A year on from their Covid infection, Mireille Mulheims and Nicolas Grandidier are still dealing with the aftermath.
Long Covid can hit everyone who caught the virus, whether they were hospitalised or not. There are a wide range of symptoms like breathing issues, fatigue or consistent loss of taste and smell. Our colleagues from RTL spoke to two patients of the Long Covid treatment centre in Mondorf-les-Bains over the summer, and recently caught up with them to see how they are doing now.
The three-week programme was launched in August as part of a pilot project and attempts to help patients with therapies tailored to their specific needs, such as smell therapy for anosmia, inhalation therapy for breathing problems or physiotherapy sessions to improve fitness.
Nicolas Grandidier, 25
We meet Nicolas Grandidier during his physio session. He caught Covid-19 in October 2020 and before his infection, he was an athletic young man. As a football referee, he would run 10-15 km during a game. But now, even 20 minutes on the bike wear him out. He has also completely lost his sense of smell and suffers from extreme fatigue and concentration problems, despite having a light initial infection. He only spent three days in bed, but his condition slowly deteriorated afterwards. Especially his extreme fatigue and concentration problems affect his private and professional life.
"A few times I've had to take several days off work. And after a while, this starts affecting the company you work for. You start feeling guilty for missing work. And it's stressful to think about the future, whether you'll ever be able to work like before or if it will have a long term effect on your professional life."
Nicolas' fears were justified. He is still unable to go back to work, and his employer has refused him a so-called "therapeutic part time" position. He is disappointed with the lack of support, he writes to us in a message.
Mireille Mulheims, 53
Mireille Mulheims caught the virus around the same time as Nicolas. They met in Mondorf, attending some of their therapy sessions together. Mireille's initial infection was much more severe and she spent 10 days in the hospital. And the symptoms persist: fear of suffocation, panic attacks and sleep problems are just some of the issues she still has to deal with, along with extreme fatigue, lack of energy, muscle pain and brain fog. Her illness is affecting her whole family.
“Our family life is suffering immensely from my Long Covid, because there are many things I can't do. This starts with simple stuff like household chores, where I simply cannot manage the same amount as before. But it's also outings with the kids. I don't have the energy to go on long trips. All these things I used to do without any issue are no longer possible. And the kids suffer."
During her therapy in Mondorf, Mireille learnt to deal with daily stress and how to find a new rhythm. She feels better today, but not all her symptoms are gone. Especially her memory is still giving her trouble. But she's been able to take up singing again, her big passion, and attends choir practice twice a week. But even as she loves being part of her community again, she still finds it hard to get out there sometimes.
“It is a challenge, because there is still that fear of infection. Even though it's very unlikely because I am vaccinated and was quite ill previously. And yet, there is still that fear in the back of your head, "is there someone here who has it and you don't know?" When someone comes in and does a rapid test, I'm like "I hope the test really is negative". This anxiety never goes away. Because I really don't want to go through that again."
Even if she still has some work ahead of her to fully get back to normal, Mireille is fairly confident and hopes that in a year or so, she will be back to where she was before Covid-19.
Video report in Luxembourgish:
