“The helplessness was the worst.” Dorota was 38 days in a coma. After COVID-19, she had to learn to breathe, talk, and walk again

She remembers so much about that day that she felt strange, uncomfortable. She worked normally, saw patients, talked. After returning home, she developed a fever. Over 40 degrees Celsius. It hadn’t even occurred to her that it was COVID-19. In the morning she was tested, as always before the shift. Negative result. Then it went fast. Ambulance, oxygen, ICU, coma, ECMO. In the meantime, preparations for lung transplantation were occupied in 98%. She woke up after 38 days – mute and inert, forced to learn to speak, walk and live anew. This is the story of Dorota, who fought for her life through COVID-19, and now – for recovery.

1. Dorota’s first and only symptom of COVID-19 was a high fever that did not recover for three days
2. In the hospital covid ward, the doctors spread their hands – the saturation was terrible and the lungs were so devastated that the patient was taken to the ICU. There she did not get a respirator, it was too late. The only salvation turned out to be ECMO (Extra Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation).
3. After waking up from her coma, Dorota was a shadow of her former self. – The worst part was helplessness – I couldn’t do anything around me, lying in my pampers and not knowing if I would even stand on my feet – he says
4. Today, she has already completed comprehensive rehabilitation for people after COVID-19, where she learned to breathe, eat, talk and walk anew. She is slowly coming back to life, although her health is still not the best
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The material includes a photo of the protagonist during her stay in the intensive care unit, which may be drastic for some people. Particularly sensitive people should keep this in mind when reading the content and the photographs illustrating it.

Nothing foreshadowed a catastrophe

When I talk to Dorota, it is impossible to recognize that almost a moment ago she was unable to articulate the simplest words. She speaks fluently, to the point, emanating calm. It is hard to believe that until six months ago she was lying unconscious under the most advanced life-support apparatus, and under the numerous «pipes and cables» only a scrap of her face, drastically changed by the disease, was visible. A disease that many consider politicians and pseudoscientists to imagine, and which forced her to fight for her life.

Dorota is not sure who she caught the infection from. Maybe from a patient? She is a therapist, she works in an addiction center. But she could have brought the coronavirus from the store or the staircase as well, although it would be bad luck – in June, when she fell ill, there were an average of 300-400 infections a day in Poland.

She was careful not to become one of these “cases”. As a healthcare professional, she was tested regularly. Once a week with a PCR test, before each shift with a rapid antigen test. Then when she got infected too. There was a swab on Monday – negative, and Wednesday morning antigenic, nothing too. And in the evening the fever was so high. Besides, Dorothy didn’t feel any symptoms, though now that she thinks about it, she remembers that she felt a little uncomfortable during the day, as if she wasn’t herself. She probably thought it was fatigue and it would go away when she rested at home in the evening.

It was not possible to stop the fever. – I don’t remember much from that time. My partner gave me antipyretic drugs and an antibiotic from my family doctor, gave me compresses and looked after me. He tried to force me to eat, drink, but it was almost impossible – I was not able to take even a teaspoon of anything, it completely took away my appetite and strength. I was half aware – she recalls.

The rest of the text below the video.

They couldn’t help anymore in the covid ward

After three days, they called an ambulance. In the covid ward, Dorota was given oxygen and drugs for COVID-19, she managed to lower her temperature, but the saturation was still terrible. In addition, she was diagnosed with a blood clot in her left leg and there were concerns about an embolism in the lungs. And these were already devastated. The first computed tomography revealed a drastic picture – the virus took 70 percent. pulmonary parenchyma. However, in retrospect, this result was not the worst – in a few hours, the same study showed 98 percent. affected lungs.

The infection progressed so fast that they were no longer able to help Dorothy in pulmonology. In the ICU, things moved very quickly. Due to the dramatically low saturation and almost zero lung activity, which meant failure of respiratory therapy, it was decided to put the patient into a pharmacological coma and connect to ECMO. This is a last-ditch therapy – the apparatus takes over the function of the lungs and breathing takes place extracorporeal. ECMO does not heal, but “buys” the time needed for at least a partial regeneration of an organ or its transplant. In the case of Dorota, the doctors did not have much hope for the former and started looking for a donor.

