will know I came down with Covid over Christmas. It was just a sore throat, blocked sinuses type of cold to start with. Then the piercing headache kicked in. My joints became painful and my toes swelled. I slept as much as a mother of 2 can. It really wasn't terrible all things considered, and I attribute that to having been vaccinated.

I returned to work post Christmas break and soon realised that all was not well. The headache and sinus discomfort remained but there was something more. My thoughts had slowed down. I couldn't remember what I had just done, what I was doing or what I was about to do. I started having anxiety attacks, every couple of hours through the day, and through the night. I burst into tears during a meeting because I was experiencing inexplicable overwhelming sadness. I couldn't talk if there was background noise. Everything was exhausting.

The GP booked me in for blood tests but explained that this was the work of Covid19. Affecting my brain, my brain chemistry, my emotions, my ability to concentrate and even the speed of my thoughts. It can continue for around 2 to 8 weeks post infection and if it goes on for more than 12 weeks they class it as long Covid. She advised rest, only doing one thing at a time, and mindfulness.

Now in normal times I had been working full time for Pontydysgu as well as doing freelance fundraising work for a local charity, running a weekly early years forest school morning, being a trustee of another charity, volunteering in the community food pantry, running an after school code club, helping coordinate community growing and environmental activities, looking after my family, allotment and chickens and trying to learn Breton. To go from that to being unable to form a sentence about whether I wanted green tea or chamomile was pretty distressing.

So (aside from a few fire-fighting emails and additions to funding bids that no-one else could write) I stopped and I crocheted.

Two weeks on, the headache is still there but my brain is working faster, the anxiety attacks are still happening but less often and my emotions seem to be back responding to real events rather than firing off at random. I'm making a gradual return although I've realised I should probably not try to return to my former level of activity and learn to say no to a few things.

I'm almost back to normal but please bear with me, if I've not responded re-send the email, and in a couple of weeks you'll have forgotten I was ever missing at all!