One day I am going to jump two steps

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One day I am going to jump two steps

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Zdjęcia wykonano na oddziale covidowym Szpitala Uniwersyteckiego w Krakowie.

„...ćwiczenie ze schodkami, na które miałem wchodzić – najpierw był jeden, potem po pięć-sześć w górę i tyle samo w dół. Muszę powiedzieć, że to mi bardzo pomogło”

One day I am going to jump two steps

Zdjęcia wykonano na oddziale covidowym Szpitala Uniwersyteckiego w Krakowie.

„...ćwiczenie ze schodkami, na które miałem wchodzić – najpierw był jeden, potem po pięć-sześć w górę i tyle samo w dół. Muszę powiedzieć, że to mi bardzo pomogło”

One day I am going to jump two steps

Zdjęcia wykonano na oddziale covidowym Szpitala Uniwersyteckiego w Krakowie.

„...ćwiczenie ze schodkami, na które miałem wchodzić – najpierw był jeden, potem po pięć-sześć w górę i tyle samo w dół. Muszę powiedzieć, że to mi bardzo pomogło”

Bogdan Kleszcz, 63 years old no comorbidities

I was admitted to hospital on the 10th of April. A week earlier a doctor during teleconsultation diagnosed me with a flu. However, fever and shortness of breath appeared a few days later. The ambulance first took me to a regular hospital, but as soon as it turned out that it was COVID, I was transported to an infectious diseases hospital. At the beginning I stayed in the department of pulmonology, but after two days my condition deteriorated rapidly, I was seriously short of breath. Doctors decided to put me in a coma to calm my body down. A week later, upon recovery from anaesthesia, I felt as if they had exchanged my lungs for brand new ones. It was such a relief! My results quickly improved and five days later I was transferred to pulmonology again. Although I quickly felt much better, I had to stay there for two weeks in order to wait for negative test results. Even the doctors were surprised that I managed to improve so fast.

Difficult beginnings

My physiotherapy began from sitting and moving around the bed. Then I tried standing up and standing on my toes, which I found quite problematic for a long time because of dizziness. But then it all went really smooth. There was this one exercise with steps, on which I had to climb – at first I had to walk up just one step, then five or six up and down. I have to admit that it was a truly helpful exercise. I was in coma for only a week, but after recovering from anaesthesia my legs were like spaghetti. Which was why I wasn’t fit for any kind of physiotherapy in the ICU, whereas here the progress was significant.

Both in the hospital

It was mentally very difficult. Particularly because my wife was also admitted to hospital, several days after me and two floors below my ward. She experienced only mild symptoms of coronavirus, so she spent only two weeks in hospital. I was afraid that the both of us may never leave the hospital. My wife got so emotional about my health problems that the needed psychological help. So I am very glad that I managed to return home so quickly, in such a good condition. I keep doing the exercises recommended by my physiotherapist. At first I found it difficult to breathe outside but this problems has resolved with time. I have regained 99% of my functions from before the disease. However, I still can’t jump two steps at a time – but I am sure I can accomplish this goal soon.