Third time testing positive for Covid... but this time I know I need time to recover

Covid has struck me again. This is the third time, but is it third time lucky?

It was lucky because, once I tested positive, I had somewhere I could escape to without being a burden, a nuisance, or a risk to anybody I love.

As soon as I saw those dreaded two lines indicating a positive test, I packed up as many essential items as I could and high-tailed it to West Cork to our new home.

Dave was already at work so I called him and told him meet us at “the site”, as we’ve called it all along. I corrected myself to tell him to come to our house. It’s definitely a house now!

It wasn’t the ideal way to move in, there was no fanfare or fuss, and when I landed, the sickness of Covid took over. The pains the disease gives me in my muscles are like nothing else I have ever experienced.

Covid also messes with my nervous system, making me feel jittery and with a heightened sense of worry over everything under the sun. One of the nights I was utterly convinced David would leave me, even though of all the years we have been together, he has spent the last two years tirelessly building our home. I felt so panicked, there wasn’t much my poor husband could do but let me rant and rave and hope that my fears would pass.

Even a few weeks on, I still have no strength in my legs and the exhaustion slaps me hard most days. Both of those symptoms have lasted for months on both previous occasions.

I got Covid during Christmas, 2021, and Christmas, 2022, and going through it now again I know the huge impact it has on me.

Both those times, I was sick during the Christmas holidays and didn’t take any extra time off. It felt important to get back to work. In 2021, I had just become the communications officer for Inclusion Ireland, a job I had always wanted which had seemed elusive pre-pandemic because I didn’t live in Dublin, and the main office and the communications function were based there.

In 2021, it was obvious, with everyone working from home, that I could do the job well from Cork. I did and I was so proud of that. I didn’t want a bout of Covid to impact on my performance at work, and at that time, I didn’t understand how floored I was. I was focusing on keeping going and put a lot of my tiredness down to returning from maternity and having to navigate work while also being a mum.

In 2022, then, there was a change in leadership at work and I went for promotion as Communications and Information Ianager and was successful in November. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to explain the pride I felt when our CEO rang me after my interview to offer me the position.

It felt amazing as a disabled person to have overcome many barriers to be part of a senior management team. 

I loved the work so when I got Covid again at the end of 2022. I didn’t think I needed more time to recover. I thought being so tired was just part of having an intense job I cared deeply about, and that I had to suck it up and keep going to operate at the level I was at.

This time, I see Covid played a part in my need to step back from full-time work and I’m giving myself the time to recover in the comfort of our new home.