Dr. Owen O’Flynn, 23, originally thought he had gastroenteritis after being hospitalized.
Originally from Cork, the doctor contracted the virus but failed to test it and developed post-Covid syndrome about a month later, which left him in the intensive care unit.
The Kerry University Hospital hospital doctor shared his story at the National Public Health Emergency Team’s daily briefing Monday.
Dr. O’Flynn’s story is of 825 new cases of Covid-19, and another death was reported in Ireland today.
He said last March that he had experienced a loss of smell and taste with no other symptoms, but did not qualify for a Covid test at that point.
He said that both senses returned a week later.
Dr. O’Flynn said he felt uncomfortable in Covid about a month later after a day in intensive care.
“I was tested in the community and the swab was negative,” he said.
“My symptoms at the time were stomach pain, temperature peaks, profuse sweating, constant vomiting and diarrhea, as well as a rash on various parts of my body, especially on my hands and feet.
“This got to the point where I needed to be hospitalized for what I thought was severe gastroenteritis. I was admitted to CUH on the Covid route and was given another swab which was negative again as I was not actively issuing any virus at this point.
“My heart tracking showed signs of damage, as did my heart enzymes. Two days later, my oxygen levels dropped and a chest x-ray showed a new lesion.
“I was informed of a new post-Covid syndrome that is being reported in Italy – usually in children. So I was wiped again, the results of which showed I had Covid-19 infection about 4-6 weeks earlier.
He said that that evening he began to deteriorate “rapidly”.
“My oxygen levels dropped and within a minute I couldn’t finish a set. Because of the rate at which I was deteriorating, I was sent to the intensive care unit.
“After analyzing my scans, the decision was made to lie on my front. Occasionally we do this for Covid-19 patients who are intubated in the intensive care unit to improve lung function. If I didn’t improve, I would go into a coma and be intubated.
“Fortunately, this process helped me stabilize for a few days.”
Dr. O’Flynn added, “However, my heart function began to drop to a third of what it should be. At this point, I had two major system failures as part of post-Covid syndrome, both acute respiratory failure and acute heart failure.
“It was then that I began to wonder if I would ever leave the intensive care unit, if I would die there.
“I have accepted that if I had done that, everything would have been done to prevent it. The doctors in the intensive care unit gave my heart medication to make sure my blood pressure was being maintained.
“Those two or three days were probably my lowest point. I was in constant contact with my girlfriend and family, but I also received a lot of emotional support from the staff and my friends. ”
Dr. O’Flynn said things were slowly disintegrating.
He said he was released from intensive care and allowed to return home a week later.
He said that after he was released, he was “not at all fixated”.
“I walked breathlessly through the house and was in constant contact with the physiotherapists at CUH to monitor how I was doing.
“After the discharge, it took six weeks for the feeling of normalcy to be restored. Again I was scared all the time because I was in the realm of the unknown. I didn’t know how much function I was going to regain and to this day I still have less fitness. “Dr. O’Flynn said he shared his story as coronavirus “can still wreak havoc on people of all ages”.
“I am 23 years old, have maintained a high level of fitness and ended up in intensive care because of Covid-19.
“I urge anyone who thinks they are immune to the more severe effects of this disease to think twice and follow public health advice.”
This article originally appeared on the [url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-40063655.html
]Irish examiner[/url]
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