An honestly written story about living with a post-covid diagnosis. Linda Beuving (40) from Hijken shares her experiences in the book Real mothers don’t get sick which was released on Friday. “I’m really proud of it.”
Post-covid (or long-covid) is a disease that can completely turn your life upside down. Beuving knows all about that. The single mother of three children has been living with it for more than two years. At the end of 2022, Hijkense was hit by corona. Which she didn’t realize at first, because she thought it was ‘just’ a bad flu.
“But it just stuck,” Beuving says in the Radio Drenthe program Cassata. Only later did it become clear that there had been corona in the house and the ball started rolling. Some time later, when she checked everything out at the GP, the post-covid diagnosis came.
While some are completely healthy again after a corona infection, others are not getting better. The symptoms of post-covid leave deep marks. “I felt paralyzed, empty,” says Beuving. “When I’m ‘tired’, I’m completely exhausted. Then I’m actually already too late and I have to recover in a dark room.”
De Hijkense ticks 37 of the 39 symptoms on the post-covid list. She says that she still suffers from memory and concentration problems, quickly becomes overstimulated and has much less energy. “It is not comparable to what I was like before Covid. I used to be quite impulsive. Then I would go to FC Emmen, for example.”
“I live between new lines,” says Beuvink. “If I get over that, I have to pay it back somewhere.” She does not know in advance what an activity will cost her in time and complaints. But: “If I don’t pay close attention to my energy and stimuli, I know it will bother me.”
When it comes to her children, it affects her. “I have nothing but love for my children. They are so fantastic and they are doing so well. They only need a word if I don’t succeed.”
Now she can say things are going well. “I was at -25 and now I am in the plus at 16. But in terms of energy it is still far from what it was before. I really have to plan the days. For example, this morning I watched football with my son. Then I deliberately took an hour of rest so that I could be here.”
After the interview she no longer has anything planned. “Because after that I’m gone. Empty actually,” she says. “This is asking quite a lot of me because this is new and I find it exciting to be here.”
She started writing her book at the end of July last year and put down her pen on February 1 this year. A special date: “I was finally out of service after 104 weeks of illness.” Beuving worked as a pedagogical employee at childcare. “That was a lot of fun, I was in my element there. But that is no longer possible,” she says. This is mainly due to the crowds and unforeseen situations.
Watch the interview with Linda Beuving (story continues below the video):