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Michael's story of recovery after COVID-19
Michael is a lecturer in Business at a university in London. In March 2020 he contracted COVID-19 which put a stop to all his routines. Then he had a seizure during his recovery. Michael continues:
“I didn't have all of the chest problems that you were hearing a lot about at the time. I just went very foggy - foggy in my mind. I went to hospital and was put into an induced coma. I've lost so much memory - my short-term memory. I also had a seizure whilst I was in hospital. I was in East Surrey for recovery and then I came to QEF at the beginning of May.
On the day I was being transferred to QEF I tested positive again for COVID-19 when I had tested negative before. So I was put straight into isolation for two weeks. I can move around OK, but my memory is still affected - I struggle to remember everyday information.
The move from Banstead to QEF’s new Care and Rehabilitation Centre was very smooth and my room was wonderful. It had a different relationship to the old place - lots of the systems changed and I could go anywhere I wanted inside, rather than always being in small groups. I was quite happy in Banstead as I had got used to things there, but I preferred the CRC - I had a larger room there and the rest of facilities were really good. It’s got everything you want. My room was facing the field which was really nice.
I had occupational therapy to help me do every day things like cross the road - Mark was my occupational therapist. Money was something that I had to relearn about as part of my therapy but there wasn’t any need to spend money at the centre, so it wasn’t something I needed to use every day.
With psychology I was looking at how my brain was ticking and how well it was working. I had definitely improved - even though I wasn’t aware of it. I’d been doing lots of tests and they showed me some of the tests I’d done earlier and I can see how much I had improved.
I’m now at home in Godstone. I'm still on the payroll of my company and they are looking to re-engage with me. I'm going to do a test lecture to get their feedback to see how well I do.
I had lots of support whilst I was with QEF, but I also had lots of spare time that allowed my mind to wander, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
My dog is called Buddy and I really enjoyed talking to Emma Barton about our dogs when we met her, as we both have the same breed. It was really nice to meet her.
