Happy New Year!
I have been wondering what to write in my first blog of 2021, and eventually settled on the idea of a summary of 2020 and plans for this year.
2020 started off well, until COVID came along. Like many others, COVID dictated my everyday life. Working in an Acute NHS trust and based in Respiratory Medicine I saw the start of what was to come. At first there was very limited information from all angles, but quickly came to realise this was like no other disease we has seen before.
Wards quickly became full of very sick patients. What was scary was the fact that it didn’t discriminate. People of all ages were admitted; from young adults to the elderly. It was making young people, with no other health issues incredibly sick. We saw a lot of patients being admitted to intensive care, aware that mortality at that point was around 50%.
For those patients that were not for intensive care intervention, for various reasons, we saw die. They were not able to be with family members until the end, and even then, who could visit was restricted for risk of further disease spread. For myself and others as health professionals, it was incredibly hard to watch and at times felt helpless.
When patients arrived back on the ward from their intensive care admission, many were vey deconditioned. Some not able to move themselves in bed, take a drink for themselves, walk. Even something as simple as scratching an itch was impossible for some. Alongside this some were showing symptoms of severe anxiety and even post traumatic stress syndrome. The rehabilitation process was extensive.
There was also fear of bringing COVID home to my family. The risk of spreading this disease and knowing the implications of this were very real. I tried to avoid the news as much as possible to limit how much COVID was intruding on my life. Its fair to say that my anxiety felt horrific at times.
Having suffered from anxiety and depression for many years, my symptoms were increasing as the year went on. This along with other reasons made me come to the decision to leave my job in the NHS, one I had been in for nearly 15 years. It wasn’t an easy decision to make.
Following this, I decided to start up my own private physiotherapy business. Being a Physio is something i love and has taken up such a large portion of my life, in a good way! I really enjoy meeting the variety of patients i treat and being able to help them improve their symptoms and reach their goals. There are so many people needing physiotherapy input at the moment, and this has been exaggerated by the pausing of many NHS services. So, that is what I am going to do; improve the quality and timely intervention of Physiotherapy to people in the community.
Bring on 2021!