However, the transplant did not take place. After 32 days, the lungs “clicked”. It was like a miracle.

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Awakened from a coma, she was a different person. Once full of life, today a shadow of my former self, and still motionless. Previously drawing energy from helping others, now she needed help herself, and in the simplest activities.

– The worst part was helplessness – there was nothing I could do about myself. I am a very lively person. I ran a lot, I was full of me everywhere, helping people is my passion. This helplessness, lying in a diaper and not knowing whether I would even stand on my feet or not, because my knees refused to obey me, I couldn’t talk or walk – that was the worst. After the tracheotomy on the larynx, I developed a fusion that made it difficult to speak, eat, even breathe. Once, I almost suffocated from gasping for breath. The left part of the body was completely inert, and the right part was also not good, because some of the muscles were stuck from lying down, some were completely atrophied. However, I did not lose hope, I did everything in my power to get out of it – says Dorota.

Put yourself back together

Rehabilitation was a necessity. When she came to the hospital, she heard: eight months of waiting. Is it possible in such a state? She made an appointment privately. The physiotherapist came home twice a week. Dorota could not afford more, and even so the lion’s share of the costs of the therapy came from family, friends and strangers, thanks to a fundraiser launched by friends. In the meantime, some visits were refunded, but it was still a drop in the ocean of needs.

The rehabilitation program for people after COVID-19 at Uzdrowisko Ustroń proved to be a rescue. Six-week, fully refunded stay with comprehensive care. Every day, an average of five series of resistance exercises, gymnastics, treadmill walking, Nordic walking or cycling, plus respiratory gymnastics, physical therapy, inhalations, and high-frequency electromagnetic stimulations. Regular diagnostic tests and consultations with specialists: pulmonologist, physiotherapist, psychologist. “They took care of me from top to bottom,” says Dorota.

For the patients with whom she shared the stay, the greatest surprise and value, which they had never thought about before, was precisely this “mountain”, that is taking care of their head and mind. These are elements of relaxation, affirmation, yoga, craniosacral (craniosacral) therapy, and psychological support.

– Breathing, speech therapy and motor rehabilitation were key to regaining fitness, but it cannot be achieved without the right attitude – explains Dorota, who, due to her profession, knows very well how much stress and mental stress affect the success of treatment. – Covid patients require psychological help. This disease is psychologically very stressful and it affects the nervous and immune systems. Patients should be consulted by psychiatrists, psychologists, psychotherapists, because it is impossible to overcome this alone. It was evident in Ustroń, where there were people with various fears. Anyway, I myself am still struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder – he admits.

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It is not easy, because the whole body takes part in the fight, and it still has not fully recovered. – Of course, it’s better. When I started rehabilitation in Ustroń, I failed the stress test. I was supposed to walk for six minutes, walked two, and caught a breath of air. Today I will go through more my fitness has improved by 70%, but I have trouble breathing all the time. In addition, I went over the liver and pancreas, the joints suffered, especially where I had degenerations – they got worse. I was recently diagnosed with cardiac arrhythmia and bradycardia. The long tail of COVID-19 is endless – adds Dorota.

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When I ask at the end of the conversation if he is afraid of Omicron and reinfection, he replies without hesitation that no. – It will not help, and stress can only worsen my condition. I do what I can not to get infected, and I don’t allow myself to get more nervous. I don’t need it.

Before becoming ill with COVID-19, Dorota did not have time to get vaccinated. She was diagnosed with a tumor in the lung, the doctor advised to wait with the vaccine until all the results were obtained. She replenished the gaps at the end of the year, after two doses, and urges everyone she knows to follow in her footsteps. – It’s not worth the risk – he assures.

If you want to support Dorota and help her in further treatment and rehabilitation, you can do it here:

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