Esther

Brief Outline:

Esther now lives with her daughter, who was present at the interview to translate the questions into Tamil.
 
Esther’s symptoms continued for about a year and she lost her independence. With support from the GP and the council, with medication and adaptations to the home she is starting to regain her independence. Esther was interviewed in June 2022. 

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Esther caught Covid in December 2020. Esther’s daughter said that Esther experienced severe ‘complete’ body pain, difficulty breathing, watering eyes, and sneezing. She wasn’t able to eat and lost her sense of taste and smell. She could only take small quantities of a liquid diet. She was shivering and very cold and she struggled to stand, which made it difficult for even to shower. This led to a fall in which she broke her ribs. Esther was bedridden for 3-4 months and her daughter needed to care for her and get additional help to support her. 
 
For a time, Esther felt really low in mood and questioned whether life was worth living. Her symptoms went on for about a year and it is only in the last few months she has started to feel a bit better, which she thinks is because she is taking regular painkillers that also help her sleep.  
 
Prior to catching Covid, Esther was independent and able to be mobile. Her Covid symptoms and her broken ribs have led to her needing to use a wheelchair. Her daughter was providing her personal care but had to get additional support through the GP because she also had Covid. This support included medical care and help from the council which has enabled her to increase her independence a little, using adaptations to the home and help with cooking and cleaning. Because her daughter is still limited in the help she can give, the support has continued. Esther and her daughter try to be as positive as they can with each other, and hope that things will get better for them both. 
 
Esther's advice to others is that if you catch Covid you should be very careful about self-isolating and be considerate about not passing it on to others. They should make sure they wear masks and be careful to limit spread to their loved ones and stay away from family gatherings. They should take any medications they are given and relax whilst they are self-isolating. 

 

Mary was able to act as translator for her mother. Mary said Esther had been bedbound for some time. Before she had Covid, her mother Esther was active and independent.

She did have severe, severe body pain – complete body pain. And her eyes were watering constantly.
 
And she was sneezing at all times. Her head was in constant pain. And she was not able to eat anything at all. And it was only liquid diet, there was no taste and, no taste sense, no smell, no smell, no taste. And she didn’t want to eat anything. It was only liquid diet.
 
And, watery. And it has to be on not even in large quantities; even if little she takes, she was throwing that up. And she was in shivering, severe cold. And, it didn’t, recover very quickly.
 
She went through all this, and she was struggling to stand. She was, stumbling as well. So, as a result it was over a period of time, even she was not able to have a shower. She went in to have a shower – again that’s December – she had a severe fall in the tub and then she couldn’t get up from the thing. She was screaming from inside and the door was locked. I had to get someone to open and then carry her out and to get…give her the first aid.
 
And she had all her ribs broken. She was in that severe pain that she couldn’t even stand still. If she stands, she would fall.
 
And her breathing was affected as a result. It did take a lot of time for…because I was giving her the complete… bathing, her care and everything – whatever needed, right from scratch for her. It wasn’t easy for me as well going through it.
 
And, I had to get people involved. I had to employ some people to come and do that support and help us, because I was affected, and to support my mum.