A Scots mum has been left using a wheelchair and crutches after a battle with Long Covid. Aberdeen woman Kate Stott, 36, was running a successful tech company alongside life as a mum-of-three when she caught the virus in March 2020.
The after effects of the disease have gradually impacted every aspect of her daily life and now she has had to shut down her firm BeautyBooker, after suffering severe muscle weakness and fatigue which forces her to sleep for hours every day.
Kate, who won the Scottish Business woman of the Year award in 2019, told the Record: "I was at work one day just before lockdown when I developed swollen glands and lost my sense of taste and smell. But what started out as just a sore throat has completely transformed my world.
"I continued to work for about a year after I caught covid as I was incredibly busy with my business. Then I just became more and more ill. I was covered in rashes and began to suffer from inflammation and I lost function in my arms and legs."
By July 2021, Kate had been admitted to hospital with damage to her vascular system and remained as an inpatient for a week.
Micro clots in Kate's blood are making it hard for inflammatory particles to be broken down which makes it harder for oxygen to get to the organs and causes fatigue and body weakness. As a result, Kate has been left relying on a wheelchair or crutches to help with her mobility.
Kate added: "Calling it fatigue doesn't do it justice. It feels like being under constant sedation. It has become incredibly difficult for me to walk. It has been very much progressive, but then sometimes I am okay for a few months and then I hit a down turn again."
After exploring multiple treatments to make her better, Kate travelled to Germany last month to a specialist Long Covid clinic where doctors recommended she undergo potentially life-changing Apheresis treatment on her blood which costs £10,000.
The treatment removes harmful, disease-forming proteins, chemicals, or cells from the blood and Kate plans to return to the clinic in November for the procedure. Kate, who is now campaigning for better support for Long Covid patients in the UK, says Scotland is trailing behind other countries on treatment for the condition.
She added: "There are no Long Covid clinics in Scotland. We have been so slow to respond and now we're on the back foot. The latest research shows there are over 200,00 Long Covid patients in Scotland but the money given to the issue is just a dot in the ocean for the number of people living with it.
"That is dire, considering it is disabling people and stopping them from working and living their lives. I just want to get back to my normal life and going to Germany for treatment is the best way to do that."
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Initiatives being supported by the Scottish Government’s Long Covid Support Fund include key elements of care that are also offered by Long Covid assessment clinics elsewhere in the UK.
“All NHS Scotland boards are providing assessment and support for people with Long Covid, delivered across the full range of services provided by our NHS.
"To support this we are investing an initial £3million from our Long Covid Support Fund to provide NHS boards and partners with additional resource to deliver the best local models of care for assessment, diagnostic tests, and support for the treatment or management of symptoms.
“It is for each NHS board to develop and deliver the best models of care tailored to the specific needs of their local populations. This may involve strengthening the co-ordination of existing services, or establishing dedicated services, such as Long Covid clinics, where that is identified as the most appropriate local response.”
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