LIVING with Long COVID, a Cairneyhill woman has praised the work of a charity that has "made such a difference" to her recovery.

Jayne Gemmell, 55, was suffering from existing health conditions when she caught COVID in March of 2020. She now has Long COVID as well as suffering from Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) and and autoimmune condition and has named Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland (CHSS) as the key to her ongoing recovery.

She now lives with debilitating exhaustion and breathlessness which has seen her take time off of her work in fraud investigation at a bank and moving from her family home to a bungalow as she was no longer fit enough to use the stairs.

She said: "I’d been off sick for about a year, and I still couldn’t speak because of the breathlessness. I couldn’t possibly work because I needed to spend so much time in bed. I’d lost my ability to concentrate. At that point I couldn’t even read. There was no way I could go back to work, and I’m still too sick to work."

Jayne has praised the treatment she received from the NHS but has said that the best thing they did for her was to refer her to CHSS.

She continued: “I’ve had excellent treatment from the NHS, and I know the organisation is up against it with funding. But one of the best things the NHS did was refer me to Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland for help and support.

"Being told ‘here’s an organisation that’s going to help you from here’ has been amazing. I’ve had some big wins that I don’t think I’d have had without CHSS. The help I’ve had has made such a difference – I can’t thank CHSS enough.”

A year after falling ill with COVID, she was referred to pulmonary rehabilitation physiotherapy which led to her getting support from the CHSS Advice Line.

Jayne added: “CHSS has been a blessing for me. Tracey, the occupational therapist from the Advice Line, was wonderful from the start, and the weekly call really helped me stop feeling quite so isolated.

“Then more good things came from that. I joined the charity’s online seated exercise group with Frances, and that has done so much for me. Frances has taught me how to manage my dizziness and how to keep my breathlessness at a manageable level. I can’t do very much at the group – I use inhalers a lot – but something is always better than nothing.

“Tracey also set me up with a Kindness Caller, a lady called Sandra who rings me every week and can empathise with my conditions. She has helped me work out the best way to arrange my day so I get the most out of it without being too tired."

While she still suffers from Long COVID, Jayne has truly seen the benefit from the support given to her from CHSS, not only physically but psychologically.

She continued: “I’ve had amazing practical help from everyone at CHSS, but the social aspect of it all has been just as important to me.”

Jayne is just one of an estimated 164,000 people in Scotland living with Long COVID. It is a condition that is having huge effects on the day-to-day lives of those suffering from it, 75 per cent of people with Long COVID have said that it has impacted this.

If you are living with Long COVIDand looking for advice and information, you can contact Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland’s Long COVIDAdvice Line on 0808 801 0899 or email adviceline@chss.org.uk for help and advice.