Golda caught Covid in December 2020 and she says around this time she had no idea what Long Covid meant as not a lot was known about it then. When Golda was discharged from hospital after her oxygen levels improved she was told to rest for 4- 6 weeks in bed at home.

Golda says she feels “very blessed” to have such a supportive family and community and says that around this time, she didn’t have to do a thing – “I literally did not have to leave my room and I didn’t.”

Golda says she was surprised when the GP called a couple of weeks later and asked if she wanted to be referred to the Long Covid clinic. She had thought that you had to have symptoms for 8 weeks to be considered as having Long Covid and remembers saying to the GP at the time, “Don’t curse me.”

Golda describes experiencing multiple infections over the subsequent 11 months and regularly needing antibiotics. She’s had singing and breathing therapy and has tried various alternative and complementary therapies with little success – “I just cannot encourage my breathing pattern to change.” Golda suffers from ‘brain fog’, fatigue, memory loss and heart palpitations and believes this is linked to her inability to take in enough oxygen. She also experiences gastric issues and swollen optic nerves.

Golda had to go back to A&E after about 6 weeks being back at home and says she “wasn’t mentally prepared” for the traumatic experience of returning to the same hospital and had a “full blown panic attack.”

Golda says her experience with Covid has had a big effect on her family. She says that “they had to come to terms with this mother who’s so active and so like able to do everything…” to someone who became so weak and sick and who couldn’t do the things she used to do like buying in food and cooking. Golda says that her Covid and Long Covid experiences has affected her “tremendously mentally” particularly as she’s not felt able to return to work.

Over time, Golda has managed to grow mentally stronger and she says that she credits this to her faith and also the supportive team of family and friends she has around her.