My Recovery Story

Me a few months before I caught COVID-19 which then developed into a severe case of Long Covid & Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

However, in hindsight after everything I have learnt, I now know my body was at its stress limits showing nervous system dysregulation signs! Looking back these concerns began after having my first COVID vaccine. I proceeded to have 2 more vaccines over the next 6 months… Draw whatever conclusions you like here..

Then in July 2022, I caught COVID-19 from a client. This is when my health took a really deep dive!

After 10 days resting in bed followed by several slow attempts back to work, just a short 2.5 weeks later, I became the sickest I could have ever imagined. And so the several-year return to health journey began.

This first major crash left me bed bound, sleeping most of the day and night in a world of pain and disability, affecting both my brain and bodily function. Staring at the walls became my daily activity. It was all I could manage. I couldn’t do what you would usually do when resting sick in bed - no tv, no books, no phone use, no conversations, no music, no computer, no nothing! I couldn’t do anything due to the symptoms and severe sensitivities!

The first 6 months of illness recovery was really about survival while being hit with over 30 different symptoms and many waves knocking me down time and time again. Every minute of every day was about coping with these symptoms, and making it from sunrise to sunset. Bedtime offered me a glimmer of hope for a miracle in the new day. Until one day my sleep too was taken away.

I know what it’s like to feel stripped, defeated, hopeless, helpless, isolated, to feel like there is no way out. You keep trying, but time and time again, you get knocked down and all the progress you’ve made gets wiped away again. You feel so weak, so fragile, so vulnerable. You pray for just a glimmer of success, just a little sparkle, but it doesn’t seem to come. The storm keeps on going, the wild winds of the west come in stronger. I felt like an alien, so disconnected from every person around me. I would watch people go by my window as I was stuck in my room, and felt like they were on another planet living parallel lives.

I gained resilience through this period.

I realised I could surrender to the weakness and fragility and that I didn’t need to be or feel strong to get through each challenging day. I learnt to accept this way of life for now. I learnt to accept that it was going to be slow and take a long time. I tried to see it like running a marathon instead of a sprint. Letting go and accepting what was happening in the now (just this current chapter) really helped to turn everything around. It was releasing the resistance to my current experience, with the trust and belief that my body would recover in time that changed everything for me. Don’t get me wrong, I had SO many doubts, and my belief was small, but it was enough. I borrowed this belief of recovery through others who had recovered, watching recovery stories, through my close friends and family, and through sheer determination that this wasn’t going to be my final destination in my story. Stubbornness.

This roller coaster up and down period took about 6 months until I finally found some stability and since January 2023, I have had snail pace but steady improvements (with many dips along the way including a repeat covid infection and the bad flu!).

As I write this article 33 months into my recovery, I feel like I would be about 85-90% recovered (coming from about 3% function in the beginning). One of my biggest issues has been using my brain. I had brain fog and a lot of cognitive and brain symptoms. So I never thought it would be possible to study again, but I have just completed a Holistic Life Coaching and Mind Body Practitioner dual certification course, and I am also participating in a writing course. It is unbelievable how the body can restore and heal itself after so much debilitation over a long period of time.

So what does my life look like now? I am hiking, doing Pilates, playing tennis, surfing, socialising, travelling, driving, and working again! I still have a last leg to get through - return of running & lifting weights, building my work hours up, and resolving just a few lingering symptoms. But despite this, I am the happiest and healthiest I have been in a very long time. I feel like I am living from a heart space, aligned in my values and dreams. I am more resilient to stress, I have learnt so many skills and tools that leave me feeling equiped to tackle any future life issues. I feel empowered and resourced. And I know it is just a matter of time for my body and life to fully restore.

What helped me the most to recover was a holistic approach over these key areas:

• Sleep

• Quality rest

• Mindset

• Emotional processing and cultivation

• Brain retraining techniques

• Nervous system regulation tools

• Movement and breath

• Nutrition

• Energy management - including pacing and expansion techniques

• Detoxing - removing/reducing toxins from your life, and supporting the body to naturally detox

• Support - self encouragement, and a team of health professionals, friends and family