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UMEÅ. On Christmas Eve, Lena, 60, started coughing. A few nights later he woke up and couldn’t breathe.
Now she is one of the many patients seen for COVID-19 in hospital care with a heavy burden.
– I thought I was dying now, she says.
It hums from an oxygen machine that helps Lena Larsson oxygenate her body. A hose is placed over his nose and with each breath he receives new oxygen.
– I didn’t understand how serious this disease was until I got so sick myself, she says.
Behind two doors in her own room in the infection room at Norrland University Hospital, Lena Larsson has been lying for just over a week when Aftonbladet is on the scene. To enter, you must wear protective equipment with a mouth guard, visor, apron and gloves.
Photo: Pontus Orre
An oxygen machine helps Lena Larsson to oxygenate her body.
Photo: Pontus Orre
Red / white signs indicate in which rooms Covid-19 patients are cared for at the infection clinic at Norrland University Hospital in Umeå.
I woke up and I have no air
Lena Larsson is sure she got infected on the job, as a treatment aide in a group home. Several of the residents and colleagues had already tested positive.
On Christmas Eve he had a dry cough, the day after the fever. And a few days after that, it hurt when he breathed.
At the health center, he received cortisone and medicine for pneumonia. But that was not enough. A few days later, he woke up one night and got no air.
– It was as if I had fallen out of a tree and hit the hill, my breath was almost completely still. I never want to experience that feeling again. I thought: now I’m dying.
Photo: Pontus Orre
Lena Larsson, who in addition to asthma has had no other illnesses before, describes care as a constant struggle.
“You are short of breath when you go to the bathroom”
Lena Larsson was taken by ambulance to Skellefteå hospital, where she entered IVA. After 24 hours, she needed to make room for another even sicker patient and was taken to Umeå.
She has been cared for here ever since. The situation has improved somewhat. The fever has started to go down, but she still has significant breathing problems.
– I have been very afraid just to go to the bathroom, because then I am short of breath.
Lena Larsson, who in addition to asthma has had no other illnesses before, describes care as a constant struggle.
– It’s not just lying here, getting oxygen and you feel good. You have to think about how you lie and constantly focus on breathing.
Getting food and water is difficult.
– Today I broke a record: lunch lasted 50 minutes. Otherwise it has taken me 1.5 hours to eat.
Very loaded apartment
The second wave of the pandemic has hit Umeå’s infection ward hard. New methods of treatment, such as increased oxygen flow and placing patients in an abdominal position, have meant that the most seriously ill patients are cared for here rather than having to enroll in IVA, where anesthesia is often required.
With small physical exercises, Lena Larsson will now try to increase her heart rate every day, without the drop of oxygen decreasing too much. The values look better now and she feels hopeful.
– But sometimes I get very sad. It can only come and then I start to cry. I feel sorry for myself. And then I’m exhausted and tired, so you can cry about anything.
Photo: Pontus Orre
Sometimes Lena Larsson can take 1.5 hours to have lunch.
“A fucking disease”
She says she receives a lot of support from her family: husband, children and grandchildren, and friends who send messages and photos.
– To everyone I have responded, I have written: fear each other, this is a fucking disease. How can one be so careless and think that this virus is not a danger? I do not get it.
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