This week, in our “Hell of health” section, follow the therapeutic wandering of Amélie, suffering from long Covid.
Amélie* is a super woman. Manager in a design office, she works hard. His team appreciates his ability to listen and resolve. Mother of three children, she thinks of everything. When she catches Covid in 2022, Amélie suffers the blow. She has difficulty recovering, she starts teleworking and life continues, juggling professional and family demands.
Two years later, she relapsed. One day, on her bike, she was out of breath. A strong pain in his chest tells him to stop. But she has an appointment, she carries her child behind, she continues pedaling.
After this incident, Amélie collapses. She can no longer climb the stairs without running out of breath. She experiences intense chest pain at the slightest effort. She is overcome by an enormous feeling of exhaustion.
Amélie will begin a long journey of being a patient fighter. She goes to see the doctor, the pulmonologist, the cardiologist, the psychologist. The scanner does not reveal any physical abnormalities. Neither do the other exams. His heart beats in time. And yet, his chest pains are frightening. He is prescribed painkillers, asthma medications, anti-depressants.
Five months of sick leave
After months of therapeutic wandering, a doctor friend advised him to contact a “post-Covid coordination cell“. She talks to her general practitioner who agrees to send her medical records. But in the meantime, the cell address has changed. Amélie waited for weeks for a response which did not arrive. She has time to get depressed, to search the internet, to take new exams. Amélie is afraid that her heart will race, she stays at home, she walks in circles.
Amélie asks her doctor if she can do something, send more emails or call, but she is told to wait. She ends up calling anyway and realizes that it wasn’t the right address. She asks her doctor to send her file back. After 5 months of sick leave, Amélie gets an appointment at the Hôtel Dieu. There, they explain to her that she does not have respiratory failure. Following the shock caused by the virus, there was a disruption of the functions of the brain and autonomic nervous system that control pain.
She must follow progressive physical training and psychological monitoring, her body must relearn how to make efforts, to overcome the chest pains which paralyze her. Amélie agrees to participate in a scientific study on long Covid. A cohort of patients will be followed in hospital. The other of which she is a part will follow the recommendations remotely, in community medicine. “ Self-organization, self-motivation and self-financing ”, he was told. Fortunately she has good mutual insurance! Amélie’s doctor talks about returning to work. She dreams of starting running again and prefers to heal before diving back into the whirlwind of life.
*His name has been changed to ensure his anonymity
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