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“Covid-19 is a terrible thing,” says John Knowles of Clonee in Dublin, who understands this more than most.
He is currently recovering from this virus, after being diagnosed on Easter Sunday.
After spending two periods in the ICU and also being treated in a high dependency unit, he has since been released from a rehabilitation center at the Clontarf Hospital for rehabilitation.
John still struggles with breathing problems, but says he is now being seen by physical therapists.
Before Covid-19, Clontarf Hospital was primarily concerned with older patients and orthopedic care, for example, rehabilitation for people after a fall.
Now, however, most of his patients are recovering from Covid-19 and are between the ages of 27-96.
Here, intensive multidisciplinary rehabilitation aims to get patients back on their feet.
Dr. Adriana O’Halloran is a consulting geriatrician at Clontarf Hospital and at Mater University Hospital.
She says they are now receiving two groups of patients: those who were in the ICU with severe Covid-9 disease and now have “post critical care disease,” and patients who were sick before contracting the virus and now require rehabilitation.
Dr. O’Halloran said the recovery and rehabilitation requirements vary for different patients, as does the length of stay.
“Covid affects people very differently. People who would have been in intensive care have very weak muscles. They may need to learn to walk, eat, and do everyday tasks,” he says.
For this, occupational therapists and physical therapists are available.
“Particularly after being admitted to intensive care, people will be very unconditioned and fatigue and muscle weakness will be a big problem for them,” says Caroline Daly, a senior physical therapist.
“Our role is to seek to strengthen their muscles and improve their mobility sometimes from the initial use of a frame, crutches, a cane, and hopefully return to independence if that had been their baseline,” he says.
Caroline says the needs of these rehabilitation patients “depend on how badly Covid has affected the patient or if they have previous comorbidities.”
But the Covid-19 impact isn’t just physical.
Margaret Wallace is another patient who uses this facility for her rehabilitation from the virus.
Unfortunately, Margaret’s husband, who was also diagnosed at approximately the same time, died.
“I had to deal with losing my husband, having my family so upset and having no one to call, because you are away from everyone, you are not allowed to see anyone. That was absolutely horrible,” she says. .
The Director of Nursing at Clontarf Hospital says that the trauma of going through the illness and the conditions surrounding it are causing some patients to suffer both psychologically and physically.
“One of the aspects is patients who cannot see their relatives, and then the trauma of coming from acute care hospitals and perhaps through an ICU is very traumatic in those patients,” says Sharon Trehy.
Some patients may also be affected by encountering doctors and nurses dressed in full personal protective equipment.
“This hospital has an initiative where we have our pictures on the outside of all this PPE, just to identify the person behind the mask. The mask has become one of our daily activities that we need to have now to protect ourselves from ourselves and each other patient, so it’s extremely valuable, “she says.
For those with the virus who have been able to leave the hospital, facilities of this type are helping them with their own first steps on the road to recovery.
Speaking from Clontarf Hospital, John Knowles offered his condolences to his fellow patients who lost their lives.
“When this is over,” he says, he would like to see a special monument erected for people who have died and front-line workers, “so that our young people will remember them, too.”
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